Learning Our Lessons

Isn't it funny how when we're too weak to change bad habits, nature sometimes will do it for us?  Take me for example.  I had two habits I wanted to get rid of- my daily doses of caffeine ala coffee and Diet Dr. Pepper and making quick stops for junk food when I felt hungry.  Enter Nature...

A few weeks ago, I got my blood results back from my yearly physical and found that my cholesterol had soared high above the normal.  It had never a problem before, but now it was bad enough that I would have to take medicine for it if I couldn't get it down. A few days later, I became violently sick.  I'm still not sure what set everything off, but no matter what I ate, my stomach burned and I felt queasy. I dropped seven pounds and eventually things got so bad that I couldn't sleep at night. Miserable and tired, I decided to fight back.

First to go was the coffee.  Next, the sodas.  I whittled back my diet until all I ate was the bland "BRAT" diet I had resorted to when my kids would come down with stomach bugs- bananas, rice, applesauce, toast.  I also drank tons of water.

Within a few days I began to feel better.  Slowly, I began to add foods back into my diet, making sure that they were low in fat, whole-grained, and healthy. I started carrying almonds in my purse so that if I got hungry while I was out, I could pass up the fast food food places.

Two weeks have now passed and I feel better.  My stomach's on the mend, I'm eating healthier, exercising more, and saving money and time on not stopping for "quick fix" junk food.  Although I never want to be as sick again as I was a few weeks ago, I'm glad that in the end, being sick made me into a healthier person.