Thursday, February 4, 2010

Brain Dump

Just got home from the gym, another really great workout. I'm really getting into some good habits and noticing a shift the last couple of weeks. I feel the endorphins kick in about halfway through and I end up doing more than I planned. Weight loss has slowed down a bit. I think it was perhaps August when I really started making an effort, and I'm down 22 pounds. I'm trying not to make it be about the numbers. I am down a size in clothing and that size is getting looser. I'm not dieting. I eat what I want to eat and have learned healthier ways of balancing my intake. I don't ever eat anything I don't like, or don't want, and I don't eat if I am not hungry. That seems to be the key piece that has really changed. I can discern between hungry and not hungry, and truly don't want to eat when I am not hungry. It's a lifestyle, not a diet. I am LOVING the exercise. I've set a goal weight for myself, and when I reach it (21 more pounds) I am going to treat myself to a fitting at the shop in town that specializes in running shoes. I've always wanted to be able to run, but always end up with shin splints. I figure maybe having my feet, and my gait analyzed and getting the right shoes may make that happen.

So I have been in my head ALOT today and feel the need to just brain dump. Where to begin. This is what started me thinking. Are we going to run out of oil - of course we are, it is a finite resource. The question is...then what? Seriously. I've often wondered if the 2008 car I own will be the last gas powered vehicle I ever own. Of course the bigger question is, how will a decreased supply of oil affect our daily lives? We have grown so used to have everything we need trucked or flown in from all over the world, something that people living 100 years ago could not imagine. We are an instant society. I don't have to wait until July to eat fresh tomatoes, they are in the grocery store daily. Instant gratification. I'm stupid to think that the grocery store is always going to be stocked with everything I need. I need to learn to be more self sufficient. I'm working on it.

Then there are all the products we have and use in our everyday lives that are powered by fossil fuel. Anything plastic, for instance. That covers alot. And so much of that plastic gets thrown away.

That's not the main thing I was thinking about today. Nope, nope. It was the ride home from work tonight that really got my wheels spinning. I started thinking about how spread out we all are. I commute 20 miles each way to work every day. I bet most people travel even farther. 100 years ago, perhaps even 50 years ago, I would have worked much closer to home. Well, since I'm a woman my "place" would most likely have been IN the home. But Mr. Me would have most likely worked in the same town we lived in. Anyway, I suddenly just sort of detached from the grid for moment and took in all the cars on the road, the people in them, isolated, making the same journey day after day. What if my mode of transportation, the gas fueled automobile with every comfort of home could no longer be used and I had to rely on a horse to get around? Well, it would kind of suck seeing as how I am so allergic to them.

OK, my brain is all over the place and now I am tired. I guess the bottom line is I do not like the pace of life out there and I want mine to slow down. I do love my technology, but honestly? I could walk away from it and live a different kind of life. Maybe I should go live with the Amish.