Taking Herself in Hand

Every so often, the Matron goes on a bender. A health bender, that is. These sprints toward self-improvement -- of body and spirit, generally -- tended to be just that: sprints.

At your mark, get set: go!

The Matron would start off strong (no yeast, no sugar, no alcohol, pilates, macrobiotics, ayurveda living, cleansing breathing regime, creative visualization, weight-lifting), proceed with laser-like focus and determination and then peter out after a short distance.

Ah. If only she could be more of a cross-country or marathon self-help aficionado. She'd still be selecting food amenable to the Type A blood streaming through her veins.

Or harder yet, eating fermented vegetables with a side of sea weed (thanks macrobiotics for the good health but less than palatable plate).

The latest?

The Body Ecology Diet!

Now, the Matron is a student of history. She understands that the current focus on kefir, ghee, alkaline and acidic, expanding and contracting, colon care, liver cleansing and emotional healing will most likely fall to the wayside like the whole weight lifting concept. But for the moment, she in the thick of the sprint.

This isn't really a diet but a life plan, which is what appeals to the self-help junkie she houses. One attends not only to every body part and organ, but the emotional needs of body and soul. There are recommendation for relaxation, exercise, spiritual growth. There's even a war theme and yours truly likes action-adventure shows: fight that yeast!

She loves it! She's a virtual full-length feature film between getting in touch with feelings, the battle toward health (hard-fought, indeed, with lots of subplots like spleen health and gleaming skin) and new approach to life.

This time around, she is thinking in terms of a mid-range run. Maybe six weeks?

And those apples that don't fall far from the tree?

Scarlett: "I'm a vegetarian."

Until someone produces a drumstick.

He Who Cannot Be Named when confronted with a carrot: "I don't eat orange things. Except cheetos, doritos, and various other chemicals constituted into junk food or candy."

Merrick: "I'm going to exewsize!" In front of the TV.

At least hope and ambition spring eternal and even produce change of some sorts, if temporary.

Others gone full-throttle into some sort of health program that fizzled or failed? She knows she's not alone.