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Not in the environmental sense…though I am also passionate about recycling. That’s another blog. Right now I’m talking veggies.

Due to some nagging health problems, I’ve decided to get my act together and start eating right again. I’m on the ETL (Eat to Live) board for good, and I’m going to really stick with it this time. Health problems = I have not been digesting my food properly for about 4 months (IBS symptoms), I recently had a week long headache and I’ve put on 20 pounds that are just sitting there like a spare tire around my gut. I hide it well, but tires belong on cars, not people.

I’m always amazed at how quickly my body reacts to good food. Maybe because I’ve fallen off the wagon and gotten back on so many times, I’m starting to recognize the process. I’m not scared by the detox which usually lasts a couple of days. Within a week, I’m already starting to feel like a new person. Yipeeeee!

Kudos to all the folks on the ETL board. If you happened to click on my blog and found your way here, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!! Thanks for being willing to try something different, swim upstream, be the odd man out. Thanks for all your wisdom, determination, ideas, encouraging comments and compassion. I cannot continue to do this without you. I am resolved to never again try to be tough and go it alone, in this or anything else in life. We were created to live in community and help each other. People criticize the internet because they think it is impersonal, but isn’t it interesting that with all the technological things we could build, humans choose to create things that send them right back to connecting with each other.

If you are curious about the Eat to Live diet, visit Dr. Fuhrman’s website at drfuhrman.com .

My sister Joyce has been talking about geocaching for awhile. I didn’t get all the hype, but this summer she took me with her. Our brother Harley went too. We were in Indiana for a reunion and she came prepared with her little yellow geocaching GPS and print outs of several “hunts.” I like how it gives you an excuse to go wandering around in the woods, off the trail. And you get to pick up trash!

In case you are not familiar with geocaching and are too lazy to google it – Geocaching is a fairly new sport where you use a GPS to find small containers that others have hidden in the woods and filled with little trinkets. Once you find the containers, you sign in, date it and if you want you can take a trinket and leave something for the next person. You will find things like key chains, buttons and magnets. It is also customary to bring a trash bag and gloves so you can pick up any trash that you find.

We had fun and got a little exercise and fresh air. It sure beats sitting around watching re-runs of the Brady Bunch.

I decided today that I’m on the yo-yo diet - you know, the one that is supposed to be really unhealthy, where you are constantly losing and gaining weight. It’s not a wise choice, but it seems to be the choice I have made.

I’m not fat, but I’m also not the size I want to be, and for some reason can’t stop being obsessed about it. About a year ago, I lost 20 pounds, immediately gained back 5 and kept the 15 off for a year. Recently I have gained back another 8 and am finally getting serious about getting that off. 135 is the weight I maintained for a year, and I’m pretty comfortable there. I can still eat quite a bit of food, and still be thin enough.

I think I like the challenge of losing weight, which is part of the reason I keep gaining it back, to give myself something to do. I don’t know. Maybe I just like food.

Ok, I LOVE food. What’s not to like? It makes me happy.

My latest strategy is the Presidential Fitness Challenge at presidentschallenge.org. It gives a way to track your progress and you get stars and awards for reaching goals. Did someone say stars? I’m in! If you exercise for at least 30 minutes 5 days a week for 6 weeks, you get the “Active Lifestyle Award” and can buy a T-shirt, or a little badge to celebrate. I’ve gotten away from a regular schedule, so I’m hoping this will help. I’m also looking for a 5K race to help me get in training mode. It looks like there’s one in Hickory in November called the Turkey Trot.

I follow Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Eat to Live diet because it makes sense and it works. Dr. Fuhrman is a board certified M.D. with a practice in New Jersey. He uses nutrition to treat his patients. It’s absolutely fantastic. For details, visit his website at www.drfuhrman.com or buy his book Eat To Live.

You won’t want to do it until you read about the scientific research behind it and all the reasons why you NEED to start eating this way.

I’ve been doing this off and on for a year now. Even with cheating, I lost 20 pounds and only gained 5 back. But now that I’ve turned 40, I’m realizing that if I really want to get healthy, I need to stop cheating. So…

I have gone without white sugar and floor for 23 days now, and I can tell a difference. It’s not like I’ve been instantly teleported into a world where I never get tired or sick, but I do feel much healthier and stronger, and get tired less quickly.

My task this week is giving up cheese. It’s not that I can never have cheese, but I eat far too much, to the point of causing digestion problems. I’ve gone several days and already feel less bloaty and crampy.