The Chicken or the Egg?

October 26, 2013

Ever hear the question, "Which came first the chicken or the egg?" I'm sure we've all heard that from one time or another.  

Well I've come across another great question that I find so appropriate to my blog.  I found it on a WordPress blog written by Jinjee Talifero.  It's a site that talks about the advantages of eating raw.  You can find it at  http://jinjeetalifero.com/

She wrote that her husband, Storm made a comment that I just so related to....and it's become my favorite comment of the day...maybe the week...maybe till I'm 99...

"DO WE STOP MOVING BECAUSE WE GROW OLD 

OR 

DO WE GROW OLD BECAUSE WE STOP MOVING"

Read that again and think about it.  I think the answer is most definitely the latter....I truly believe we grow old because we stop moving.  I can't tell you how many people I see in the fitness center of the community I live in that are living proof of people who are aging, but not getting old.....because they keep moving.  Some of them move slowly, but as the motivational poster says:

  

I cannot begin to tell you how different I feel now when I do not exercise.  I feel sluggish and old.  But when I exercise and when I eat healthy my whole world is different.  I feel energized.  My body functions the way it is suppose to (in ways you probably would rather not hear me talk about).  And when I exercise, I always remember my trainer saying (and I've mentioned this in other posts).  We all age, but OLD is a box we put ourselves into.  There's no doubt, just like everyone else, I am aging.  But I am going to fight growing old with every fiber I have in me.....just as much as I'm going to fight this second round of breast cancer.  

I have to laugh at myself sometimes, especially when I see people's eyes rolling at my over exuberance of healthy eating and getting fit.  I sometimes feel like one of those people who used to smoke and quit and now can't stand to be around smokers....or those people that are referred to as "they got religion". I used to be one of those "everybody on the couch".  I've always been a walker...walking is and always has been my favorite means of exercise, but it wasn't until I lost my husband to emphysema and had my first encounter with breast cancer that something clicked in me that getting fit physically and mentally wasn't just a whim that you talked about doing and never really followed through on. 

Getting fit by eating healthy and exercising is a real thing....it's a real important thing.  Did I fail at part of it and as a result got cancer for the second time....maybe.  I'll admit even though I'm a cheering fool now for fitness, I am sometimes my own worst enemy.  Way too many times I give in to the chips and sweets ......as Edith Ann on Laugh In (ugh I just dated myself) said "And that's the truthththth"

So if ever there was a red flag thrown up....if ever there was a "Here's your sign"....it's this discovery that once again I have breast cancer.  One of the first questions I ask the Physician's Assistant and the surgeon was, "What can I do proactively to prevent this from happening a 3rd time?".....the answer.... 

"Eat healthy, lose  weight and exercise"...HELLO!  

Do we stop moving because we get old....or do we get old and bring illness on ourselves because we stop moving.  

I'm facing this new round of breast cancer with this thought in mind.  I've started taking care of my body, I've worked at eating healthy (but slipped up along the way) and I've embraced exercise as though my life depends on it...........and guess what.....it does.

  

 Keep moving with me.....let's age together....but let's not jump in the OLD box!