A breath of fresh air

Good health starts with good breathing, and now I will admit to another condition: chronic nasal congestion.  Allergic rhinitis, to the best of my ability to self-diagnose.  It seems pretty clear to me that I developed this condition during my years in Seoul, where the sooty mucus I would frequently blow out was worrisome, and excessive clearing of my nose led to nosebleeds by 1999, my last year in Korea.  Things improved somewhat after I returned to the U.S.  The overall level of congestion subsided some, and I stopped having random nosebleeds by the summer of 2000.  Still, not a day goes by that I don't feel the congestion.

In the hopes that I will spend TLY with an improved quality of breathing, I invested in a NeilMed Sinugator (instead of my original intention of buying a neti pot).  I plan to wash with the device once per day starting today, possibly up to twice per day, and will report on my findings later!


Breathing better will help out with my next revealed mission...


Bucket Mission: Health & Fitness

Synopsis

There are two concrete parts to this mission.

• Lower my BMI by 2 points.  This won't take me out of the overweight range, but it's a worthy objective for TLY.
• Run 5K in under 30 minutes.  I began running again in 2010 for the first time since college, and my current 5K record is 33'30".

Metric

I will report on each measurable record setting value for lower BMI and speedier 5K as I work toward mission completion.  The theory is that working toward my 5K record should help me work toward my BMI goal.  We shall see; the clock is ticking.

Drops from My 2012 Bucket: Jan. 3, 353 days remaining

What Are Little Girls Made Of? (Andrea... a picture is worth a thousand words)
Miri (that's one planet I wouldn't want to grow up on)

Video Mission Update: 9 / 728 hours = 1.2%