Exotic yet ordinary

Each month my co-workers and I gather together in the first floor conference room for All Staff. It is during All Staff that we get an update from the county director, which usually includes a sampling of her mail, an update from each of the supervisors, a mandatory training segment, a wellness segment, and a guest speaker (usually for the training). This week, we had three guest speakers: a representative from Conseco Insurance who was peddling supplementary insurance policies for cancer and heart disease, a gentleman raising awareness for stroke prevention, and the area 6 nurse who was there to give our training over TB, Hepatitis, and HIV/AIDS. Great start to the day for someone who can't tolerate discussions of most medical topics, especially those involving blood, arteries, and veins. I don't even like to feel my own pulse, people, so I could only imagine how this was going to go..

The Conseco guy went first. And though his statistics on cancer and heart disease were unpleasant, I was suprisingly okay with his presentation. The presentation on stroke prevention, complete with fun visuals and a fake block of fat, was next. I had to la-la-la through a good deal of his presentation, which involved a terrific bit on clogged arteries and things that can break loose, travel to your brain, and kill you. By the time the area nurse cheerfully launched into our training on bloodborne pathogens I was clenching my folded arms to my chest and trying desparately to think of some reason to be in another part of the office. But, since I'm one of those people that can't seem to move whenever someone is giving a talk, I stayed put. I have never been so happy for the director to discuss her mail..

The morning of disease and pestilence served to refocus my attention on my goal to lose weight and be healthier before the year is out. It also helped to spend an afternoon reading articles on weight control. And wouldn't you know, there's no quick fix for this? So, this week I start the painful path to a slimmer me. I am going to take my iPod out for a walk several times a week, cut red meat out of my diet (well... maybe I'll still have the very occasional burger), drink more water, start the ol' calorie counting (again), cut sweets waaaay back, and I'm going to stop eating out so much. Er, right after our trip to Kilkenny's Monday evening, of course. Fish and chips is healthy, right?