Time for Turmeric

Turmeric: late Middle English, perhaps from French terre mérite = "deserving-of-merit earth".
I like turmeric, but it does taste like bitter dirt.

I've started making a cold drink--sort of a turmeric tea (one recipe + info on health benefits)--with fresh lemon, grated ginger, honey, a couple dashes of turmeric, and a wee pinch of black pepper (to help absorb the curcuminoids--the natural antioxidants and anti-inflammatory that make turmeric orange-yellow).
I'm going to buy fresh turmeric root next time I'm at the co-op: it's this gorgeous color. I've never tried it.

This is all part of my plan to use my new job as part of an overall take-care-of-myself plan. 
The work is physically active in a relatively mild way––picking things up off the floor, reaching things up to a shelf, walking around––but because I was so sedentary, writing over the past year, it's a work-out for me.

I'm thrilled about that, and I can tell I'm stronger already, but I'm also feeling cautious, worried about injuring this out-of-shape bod.
Thankfully I had two days off after Sunday's sale, because I was quite sore from running around too much on hard floors, and lifting too much with my fingers: that was a wake-up call.

My coworkers had even told me to slow down, to pace myself!
"Don't work harder," they said, "just because it's busy."
(I'm liking my coworkers a lot, so far.)

So, this is my plan: 

PACE MYSELF: never run! pick things up with my whole hand, not my fingers

STRETCH: especially foot stretches, to prevent injuries--like these from a sports site, including spread your toes, write the alphabet (or a phrase with a variety of letters) in the air with your foot, calf stretches, etc.

EAT WELL: always pack a lunch, so I don't end up eating the torn bag of sour gummy worms (I love them, but they're not food);
eat colorful foods, like turmeric and strawberries