I started to take good health and feeling amazing for granted. Did I stop appreciating how great I felt? Was I bragging to much about how I turned my health around? Maybe. Unfortunately, I was just hit over the head with a 2x4. Wonder woman can still get sick. About two weeks ago I was struck down with feeling very fatigued and mentally fuzzy. I got on the scale and gained five pounds practically overnight. WHAT? My digestive track was starting to do things it had done in the past. I couldn't figure this out.. I hadn't changed ANYTHING! I started to play around with my food intake a bit in hopes to resolve the issue. I added a little more oil here, a little fermented food there and started taking probiotics. Nothing helped, my condition continued to worsen. I noticed my ankles looked extremely swollen while doing yoga one evening. You tend to look at your ankles quite a bit while in the Downward Dog position. I decided to go the doctor, apparently my superpower in this area had been weakened.
By the time I reached the doctor's office, I was in severe pain in my abdomen and back. Instant diagnosis of diverticulitis! My old nemesis had come back to wreak havoc on my body. I have since been flat on my back in bed in pain and on MEGA doses of very strong, not so pleasant antibiotics. I am three days into treatment and still not feeling much better. I am not allowed to eat anything, except clear liquids. I am severely missing my avocados and farm eggs. As I have much time on my hands, I have been thinking quite a bit. The memories of being this mentally fuzzy, lethargic, and in pain in the past, has rocked me to the core. This is how I use to spend most of my days. I may not have been flat on my back in pain all the time, but I NEVER felt good. I was always feeling groggy, tired, bloated, achy in some part of my body. The last time I had diverticulitis, it was about 5 weeks before I went to the doctor because being uncomfortable and bloated was my norm. In the past, I was just used to feeling yucky, so I would ignore symptoms until things got dangerous.
I have come to a couple of conclusions while laying here writhing in pain.
1. I never want to go back to feeling this crappy again.
2. Even though I thought I had a super power and the fountain of youth, no one is completely invincible.
3. If I wasn't so aware of my body, its changes, what goes in and what comes out :) , I may have missed the fact that something was terribly wrong with me until I ended up in hospital or worse.
4. I am extremely grateful for my health.
5. People live like this ALL the time and don't know there is another way.
I am so thankful for the positive changes in my health over the last year and half. I think we forget how bad off we were until we are forced back into that miserable state. I am so thankful for Dr. Atkins being the pioneer of the Low Carb (no grain/no sugar movement), Jimmy Moore for inspiring me to trying to change through his own story, and for all the Paleo/Primal folks who are shouting from the roof tops to stop eating processed food and grain. I probably drive people crazy with my harping on about how bad grain is sugar is for our bodies. I know I make people cringe when they see me eating high fat foods. However, I cringe when I see the people that I love eating the typical American diet of processed, chemical laden, sugar filled and low fat foods. I felt physically ill the other day when reading face book comments about how margarine is so good for you and butter is so bad. NO, NO, NO!!!! Margarine is CHEMICALS! Butter is REAL. Our society has tricked us into believing that these low fat, processed foods are good for us.
I have just been rudely reminded about how bad it feels to feel sick all the time. I never want to go back there again. I know now that I am not invincible. I will still get sick on occasion. However, it is on OCCASION, not the NORM. Aren't you sick of feeling sick? Aren't you tired of feeling tired? Aren't you tired of being on medications for blood pressure, cholesterol, depression, fibromyalgia and migraines? Aren't you curious about the onslaught of chronic diseases and cancers that our plaguing our nation? Do you think about all the chemicals and genetically modified products that we are feeding our children? If I took all the chemicals that are in just one product that we feed our kids and put it on a spoon without the fancy "food" disguise, would you let me feed it to your child?
I am pleading with you to stop filling your body with these things. I am pleading with you to just try to eat REAL UNPROCESSED NUTRITION. There are so many free resources on the web now to help you make an easy transition. Its not as hard as you are thinking it will be. I challenge you to try it for 30 days. I challenge you to try just one month of no sugar, no grain, no processed chemical laden food. You will be amazed at what is waiting for you behind the curtain of chemicals, sugar and grain. Push the curtain aside and take a glimpse at what "healthy" feels like. You can feel better, you can take control. It will be so worth it. I promise.
IT IS YOUR CHOICE.......
OR
Okay....off my soap box...back to bed for me. Wonder Woman will be back soon.
- Lumpy Out
