My name is Catherine Morgan, I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. This is a blog about women's issues, health & wellness, and inspirational thoughts. If you like this blog, you will love BlogHer.com where I am also a contributing editor.
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Find out all the places I blog at Catherine Blogs.
Well, not really. It sounds like a good plan though. The truth is…I have no motivation, I haven’t been able to stick to a diet in years, and yoga is just another four letter word to me. When if comes to healthy living…I’m slowly but surly becoming the poster child (middle-aged woman) for unhealthy living.
So, I started this post thinking I might find some motivation to stop eating so much ice-cream and cookies. And then I came across this…
We all know there are people who bitch at their fat spouses for gaining weight, and gym owners who berate and shame fat people. And don’t forget random people on the street who yell things and throw garbage at the overweight and obese. In case that just isn’t motivating enough for you, we now have the talking “diet tile” that you put on the floor in front of the fridge.
Humiliation every time I take a step toward the refrigerator? Not exactly what I had in mind.
I do like the idea of changing my goal from losing weight, to living healthy to 100.
I am changing my goal officially (see near top of right side bar under photo) from a goal of healthy weight of 140 lbs to a long term goal of Living Healthy to 100 and beyond.
Who wants to join me in setting their goal for a Fabulous, Awesome, Tenacious and Healthy life (a.k.a. F.A.T. Attitude) instead of worrying over numbers on the scale?
It’s an excellent idea. But, who am I kidding? I couldn’t even make it to 30 being healthy, and now (don’t tell anybody) I’m even older than that. I know…It’s hard to believe.
So, anyone want to convince me yoga is the perfect thing for me right now? Want to tell me why you love it? Or have you (like me) had some not-so-fantastic experiences with the whole thing? I’m curious about the general yoga consensus among our readers…(see 40 comments on yoga)
And then, I remembered reading this interesting post…
I got it into my head that I should try yoga. Pretty much, the only things I know about yoga are, it’s a form of relaxation, it helps with flexibility, it’s good for one’s balance and it doesn’t require me to bounce around too much.
I had one problem with the yoga class; it’s held at my local hospital for the 55+ gang on Tuesday evenings and, as it happened, I had an appointment to get a pedicure last Tuesday. Pretty much, what I know about pedicures is it’s a form of relaxation, your feet and legs receive a massage and it, too, requires no bouncing.
Hmm. What to choose, what to choose…
What would you choose? A pedicure is sounding pretty good to me right now. I guess I’m not doing so great in the “motivation” area. And, isn’t that the only way I’ll ever be successful in my quest for health living? I know. I know. Maybe I’ll start being motivated on Monday.
Hi everyone. I want to take this opportunity to tell you that I am helping to launch a new blog by Care2. It’s called the Care2 Election Blog, and I will be the primary blogger. I hope you’ll stop by and check it out.
I’ll be here at the Care2 Election Blog each day with posts on the latest election news, political commentary and, of course, will address campaign issues that are especially important to the Care2 community, with an emphasis on non-profits. Since this is Care2’s first blog, I hope to get as much feedback from the members of the community as possible…and I look forward to hearing all of your comments and suggestions (so please…don’t be shy). — read my full first post here
If you are not already familiar with Care2, you should go over and check them out. It’s a site that makes it easy to take action on issues that are important to you.
As Morra Aarons wrote earlier this week, 10Questions is “a giant, web-wide contest where anyone can submit an online video question, view others’ questions, and vote for their favorite. At the end of the voting period, the top ten questions will be submitted to presidential candidates for answering. It’s like the CNN/YouTube Debate on steroids.”
I was very flattered to be asked, and excited to participate. There was only one problem…I didn’t have a web-cam, and I had no idea how to make a video for YouTube…I guess that’s two problems, huh?
Are you making significant life decisions from a place of fear or anger? Most of us do. When we make choices and respond to people and situations in our life, in reaction to fearful and angry emotions, we are choosing unhappiness. From the little responses and decisions in our life, right up to the big ones.
You can read this full post at my new blog - CatherineBlogs.com (my first attempt at a blog with ads), I’d love to know what you think. Thanks. And, don’t worry…I still plan on continuing my blogging here and at all my other blogs.
Pro-Life or Pro-Choice…You must agree that criminalizing miscarriage is wrong. — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
I didn’t have something specific to blog about for todays post, I’ve been a bit preoccupied with my daughter this week (I’ll tell you more at the end of this post, if you’re interested), so I decided to Google women’s health for ideas.
Hi everyone, I’m back from the BlogHer conference in Chicago. And, it was GREAT. My plan is to write a whole post about the conference, the people, the experience…and more. However, I have been extremely ill since I have been home (I’m certain I picked-up something on the plane, I always do).
I decided to re-post “Finding Empowerment Through Adversity”, from back in January when I first began blogging. Many of the bloggers I talked with in Chicago, seemed to have similar stories of hardships that were the catalyst to their personal empowerment, and brought them to blogging.
O.K. — Here goes…Ten seconds about me (hope I don’t bore you to death).
I grew up in Pennsylvania, where some of my fondest childhood memories are of cooking with my mother, doing the chicken dance with my grandmother, and riding my bike to the mall with my friends. I recently moved to Florida with my son (16), and my daughter (13), we love to go to the beach, and on Mother’s day we even saw some dolphins.
This is a post that I did for BlogHer last month on women and chronic illness, I think it is relevant here so I am posting it. If you are a women blogging about how you are living with chronic illness, I hope you will add your link to the many comments that are all already on this post at BlogHer.
BlogHers - Living, Coping, and Blogging with Chronic Illness
Millions of women suffer from chronic illness, and many of them courageously blog on how they are living and coping with their disease. Whether you suffer with chronic illness or you know someone who does, these BlogHers have much they can share with you.
Being sick is like being on a roller coaster — you can be up and hopeful one minute and down and doubtful the next. Your illness can take unexpected and unpredictable turns. One disease can dispose you to or give rise to another. This can be frightening as well as exasperating. Finding medication that works, being committed to following a good treatment plan and maintaining honest, direct and open communication with your healthcare providers takes time, energy and skill. But this is only part of the picture. Living with illness affects every part of your life and every significant relationship you have. — living with chronic illness
TO: All Presidential Candidates And Their Campaign Managers.
REGARDING: A Political Strategy That Could Win The Election, While Regaining The Trust Of The American People.
FROM: A Mom Who Cares About America.
All this talk about the millions of dollars being raised by the Presidential candidates really got me thinking……Are these campaign managers really getting the most “bang” for their “buck”? And, is any of this money contributing to the overall welfare of the American people?
After just three months of fundraising, the candidates for president in 2008 have already raised more than $150 million. No presidential money chase has ever started so quickly. By some predictions, the eventual nominees will need to raise $500 million apiece to compete—a record sum. — see specific breakdown of each candidate
THE ONE THING WE NEED TO START DOING WHEN WE GO TO GET OUR YEARLY MAMMOGRAM. — by Catherine Morgan
We all know that we need to get our yearly mammogram. None of us “want” to get it, but we get it anyway because we know how important early detection is in the treatment of breast cancer. However, there is something that most of us don’t do when we go to get our mammogram that I think we should be doing, something that the doctors and technicians don’t tell us to do. I’ll warn you now…this may be hard for some.Let me start off by telling you that I had my mammogram recently, it was what they call a “diagnostic” mammogram, as opposed to the normal yearly “routine” mammogram. You get a diagnostic mammogram when they find something that doesn’t appear normal…At this point it is still more likely than not that you don’t have cancer, but it could turn out that you do. I know cancer is a scary word, but we really need to get over it. Cancer is not a four letter word that we can’t talk about, in fact we actually need to talk about it. Because, the more we talk about it, and the more we understand it…the less scary “it” will be. Like everything in life - Knowledge is power.
I am so excited to tell everyone that I am now a contributing editor for Health and Wellness at BlogHer. What that means is; I will be surfing their BlogRoll for other women bloggers that are blogging on health and wellness issues, so I can feature them in my posts. There are contributing editors for all topics, so just register your blog…and there is a good chance you will be noticed and have your blog featured on BlogHer. It’s also a great idea to comment on topics you like….because your site link will be within the comment. Well, check it out and see what you think.
If you or someone you know is in a physically or emotionally abusive relationship, there is a lot of information available and people that can help. Below is an article and links to help you understand domestic violence and abuse, and to find help. You are not alone.
CHRONIC ILLNESS AND DEPRESSION — What came first? - by Catherine Morgan
If you found out you had Diabetes and became depressed, the doctor would tell you that it is normal to feel depressed after a diagnosis such as this. And the doctor would be correct. Chronic illness changes your life, it is scary, it is frustrating, and yes it can also be very depressing. And, there is no shame in admitting that you are depressed, there are many things your doctor can do to help you with this problem.
Just about every person that suffers from a chronic illness will also suffer in some way with depression. If you are diagnosed with Lupus, or MS, or cancer, or any other chronic medical condition, your doctor will be totally understanding when you come to him with your feelings of depression, as he should be. And treating your depression should be an important part of the overall treatment of your illness.
It would be virtually unheard of for a doctor to suggest that a persons depression was the cause of their Lupus, or the cause of their MS, or the cause of their cancer. But, in the case of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a condition that the CDC considers to be just as devastating as these other chronic illnesses, doctors will often insist that the depression is causing the disease, and not the other way around.
One of my favorite songs to listen to is, “I’ll Stand By You” by the Pretenders — you can play the song at the bottom of this post. I was listening to it today in the car (while riding home from my mammogram). I began to think about how nice it is to know that someone will “stand by you” no matter what. As a mom, I will “stand by” my kids no matter what…I think they know that (especially since I play the song all the time and tell them). The song always makes me think about how lucky people are when they know (really know) that they have someone who will “stand by them” no matter what.
Sometimes when we are feeling down, and life isn’t going our way, and we feel all alone…..That’s the time we find out who will “stand by us”. It’s sad in a way, that it takes tragedy, or pain to find out who the people in our life are that will “stand by us”, even in our darkest hours. The people who are like angels on earth to us–Connie. The people who were like angels on earth to us–Becky. The people that pick us up when we feel like we are in a never ending free fall of grief–Dawny. The people who save us when we just want to die–Vicki. The people who support us when we can barley support ourselves–Frances Ellen. I feel sad for the people who have perfect lives and never get to really find out who these people are in their lives. It is truly the one great blessing that comes out of our heartache and pain.
This is an e-mail that was sent to me a few months ago, since it still applies, and is important for all women to know, I decided to post it on this site.
Because of recent abductions, in daylight hours,refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation…
FINDING EMPOWERMENT THROUGH ADVERSITY — by Catherine Morgan
When we are suffering it is very difficult, if not impossible, to see the “light at the end of the tunnel”. But, it is there. You will get through it. And, in time your wounds really will be healed.
Can something good come out of adversity? Often in the face of adversity, we are unable to see anything through our pain. The only thing we can think about, are questions. Why is this happening to me? How will I go on? How will I survive? These are all reasonable questions, and in the depth of your pain you will ask them, and more. But, there are no answers to these questions. Only after you realize this, will you be able to go on, and let go.
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