Self, you should be paying attention to this wise advice.

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I originally saw this picture listing a "Note to Self" a while ago, but it has been weirdly more sound advice since I am growing a person inside me.  I mean, if there are all these rules like I shouldn't eat fish with mercury or pesticides, or I should get enough sleep, or I should wear a seat belt, then I suppose there is some truth that I should treat myself well regardless if there is a little person growing inside of me.  These things seem to be advice that everyone knows, but no one does for themselves.  Honestly, when did we get so bad at taking care of ourselves?

It seems like we only remember these simple ways to take care of ourselves after we learned the life lesson somehow, like relearning a healthy relationship with food after an eating disorder, making a baby, or surviving a close call with your health.  How sad that we can't make better decisions to take great care of ourselves, right?

(Sigh) I wish it were that easy.  Don't get me wrong, I just ate a lot of Pringles chips today, so I haven't mastered the art of self care.  At the very least I hope to make plenty of right decisions throughout the day like get plenty of sleep, or drink organic tea (rishi tested without chemicals).  Next stop, the gym.

Hopefully I can remember to take of myself once I am worried about taking care of some other little peanut.  I don't want to wait until another life event serves as a reminder to avoid eating hot dogs.  Even if we all do only one of these nice things for ourselves, that is a step in the right direction.  I have the naps down, but will focus on not saying mean things to myself as my pants stop fitting.  Which one are you going to work on?  Take care, my loves - I would like us to be friends a while longer.

New Year = The end of bad choices. For at least a week and a half.

Via Metapicture

Confession: December beat me at its own game. Between the holidays and moving to a new home, I did not go to the gym while simultaneously subscribing to the carbohydrate diet.  When I went to the gym for the first time in weeks a few days ago, I was reminded about what a difference four weeks makes.  I. Am. Sore.

So now I am in the midst of fighting the good fight on eating well, going to the gym, and overall being the best version of myself.  I am losing the fight on the first two, so my only hope left is finding some actually meaningful things to try and stick to.  Since I ate a doughnut today, any hopes of a low-fat, low sodium, gluten-free, low carb, clean, paleo, flavor-free, or 100% healthy diet are slowly slipping into the night.

That is okay, because instead, I think my promises to myself in 2014 might be more effective than the usual diet and exercise resolution.  Here are the New Year goals I have set for myself:

1. Remove the word "busy": I am making an effort to remove the word busy from my vocabulary and glorifying it as if it was an accomplishment.  This is particularly difficult when I have co-workers who value busy.  Just the same, I make my decisions on my schedule, so I will not add to the glorification of "busy" with my own comments.
2. Buy less things unless I need them: I will still buy things from time to time that are not essentials, but I will think long and hard about whether it will really bring me that much satisfaction.  For example, I have stopped buying sweaters that are cute from an inexpensive retailer, only to be disappointed when they shrink in the wash anyways.  I will buy a better sweater instead of two crappy ones.
3. Meet new people: I made a few really great new friends in 2013.  I think that is a worthy goal to continue.  Whether it is connecting back with people I once knew, networking professionally, or meeting more friends of friends, this is a worthy investment.  Warning, I am becoming more socially awkward with age, so please expect that when you introduce me to your friends.

And if I stop eating baked goods, that is fine too.  But I find that to be unlikely since I live closer than ever to my favorite local bakery. And I work for a food company.  And I love baked goods.  Yeah.

Protect your noggin. No really, this is serious.

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As we are sitting around watching football today, I am always reminded about how dangerous it is when I see a really hard hit.  I feel very passionate about the dangers of sports concussions and wanted to share this infographic above as a great snapshot about this issue.  This has been a hot topic with the NFL and NHL, but we still have a ways to go in every sport, and particularly in high school and college athletic teams.

As a fan, I find it outrageous for players or coaches to push for concussed players to get back in the game.  If you have kids in sports, I think it is important to make educated decisions about preventing or treating head injuries.

Here are a few questions you should ask:

• Why don't we have a system to track sports concussions?  There isn't enough research yet about this, even though there has been a lot more visibility about the issue in the last few years.  Ask how your sports organizations track or handle sports concussions.
• What is the "culture of resistance" in our sports teams?  The "culture of resistance" is a phrase that refers to when concussions go unreported in order to allow players to keep playing, often to the detriment of their own well-being.  If your team overlooks it, don't play.  If you are a fan of a national team turning a blind eye, stop watching.

Here are a few things you can do now:

• Set your kids up for baseline testing.  This is testing that gives you an understanding of brain activity and function that is at your child's normal level.  After a concussion, you can complete the same test to measure any changes in brain function.  It is relatively cheap to do, and since there is no system to track this normally, this allows you to track it yourself.  Check out Axon Sports.
• Talk to your kids and their coaches about the choice to get back on the field.  If we talk to our kids that they have the right and ability to stay off of the field until they have recovered, they might not feel pressured by others to get back in the game too early.  Talk to the coaches to understand their philosophy and the team culture about protecting against concussions and allowing for recovery time.

Read more in these articles and my sources for this post:

Concussion study offers sobering results - The Charlotte Observer
Study: No helmet brand can save football players from concussion risk - LA Times
NFL players' brains at work show early signs of concussions' toll - LA Times

If you read have time to read one of these articles, read the third one about NFL players' brains.  It is enough to motivate you to switch your kids to swim lessons.