You know how they say, “Fake it till you make it”? Well, two years ago, riddled with chronic fatigue, inflammation, at least fifty pounds overweight, drinking waaaaay too much vino, and generally not function at a peak-anything, I realized, you can only “fake” things up to a point before reality bites. Here’s the truth: You can’t fake health, and you can’t fake skills. And you need both to survive a Zombie Apocalypse…
Here are 10 steps I personally took to change my life for the better. Read about my transformation, and then CHOOSE to make these changes, too! A better quality of life is within YOUR control. Write down what you want to achieve, and then… do it!
#1: Turn off your TV. The mainstream media wants your attention… it’s how they make money. They don’t care about your feelings. They don’t care about making you anxious. They don’t care about scaring you. In fact, the more anxious and scared you are, the more money they make. If you want to improve your life, the #1 thing you can do is TURN OFF THE NEWS. You can still watch all the shows you love, just make how you consume content a conscious choice, on YOUR terms. I turned off the news years ago, and it radically improved my life!
#2: Get healthy! If the possibility of getting sick in the future is now a “legitimate” reason to suppress millions of citizens’ rights, shutter and destroy businesses, and crash the economy, let’s use this time to get healthy. This means new routines! Get your blood work done to provide a benchmark against which to measure progress.
#3: Change your diet. I lost 65 lbs following an Ancestral/Keto lifestyle. I stopped eating carbs. I stopped eating sugar (except some dark chocolate from time to time, more in Times of Covid, obvi). If immediately eliminating carbs and sugar sounds too hard, try approaching this lifestyle change this way: Cook from scratch until this is over and eat every meal together at the table until then. This simple step will noticeably improve your life!
#4: Turn in early and get 8 hours of sleep. Our brains detox while we sleep, keeping us healthy and sane. Sleep deprivation is a recognized form of torture, so if you aren’t sleeping well, you are… literally *torturing* your body and mind, which might explain some of the serious health problems in this country. Honestly, if The Control Freaks really wanted to make an impact on the health of Americans, let’s get some SWAT police flash-banging down doors to ensure you are getting enough sleep! (Please don’t do this.)
#5: Try something new every day. Use this opportunity to foster curiosity–curiosity is the antidote to stupid. Take a virtual museum tour in a foreign country. Watch all the TED Talks about a subject you are passionate about (I want to learn more about the brain). Learn to cook or bake something new, a fun project you can do with the whole family!
#6: Learn to meditate. No time like the present! There are a slew of YouTube videos of guided meditations, or apps like Waking Up or Calm that can be downloaded straight to your phone. Meditation is something you can even start practicing as a family. Ten minutes a day can make a vast difference and set your kids up for success in life. Start today!
#7: Encrypt your communications. Make sure you install encryption messaging like Signal or Telegram in order to securely communicate with the loved ones in your life.
#8: Volunteer. You can sign up for official NH volunteer programs to help during the coming weeks here, or, like my husband and I have been doing, you can go out and do neighborhood litter pickups, reach out to infirm neighbors to make sure they have what they need, and generally be a decent human being–from six feet away (or, wear a mask and/or gloves if that’s your preference).
#9: Grow an edible garden. If this sounds intimidating (it does to me!) start small with some counter herbs, then some herbs in the garden, and then work your way up until in a year or two, you will be able to feed your household healthy, nutritious, locally grown and organic food–yours! If this still sounds crazy to you… support a local farmer at farm stalls and markets in your area.
#10 Live! Free people move freely. If you need to go about your business, be considerate and make an effort to comply with safety instructions, but also, while keeping things in perspective, remember YOU are the captain of YOUR LIFE, and YOU, and only YOU control your life, the government does not own you (and if you disagree, we should talk!). Use this time to take charge of your life, grow, and change for the better!