Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Living Well: What you do and what you eat matters!

A month or so ago, Romy and I were talking about health and food and especially sugar.  I've always had issues with sugar.  About 10 years ago I had my sugars tested and found out that I was on the borderline for Type 2 Diabetes.  I took a medicine called Glucophage and it helped.  I also ate right, exercised and took care of myself and lost about 30 pounds. I looked and felt great, but I didn't want to be on the meds my whole life so I got off of them and tried to control it with diet and exercise.  I did well for quite a while, but over the past few years I haven't paid as close attention to it as I should have.

Last month my dad had a health scare and it woke me up! Thank goodness he is going to be ok, but I realized with all of the heart, lung and sugar issues that run in my family on both sides, I had better quit ignoring things. Another motivating factor is that with school and starting this business, anxiety can get the best of me if I don't watch it. Sugar seems to enhance any uneasy feelings I have too, so I decided to listen to Romy and take her advice on cleaning up my diet.  She told me about the Quantum Wellness Cleanse by Kathy Freston.  Romy and I are both following the 21 day plan together! It requires you to cut out sugar, gluten, alcohol, animal products and caffeine for a three week period of time. The good news is that while doing this, I've realized even more how much I love vegetables and that this doesn't really limit you very much.  You can eat and get really full on things that are not only good for you, but also delicious.  And with the connection to the the Oklahoma Food Coop, I know that I'm just now on the verge of fully appreciating all of the seasonal and local food that I can so easily acquire! (Yes, that was a shameless plug.)

We're on day 9 of the cleanse and, other than a few times when I ate things as a result of not paying attention, things have gone really well.  I feel more energetic, my skin is clearer and so is my mind! I've added yoga and other forms of exercise (walking, bike riding) into my routine and I'm feeling more at peace about things.  I have to admit that I'll be happy when wine and cheese can enter back into my life, but I don't think I'll be reincorporating the sodas.  I have craved a coke everyday until today.  It took 9 days for me to break that addiction and I don't want to go back.  I'm not saying I'll never have another soda in my lifetime, but I won't be drinking them like I did.

It's nice to know that you can do things for your body that can actually help it to heal itself.  You can take back your good health!  You just have to want to and make it your intention.  Here is a video I found of Kathy Freston on the Ellen Degeneres show.  She's been on Oprah too but I like Ellen the best, so I'm posting this one.  I love that Kathy encourages people to take care of themselves and to think about ways in which you can change your life for the better because it has a ripple effect on so many other people. Thank you Romy, for encouraging me to try this cleanse and for doing it with me!!! It is changing my views on things and maybe someday I can help others in the same way. First, though, I'm going to try to make it to day 21.

No comments:

Post a Comment