Dana: Being on the other side of fifty makes one acutely aware of the power of habit. One day you realize that everything you have or don’t have, the good and the bad, are the sum of all your choices and habits, leading up to this moment. Everything counts, and everything affects everything else.
Habits make up a life.
It’s been said that habits aren’t eliminated, but rather replaced with better ones. So for the sake of health, and energy, and wanting to be around for a long time for my precious granddaughters, as well as my three daughters and the rest of my beloveds, I want to fill my life with good habits. I want to replace any low-energy habits with high-energy habits.
The good weather brings with it my craving for ice cream. The problem is, the five-year-old me would have ice cream every day, all spring and summer long. Fortunately, the more mature me is in charge here (well, at least most of the time) and I’ve found the habit to replace the urge to Eat All the Ice Cream.
Smoothies! Acai bowls! Delicious cold-pressed juice! 
I am obsessed.
I won’t load you up with recipes here because, well, this isn’t a food blog, and the internet is full of great recipes at your disposal. Instead, I’ll just say that any combination of these things go into my smoothies: spinach, kale, Vega powder, acai, bananas, berries of all types, coconut milk, cocoa, ground flaxseed & chia seeds.
And they are delicious! And fun! I can choose my flavor, just like at the ice cream stand. I can make them at home (or order them out). Smoothie making can get creative, be served up to others, enjoyed outside in the sunshine, for breakfast, for a mid afternoon snack, or an evening “special drink” .
Have I mentioned acai bowls? Acai is a super-fruit harvested from palm trees found around the Amazon River basin of South America. I order it freeze-dried from Amazon Prime. Amazon delivers from the Amazon, apparently. It is loaded- I mean, loaded– with nutrients. I can actually feel my cells pulsing in ecstasy when consuming it. Dramatic I know, but high-vibe food feels dramatic. It feels like vibrancy.
It feels like sweet rebellion against all the messages that tell us- especially women- that we will feel heavy, sluggish, and out of ambition, passion, or libido in middle age.
Ha! I actually feel better now than I ever have. Why? Because my habits have gotten better. Not amazing. Far from perfect. But I finally realize that every single one counts, in every area of life.
I’ve got my share of course corrections to do here on this side of five decades. But the rewards it seems, are sweeter than ice cream.
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* If you want to make something like an acai bowl, but do not want to bother finding, ordering or paying for acai ? Cranberries are a great runner-upper, the most similar in nutrients to acai fruit.
Yours Truly 