A Year to Change: Conversations with women on choice, connections, and clarity in midlife

Just for the record, I finally quit smoking today. The final catalyst for action? Well, actually, there were two:

1. After 37 years, the smell of my own cigarette smoke is disgusting.

2. Chantix. Pharmacology is a wonderful thing!

Getting the colonoscopy is on my “To Do” list for this year.  And yes, I’ve been putting this off longer than the American Cancer Society says I should. 

I’m not Katie Couric, so they’ll be no live streaming video here on this blog.  Also no photos or general whining.  And no vivid word pictures, either.  I’ll just check it off the list when it’s done and note same here.

It’s enough to say that I have now scheduled the colo for about 6 weeks hence.  I’ll be the first appointment of that day at an “endoscopy center” - never to be confused with an outpatient center at The Hospital.  Clearly colonoscopies (sp?) are such a growth industry that they have their own facilities now. 

This is, I suppose, another example of Baby Boomers and their endless contributions to a burgeoning economy as a result of our aging body parts.

A couple of the women who we e’mailed yesterday about this site have asked if they can track their own progress in various areas on this site.  Here’s how:  make your entry as a new Comment to this post on the topic and schedule of your choosing.  Just remember, it will live on the Internet for the world to see!

I’ll start:  Weight change was not a particular goal for me this year, but getting (and staying) Healthier IS a particular goal for me.  I track my weight weekly, so I can tell you that for the past 3 weeks, I have been stable.  No change up or down.  I’ll take that!

I must report that in my travels through my neighborhood on foot today, I saw blooming crocuses.  Croci?  3 of them, and they were brilliant yellow through the snow. 

This causes me to note the progress of the year through winter and now headed toward spring and to relate that to my own “progress against goal.”  I feel like I’ve made some progress, despite my continued failure at quitting smoking.  A number of my health-related “to do’s” are now “done” and I’m closing in on the last few. 

My vainglorious return to the gym now feels like habituated behaviour and my eating is under control (which means that my weight is not going up and - some weeks - actually goes down a little).  Still, both eating and exercise are battles that are never really won and done, are they?  Always a work in progress, I guess.