So I do a twice-monthly writer newsletter as part of my social media existence. Other people do more, some do less. We all have our comfort zone. Some folks do FB. Other IG. Or Twitter. The key is to find that thing that you can do and largely ignore the others because that’s a rabbit hole that you can drown in if you aren’t paying attention.
Along the way, my regular blog went from more than weekly to less. Or rather, the quarterly newsletter went monthly, then twice monthly. And I added a Patreon Blog every Monday. And I added a second newsletter for Indie Writers (Milestone) in addition to the personal one. Something had to give.
But I try to keep this blog alive, because there are (hopefully) folks out there listening.
It’s Monday, the beginning of 2021. First day back to the office job for a lot of folks. (I never generally take a day off, but I have a better job than most of you.) We have emerged from the weirdest Christmas most of you will hopefully ever know, and now are looking at a world on the verge of getting its shit back together, or completely coming apart. (I will let you know in June.)
Most people eat too much food and chocolate over the holidays, and end up gaining a lot of weight that they may and may not manage to lose again later. And we’re all getting older, so things don’t work as well as they used to and we don’t burn calories as fast.
Was having a chat with some friends the other day and one fellow, all of about nine months older than me but a former Rifleman and life-long martial artist, was talking about how badly his joints hurt in the morning and how much fun he had trying to go down stairs in the morning for that first mug of coffee. As in, maybe faceplant along the way and kill himself.
One of the things that marks me and Fabulous Publisher Babe™ apart from a lot of folks I know is that when we identify a problem, we figure out a solution and implement it. We call it ‘becoming someone new’ to mark that the old person needed to change. And it happens several times per year.
For me, a few years ago I was identified with stomach issues and the doctor suggest OTC Omeprozole. Worked, so I take it every morning, along with a handful of dried cranberries, because I’ve had kidney infection issues for the last thirty years. And I’m 51 now, so I added a men’s multivitamin to the daily mix a few years ago.
My breakfast usually consists of a stew I make each week and toss in a casserole dish. Meat from the day old corner that I freeze, usually pork or beef, along with a chicken thigh I get at the Japanese market. Sometimes I get lucky and find lamb, goat, or veal. I add fat, either duck or ham. Bones when I have them, or bone-in cuts of meat. And then I have about 12-15 different frozen bags of veggies. Kale, spinach, dandelion greens, mustard greens, celery, bok choy, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, red cabbage, some of those salad mixed that are good, etc.. Add vinegar, garlic, fish sauce, mustard, tomato paste, anchovy paste, cayenne, and other spices in a random rotation.
Healthy, because I get all manner of trace vitamins and minerals on a weekly basis, and the flavor rotates regularly. (I still get a couple of takeout breakfasts from Krain Corner to help them while they are closed. When they open I’ll go back to archery with a stop there first once a week.)
The message I want you to think about is eating healthy. Making little changes. She reminds me that I had too much sugar in my diet, because I like sweets and used to have both a big dollop of honey and a bit of molasses with each mug of coffee. So I started to wean myself. Cut both back. Ran out of molasses and won’t get more. Down to maybe a quarter of the honey I used to consume.
I had originally gotten into honey because local honey helps with allergies. It failed badly this past year, but then we discovered that I might be allergic to daisies, and I had a serious book mold problem, because we picked up a couple of room purifier air suckers, and I’ve gone from sneezing all day to maybe not sneezing today at all. And let me tell you how weird THAT is for me.
The other thing we added recently, and this is what I told my buddy, is that I have started making gummy treats as a delivery mechanism. Fruit juice, maple syrup, citric acid, and plain gelatin following the original recipe, to which I add Hyaluronic Acid, Chondroitin Sulfate, and Gluocosamine HCL.
I messed up my left knee last year working on the barn roof. Never went to the doctor, but it felt like I stretched an ACL as far as I could without actually tearing anything.
Started taking just regular Hyaluronic Acid in capsules, and within two weeks the knee pain went from a three to a one. Some days to a zero. HA apparently acts as a joint lubricant, and OMG was it wonderful.
Circling this shaggy dog story around, I do two newsletters. On the 15th, we talk about the latest publishing news, where I have published a new novel on the 10th. But on the 1st, we do the Anti-Stodgy/Redneck Chef newsletter, where we talk about all the things I do to stay young of mind, heart, and body. And the weird recipes I have had to come up with because she and I have some strange allergies. (She’s functionally Keto and Paleo, but also partially vegan, as she is allergic to eggs, dairy, and few other things. I have to work to come up with new recipes, so I share them.)
This isn’t to shame you, although I suppose I ought to, just a bit, because soda pop is probably terrible bad for you, both in terms of calories as well as ingredients. But a small change now will make your life better or at least not worse in a year, in five years, and a generation.
At 51, I want to be still writing for another forty years or so, and maintain a crazy pace of weird and exciting entertainment for as long as I can, with one of my adult grandsons and one of her teenage grandnieces eventually being groomed (if interested) into running our sprawling publishing empire.
To do that, I need to eat healthy. Most of you know what that looks like, but refuse to actually make those changes because it might be too hard, or means giving up something you love. I understand. I tossed an unopened box of Spree into the trash over the weekend. Anyone who knows me (really knows me) is standing there utterly agog right now at those words.
But I want to be still a pain in the ass when I’m eighty, so I need to make changes now. Eating healthy. Weaning myself off of bad foods and sweets. Trying new things so I don’t get stodgy.
Having fun.
Get off your ass and look in your refrigerator and cupboard. What one thing could you start to wean now, that would mean less weight this time next year? One fewer Coke daily? One fewer dingdong? Stop eating bread, or cut your consumption in half?
How do you stay alive so you can rub it in all those faces a generation hence?
And how much fun can we have along the way?