We are a little over 1/3 of the way through the detox and I have to remind myself, why are are doing this? Well it is easy to ask that NOW. Now that our cough is gone, we feel better and we have both dropped some pounds. It is so easy to forget that our health was gradually failing, enough to do something drastic, when we drive by a veritable sea of restaurants on the way home. Actually this program is not so bad and we have discussed continuing past the 28 days. We will likely continue on week days indefinitely and allow the addition of some animal protein on weekends. But still, it would be so easy to drive into Chuy's and get a "Mex fix".
It made me think though how easy it is to eat what you want and do what you want without giving a thought to the body we abuse on a daily basis. Not that it is easy to go on a diet, but I had to think how often I would throw caution to the wind and get that plate of cheese enchiladas or that Key lime pie. I would "make it up" by being good the rest of the week. Well as you get older, you can be "good" for MONTHS and one sit down sinful dinner will pack on 5 pounds of fat over night. As you get older, the body just isn't geared to let go of that fat with a few walks around the block and a sensible diet for a few weeks. Besides, it you go splurge once a week like most people do, then you just keep packing it on.
Once the body hits 40, the metabolism slows and packs on about 10 pounds a year. Some people really fight it and some don't. Well at 50, you can't even fight it much anymore. I proved that I could gain 10 pounds in two weeks of bad eating, and I never lost an ounce of it.
At some point it is easier just to resign to a little padding. After all, you don't see yourself from behind. You get USED to that girth and convince yourself you really look ok...for your age. This works for awhile. You see other people that are thin and fit, turn your head and bite into that hot dog.
Then something goes wrong. You go to the doctor and boom. You have a prescription drug that you have to take until you die. Then you deal with the side effects from the drug. A year goes by and something else goes wrong. Yep, another pill to take. At 55, it is not uncommon to be on thyroid medicine (as one in 5 get thyroid disease), blood pressure meds, pain killers, sleeping pills, mood pills and of course, cholesterol medicine. I think every doctor thinks every person in America should be on Cholesterol medicine, even in spite of the side effects. Once all of these diseases are present, the next step is diabetes, gout, diverticulitis, acid reflux disease, cancer, and other choice diseases.
When I was on said Cholesterol medicine. I felt like someone beat on me with a baseball bat every day of my life. I always hurt. So I was mainlining the pain meds that resulted in problems with my stomach, which started the acid reflux, then diverticulitis...well you get my point.
I am going into all of this because it is too easy to get to this point that you get a new disease every year. And this is an accepted way of life in America.
Knowing what I know now, I would have adopted this type of diet decades ago. I am trying to eat this way now to reverse damage done to my body but what if I had taken care of it all along? What if I looked at that first prescription like the first nail in my coffin? What if I would have found an alternative through my diet?
Second, I would have found some sort of exercise to do that I loved. I HATE to run, I find many reasons not to go walking, and exercise bores me to tears. I was athletic growing up but with gymnastics and basketball. Hard to fit those things into a routine later in life. I love to dance though and I should have gotten into Jazzercise, Zumba or something that I would have stuck with.
Third, I would have taken better care of my skin. Not just my face... but my neck, my chest, my hands. My face looks a lot smoother than my neck. Had I taken care of my neck and hands like I took care of my face, they might look a lot better.
And last - I would have found a way to laugh everyday. Instead I wasted ten years on a man who made me worry all the time. Ten years is about a quarter of my adult life. When he and I divorced, I looked quite a bit older than was because of the stress and frown lines. Stress puts the weight on too and does all sorts of bad things to your body. He was not worth the time I wasted on him. I would have been better off alone.
So I leave you with this.
Live, laugh, love - and take care of yourself.
Enjoy all of the wonderful flavors of natural, live foods!
Try new foods and food combinations you never tried before.
Learn how to use herbs and use them to add taste sensation to everything you eat.
Show respect and compassion for your elders. You will be one of them someday.
Do things that you can look back on in your older years and say, "Yes I lived".
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