11/12 of a new year's resolution: being intentional

Fact: I never make new year's resolutions. Mainly because it's a little cliche & so easy to stop caring about them come MLK weekend. But I think this year there's a bigger underlying movement that's calling for a resolution of sorts: being more intentional with our health & wellness (physical, mental, spiritual, etc.). Two things have come to our attention in the past few weeks that have brought upon this change in attitude. 

one: we visited a dentist in the area who laid things out so black & white that it kind of clicked for me. He introduced himself as Dr. D, and he was just a neat dude {His back story was that he helped start a dental clinic for HIV patients in NYC who otherwise would have had nowhere to receive treatment, but at one point in his life he thought about dropping out of school to become a cabinetmaker in Vermont. Can you tell that he's cool to talk to?}. Anyways, he literally shows you your teeth in a mirror and points out everything. And when you talk to him afterwards, his approach to health is you either do it or you don't. He asked about my flossing habits (who really does that everyday anyway?) and instead of advocating for better gum health, he merely said "You'll either do it or you won't. It's up to you." And by golly, he's right! Who else should care more about my health than me?

two: out of the blue, we watched Hungry for Change on Netflix. Whoa, you guys. Conspiracy central. You think you're eating food? You're not. And it's cool, I'm not about to turn all vegan, organic, or gluten-free, and neither do I think you should either. But the fact remains that there are higher powers at work (cough lobbying groups, industries, and governments cough) whose best intentions are not to always look out for a consumer/constituent but rather for a big name employer/economy. Frankly, we're all eating food-like products, but not food. Isn't that slightly disconcerting to think about? I mean think about it: what are the origins of Coke/Diet Coke? Can you visualize the produce/grains it comes from without looking? And doesn't it creep you out what the shelf life of some products are? How do they last that long?? 

All that to say, we Berry's are about to start getting healthier around here. We've already noticed a change in lifestyle in where we live in Alexandria to how we lived in the south. First off since parking/traffic is a nightmare, we walk a good bit more (whoo more walking and less carbon emissions!), and due to that, we never get fast food anymore unless we're road tripping somewhere {speaking of, hey gas stations, can we start getting some healthier food in your convenience stores? pretty please?}. But we're actually starting to take all this health nonsense to a new level by eating more fruits & veggies and less processed foods. We're actually going to run a half marathon that I will not talk myself out of, while in the process start to really use the Mt. Vernon trail running a quarter mile from our apartment (hey warmer temps, can you start up soon? K thanks). 

Because you know what? No one else is going to care about your health as much as you will one day. That day that health complications start to show up or the day you can't really play ball with your kid because you never exercised the 10 years prior will be the day you regret the decision to not respect your body. And I don't really want that for myself, and I know husmate doesn't either. So we're going to start caring about our health now and hope for the best later! 

So... anybody want a carrot? {fun fact: I have already done a callback to when cartoons were GOOD and chomped my carrots while saying "Ehhh... what's up, doc?" Fingers crossed you recognize the reference... I know, I'm a nerd}

P.S. I know I ragged on Coke, but for those of you who really know me, you know I won't be giving that up for life. But I'm going on the mindset of the Europeans who view Coke as more of a treat than as an understood meal companion. Water is quickly becoming my new BFF. Gasp!