Goals For 2012 – #1 Get Healthy (and Happy)

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Corey Stewart

Now with the haze that is the Xmas and New Year’s festivities out of the way, the realisation has hit me that 2012 is finally here. I’m now back in the land of the living which means it’s time to get back to work.

I do feel refreshed after my little break however, I also feel a lot heavier and a lot more sluggish from all of the excesses and over-indulgences of the past 12 days since my last blog post just before Xmas day.

I must do something about that.

The first (and most important) goal that I want to set myself for 2012 is to “Get Healthy.”

But what does that really mean?

Getting my health back to an optimum level is my number one priority for this year as I’ve come to the conclusion (through having a shocking 2011 health-wise) that none of my other goals will become fully realised if my health is not taken care of first and foremost.

I know that “Get Healthy” is a bit of a nebulous statement and nebulous goals of this nature are really easy to break so I want to take this time to define what getting healthy really means to me.

It means…

1. Going Back To The Gym
A couple of months ago I joined the EFM Fitness Centres network and started going to their gym in Brompton two to three times a week.

Things were going well until I started experiencing the side effects of expelling a lot of toxins from my body resulting in some nasty infections which required a severe course of antibiotics which prevented me from going to the gym.

Then came Xmas and New Year…

Even though getting the routine back is going to be difficult I’m more determined to go back to the gym because when I was there I really enjoyed it.

I might even consider getting some personal training once I reclaim some level of fitness.

2. Finding More Ways To Be Active
I have noticed that I spend most of my time sitting down and this needs to change.

While I might not be able to change the sitting down component of my work I can find more reasons to get up from the chair and do something else for a while like go for a walk, use the treadmill, get out in the garden or play some tennis/squash.

The list of things to do is as endless as my imagination.

Experts say that being active for 30 minutes to an hour every day is essential. I’m sure I can find some time to become a more active person in-between gym sessions.

3. Giving Myself Some ‘Me’ Time
Meditation, contemplation, naval gazing, whatever I want to call it I need to give myself the permission to experience it every day.

It seems that my brain runs at a million miles an hour all the time and this year I want to be able to find a way to slow it down so it wont chatter so much. Maybe then I can get some more sleep and perhaps be a better person to be around without being so preoccupied with what’s going on in my own head.

Taking some time out to ‘just be’ is something that frightens me. Even thinking about brings up feelings of guilt because I should be using that time to ‘do something’ hence why I have never read a book cover to cover for pleasure.

Now there’s a great way to start things off…

4. Paying Attention To My Diet
I love my junk food way too much, especially pizza and ice cream… Now there’s my downfall.

I’m addicted to dairy products and I’ve got to do something to control these junk food cravings. I’ve been able to give up smoking so surely I can do something about my diet.

I’m certain that preparing and cooking more food at home plus being more mindful of my food portions will be a really good start.

5. Maintaining A Positive/Optimistic Attitude To Life
It would be impossible to eliminate stress from my life however, changing the way I work with and react to stress is something that I can do something about.

One of the ways I can work with and react to the everyday stresses of life a whole lot better is by maintaining a positive and optimistic attitude towards it.

Thankfully, I’ve always considered myself a “glass-is-half-full” kind of person so I think that maintaining this kind of attitude won’t be too hard but when things get a little too intense I can slip into negative territory pretty quickly.

It’s all about being mindful of my thoughts and my actions and whether they are congruent with my overall attitude.

All in all I’m really excited about what opportunities 2012 can bring to my life, my music and to the hopes and dreams of my friends and loved ones. I know that together we can make this year work for all of us.

May you have a happy and safe 2012.

Peace,

Corey

Absence Makes The (Blogging) Heart Grow Fonder

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Corey Stewart

Hi everybody,

I’ve been away from you for a little while and guess what, I’ve missed you.

Life has been very busy for me of late and I’ve been taking the time off from blogging to reassess a big part of my life as well as take up a wonderful opportunity.

First of all the reassessment…

You might have seen me post from time to time about how I’ve been unwell of late. Well, over the last four weeks I had again succumbed to a nasty flu which had knocked me about but the scary thing about it this time around was how it affected me both personally and professionally.

Personally because I started getting migraine headaches for the first time in many years (the pain being so intense I was wanting to throw up) and professionally because it’s been really affecting my ability to play gigs, especially with my singing voice plus, the way I go about my business.

There was only one thing I needed to do… Reassess the state of my health. The latest flu attack was the straw that broke the camels back and something had to be done.

RIGHT NOW!

I realised that my health was non-existent. I had let myself go to such an extent that I was the unhealthiest and heaviest I’ve ever been and this was affecting everything else in my life.

I couldn’t go on doing this to myself any longer.

As of three weeks ago I started making some changes in my life. Drinking more water, cutting out breads, pastas, take aways and cutting down on coffee.

I’ve also been making time to exercise regularly, cooking at home every night and joining up with the Kate Morgan weight loss program for some extra help and accountability and I’ve already lost 5 kilos and I feel much better physically and mentally.

I’m not going to be one of those people who go on and on about it but it’s amazing what happens when you start to notice the positive changes.

Anyway, now for the opportunity…

A couple of weeks ago I started moving my home office out and relocating to some office space at Pro Advanced Media located at 88 Gibson Street in Bowden. The reason for this is that now that I’ve tried working at home and away from home I now know which I prefer.

I’ve known Alec who runs Pro Advanced Media for a fair while now and we’ve discussed from time to time the possibility of doing some work together and a couple of months ago the time was right to get more serious with the discussions.

I wanted to move into an office space and Alec had some office space spare so as of Monday July 22nd I now run my affairs from a new location.

The space at home has now been converted into a dedicated home recording studio which I finished tidying up and reorganising a couple of days ago.

Now that I’m feeling much better and much more organised, I’m ready to blog again.

The only thing left to say now is… Hello world I’m back, did you miss me? I certainly missed you.

Peace,

Corey

I’m Feeling Better… Finally!

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Corey Stewart

Well, I haven’t posted anything since October 19th and in that time I’ve spent most of my time seeing doctors, taking antibiotics and sleeping. I haven’t been this sick in a very long time.

Over the last 2 weeks that I’ve been out of action I’ve attempted to rejoin the land of the living a couple of times but my illness soon put me back in my place but today is the first day that I feel like some sort of human being.

I can certainly relate to the fact that you really do appreciate what you have when it’s been taken away from you, albeit temporarily. My health has certainly been the main thing in my life that I’ve taken for granted way too much.

I once read somewhere that most of us in western society treat our health in the same way as we do with our cars. We run them into the ground thinking that someone else will be able to fix it.

Cars, maybe but my health, no way.

What this recent illness had taught me is that I am ultimately responsible for my health and wellbeing. I can’t just do what I want with it and expect to be saved at the eleventh hour by some health professional.

Anyway, this post is not an exercise in beating myself up with a big stick, it’s merely an attempt to share with you all the lessons that I’ve learnt and to let everybody know that I’m okay and to also thank everyone again for their emails and messages of support.

I am really lucky to have friends such as yourselves who are willing to put up with me and my (generally) musical rantings. It never ceases to amaze me how the power of love, friendship, community and music has got me through the last couple of weeks.

So, as of today I’m taking the tentative steps necessary to return to the land of the living a little wiser and hopefully a little healthier.

I’ll be taking major steps in getting my health back to where I want it to be and I’ll be using my personal blog to keep track of that and to be held accountable to my goals.

It’s great to feel like a human being again. Now, where is that guitar… I want to play it!

Peace,

Corey