I knew stress did strange things to you but I have never had so many outwardly physical signs as the past few weeks.  [Warning, this is a bit of a whine-fest so stop reading here if you don't want to indugle me] To sum up, I have developed more pimples than I have had since college, haven’t slept a full night, frequently waking to get up and work, and now, just when I am getting close to the end, my body decides I really needed one more lovely reminder of this project: a gigantic cold sore on my face. 

It is just like ones you might get on your lip or on your gums, but instead, lucky me…. I get them on my cheek, a little to the side, between my nose and mouth.  I have had about 6 or 7 of these things in my life, any every time it is the same, they start with a tingle-itch and then, within a few hours it is a large throbbing pustule, about the size of a nickel.  These things are painful and last a couple weeks in total.

This may sound quite vain, but I hate leaving the house when this happens.  How ugly these things gets can be summed up by a little story from my retail days back when Reeves and I were first married.  As much as I wanted to hide at home, I had to work and while helping a women with something, she stopped, paused a moment to tilt her head and look at me exclaiming, “my GOD, what IS that thing on your face.”  That little exchange made quite an impression on me and I have to say made me even more paranoid about my face.  These episodes have also started to leave scars and although they are supposed to be less evident every time, again, lucky me, always the over-achiever, they seem to be the same or even worse…..geeze, I can’t wait till next week. 

Sigh…OK, whine-fest is officially over….

After the past year of being tied too many hours to my desk studying, with little physical activity, except walking from the computer to the living room, I decided about 5 months ago to do something about my sluggish lifestyle and expanding waist line.  While I have incorporated about 45-60 minutes of physical activity into my day, almost everyday,(and losing over 20 lbs so far) I have just begun (well, over the past 2-3 months) to truly change my eating habits.  In that process, today I went to the USDA’s website because I wanted to see what the “new pyramid” was all about.  I don’t think I have ever actually looked at the report before, but in spending about 45 minutes reading and skimming the 90 some pages, I realized all anyone needs is this one free report to be fit and healthy!  I used to dismiss the pyramid as something you saw on elementary school walls as an outdated and ignored poster, but the verbiage, for the most part, of the report is down-to-earth simple advice.  I strongly recommend reading or at least skimming all the “Key Recommendation” sections.  Your kidneys, colon and heart will thank you for it – so, too will your loved one’s when you lead a longer, healthier life!!

FYI – don’t give up that glass of wine, coffee or olive oil – they are all part of a daily lifestyle, but like everything, in moderation.