I just came home from CES in Las Vegas, and the fact that I survived now means that I can really knuckle down on my diet. Las Vegas may be the food capital (since every major chef seems to have a restaurant there), but I can tell you that I saw NONE of that. Instead, I was marooned on the floor of the Sands Convention Center, where doughnuts are sold as a side order to iceberg lettuce salads that are drenched with suspicious-looking creamy dressing. I had a hot dog and Cheetos for lunch one day. Yikes.

But now I’m back in the lovely and delightful Bay Area, and fired up to feel better. Yesterday, I bought a step and distance pedometer, and I’m going to try to hit 10,000 steps a day. I did okay yesterday. After I put it on in mid-day, I hit 7,700 steps. That’s not too bad, considering I wasn’t really trying. So today, I’m going to hit 10,000, no matter what.

Today is the first day I’m really beginning to feel normal after all the badness that went into my system over the last week. Stress and terrible food is a really bad combination. Of course, I’m not telling anyone anything new here, but the last week just reinforces it for me. There’s a direct link between my mental health, good food, exercise and stress level. When the balance goes out of whack, I get very cranky, very fast. I feel awful.

The thing I’ve realized is that I’ve felt bad for a long time, without knowing exactly why. Now I think I get it: If you take care of yourself, you feel better mentally and physically. Wow! Now there’s a barn-burner of an idea!