12 Weeks of Wellness: Excite

We've made it, it's the final week of wellness. Congratulate yourself because you just spent the last twelve weeks investing in your health. I'm so proud of you! The last order of business is to focus on your external appearance. Your self-confidence runs deep and, believe it or not, promotes your health. Go forth and project this into the world.

This week excite: update your closet to suit your personal style and make an impression

Click the week for more information for why these are important to your wellness

12 Weeks of Wellness: Practice

The 10th week of wellness is upon us. It's important to remember to have fun in life. If you have a hobby already great keep at it, keep practicing! If you don't, I am giving you permission to give yourself time to relax and do something you enjoy. I will even send signed notes that you can give to your boss. That probably won't do anything but I am willing to do that for you anyway. Just shoot me an email.

PHYSICAL & SOCIAL

• Any team sport
• yoga
• Extreme sports
• Contemporary dance
• Boxing
• Martial arts
• Volunteering
• Traveling
• Bodybuilding

ARTISTIC

• Taking up an instrument
• Pottery
• Photography
• Learning graphic design
• Watercolor painting
• Wood-working
• Sculpting
• Building models

INTELLECTUALLY STIMULATING

• Learning a new language
• Researching a topic
• Blogging
• Playing simulation games
• Creating a comic book
• Writing poetry
• Songwriting
• Completing word games and puzzles
• Becoming a chess master

COLLECTIONS

• Wine
• Shot glasses
• Postcards
• Comic books
• Memorabilia
• LPs
• Sports cards and paraphernalia
• Beanie babies
• Beer bottles
• Antique lighters
• Cigars
• Pulp literature
• License plates
• Decks of cards
• Stamps

This week practice: take up a new hobby

Click the week for more information on each of these topics that are important to your wellness:

Vegetarianize Your Meal

This will be a quick post for Food Fun Friday. If you're trying to cut back on your meat consumption for whatever reason (you love animals, your health or the environment) you might want to know how to substitute tofu for ground beef or turkey in a recipe. Here's how...

Freeze one package of firm tofu. Open package, dump block into a colander in the sink. Use you hand to crumble the tofu into pieces. 

Heat two tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add tofu crumbles. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of brewer's yeast. Stir until heated through.

Use in any recipe as you would ground meat. Like in Chili.

12 Weeks of Wellness: Balance

Food companies have us hooked by strategically including choice ingredients in their food: sugar, salt and fat. These three ingredients offer instantaneous bliss that causes us to continue to pursue happiness by overindulging. You really can't eat just one. Be sure to pay attention to the amount of sugar and salt you are consuming to avoid some serious health problems in the present and in the future.

This week balance: limit your overall sugar and salt intake

CLICK THE WEEK FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WHY THESE ARE IMPORTANT TO YOUR WELLNESS

Getting Around

My first semester of college I took a microeconomics course. I learned a lot from this class but one of the biggest things I took away was the following.

"When traffic is congested, each driver is imposing a cost on all other drivers on the road --he is literally getting in their way (and they are getting in his way.) This cost can be substantial: in major metropolitan areas, each time someone drives to work, as opposed to taking public transportation or working at home, he can easily impose $15 or more in hidden costs on other drivers." - Microeconomics by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells

In that class I also learned that "You don't need to know this," means, "You need to know this," in professor speak, and that you should never enter a jungle alone (I don't remember why, but I wrote it down in my notes).

The point is, I had never really thought about the negative economical factors involved with automobiles. The environmental impact is something I've always known is terrible. Automobile driving is a major cause of:

1. Global Warming: Carbon dioxide emissions from autos are the largest contributor to global warming.
2. Air Pollution: Automobiles produce nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter that contribute to smog and respiratory illnesses.
3. Water Pollution: Automobile manufacturing, gas and oil production, road runoff of fuel, oil and antifreeze, underground gasoline storage tanks and marine oil spills all pollute our water.
4. Habitat Destruction: Oil drilling, metals mining and road construction all damage wildlife habitat.
5. International Conflict: Nations compete over oil reserves. The US currently imports 48% of its oil -- the highest levels ever. Many analysts ties this oil dependency to the hundreds of billions we have spent on Persian Gulf wars.

Americans drive an average of 231 miles per week, which comes out to about 12,000 miles per year. For a car with average miles per gallon (21), this is 571 gallows of gasoline annually. Given that every gallon of gasoline used emits 20 pounds of CO2, that means our cars are emitting 11,420 pounds of CO2 each year. The Union of Concerned Scientists stated, "personal use of cars and light trucks (including pickups and SUVs) is the single most damaging consumer behavior." In fact, the most significant change an individual could make toward reducing their carbon footprint is to cut down on how much they drive. Here's how:

Lastly, be a considerate and cautious driver. Fast accelerates and decelerations are damaging to your vehicle and the environment. Moral of the story: Be the tortoise, not the hare. In this classic children's tale, the tortoise proved that slow and steady won the race. The arrogant hare who burst from the gates and slams on his breaks for a rest proves that being a jerk never got anyone anywhere. Or at least that's what I got out of it.

How do you cut back on your car time?

12 Weeks of Wellness: Freshen

We're more than halfway through our 12 weeks of wellness; this week we'll focus on the home and making your space safe, stress-free zone where you can find relaxation and comfort.

To freshen your space in a sustainable way, check out my Greening your Home Posts: Part 1 and Part 2

This week freshen: nest and take care of your space