Happy Birthday To ME!

“dun nun nun nun nuh nuh nuh nuh…. duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh… You Say it’s your BIRTHDAY… it’s MY BIRTHDAY TOO YEAH!” -Birthday, The Beatles, White Album

It’s my birthday!  I’m 31.  Anyone with access to athlinks.com can figure that out pretty quickly… and honestly, I’m not upset by my age.  I LOVE IT, because I am more awesome than I was last year, and less worried about aging, because I know in a year I’ll be even better than I am now.

About a month after I turned 30 last year, I watched this great documentary Forks Over Knives about the benefits of eating a whole foods, plant based diet.  It was incredible.  I knew fruits and vegetables were good for me, and I knew our family wasn’t really eating enough.  We all kind of know that, right?  What I didn’t know was just how much I could reduce my family’s risk of cancer, heart disease, type two diabetes, osteoporosis and other health issues by switching to a whole foods, plant based diet.

Watching this documentary made me realize how much power I have to take my health, and my families health, into my own hands by preparing meals that will reduce our risk of diseases, provide us tons of high energy nourishment, and make us feel great.

There’s a point in Forks Over Knives where a breast cancer survivor in her seventies jogs by a park bench where an elderly, slightly overweight couple sits together, sedentary.  That’s when I realized how much power I have over my own aging process.  I know I will get older, I know my muscles will deteriorate, I will wake up with aches, and pains, I will age (and probably not gracefully) just like everyone must.

But I also know that if you go to any race, 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon… you will see people who are in their forties, fifties, sixties, seventies and sometimes eighties who are running.  You can see people those ages who are still actively gardening, who have avoided heart disease, survived cancer, stayed active.

I want to be one of THOSE people.  And I’ve found the two best ways to increase my odds of aging like they did.

1) Eat a whole foods, plant-based diet.  We’ve eliminated all animal products from our diets, and try to avoid refined grains, sugar, and limit our intake of oils and processed convenience foods.

2) Stay ACTIVE.  I want to keep on running this as late into my life as possible, and then I want to be walking this right up until the day I die.  I hope to keep doing spin classes, take up cycling in my older age because it’s low impact, incorporate some strength training as I get older and I lose muscle mass from the aging process.

My past year has been improved by many miles of running, many green smoothies, and many healthy and beautiful plant-based meals on our table.  I am better than I was a year ago.  I feel better, I look better, I run better, I AM better.

Not only am I taking care of my physical health by eating plants and running, I’ve also been working to reduce the chemicals in our home by choosing wiser when I buy personal care and cleaning products.  I’ve been improving my mental state by meal planning more frequently, tackling clutter in our home, and taking a more minimalist approach to possessions.  I’ve discovered my own power to improve my life and the lives of my family, and it’s invigorating.  (Most of the time.  Sometimes it’s overwhelming, but the benefits of change have been worth those moments!)

I think, if you give me another year, I’ll feel even better and more optimistic and excited about life than I do today.  So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me… I’m not scared this year.  I’m excited 🙂