Originally posted on Facebook HERE
It was a hazy, foggy morning when I got up today. And hazy and foggy is how I’ve kind of felt for the last few days as I wound up getting sick on Christmas Eve, and I’m still working my way out of whatever it is I have. I really don’t like getting sick at all. I’m kind of hoping neither do you, right? I guess I’ve never known anyone who went out of their way to be sick as much as possible… consciously, anyway. But when you really take a long hard look at life in the United States, it’s probably more common to live an unhealthy lifestyle than a healthy one. I think I eat too much food on most days, but when I go to restaurants and see how much food other people are able to eat at a single sitting – I can’t even imagine doing that to myself. I very seldomly eat until I feel “stuffed”. I think it was a common thing for me to do years ago, though. Portion control alone could make a lot of people healthier if they just paid attention. But, beyond how much we eat as a country is also what we’re eating. A lot of fast food, processed food, sugar, salt, ice cream, cake, pies, candy…. I can’t do it anymore. Almost every time I have something I know isn’t good for me, it makes me feel worse about myself, my willpower (or lack thereof), my commitment to being healthy – and it’s just not worth it. Combine poor eating habits with poor sleeping habits and now you’re probably discussing the lifestyles of most Americans. I’m super guilty on the “not enough sleep” train. I get five to six hours a night, maybe. I know because I track this stuff that 6 1/2 hours of sleep or more really helps my mental clarity. I hardly ever get that much. Even with all that being said, I don’t get sick very often. I try to watch my portions and not eat things that will make me feel bad about myself. I try to get as much sleep as possible. One thing I actually do every week, though, is workout. At least one hour of weightlifting 2x/week. Run 2 miles at least 2x/week. One hour of yoga at least once a week – every week. Weekly acupuncture appointments, and monthly chiropractic care as well. We take a lot of supplements. Protein shakes. But… once in a while work starts to get crazy, and I start pushing the envelope on my health a little – a little less sleep, eating really late (and too much at the same time), cutting corners on the workouts, at the same time dealing with a lot of stress… and life will step in and force me to take some time off. When it does, I look back and – hindsight being 20/20, of course – I can totally see I brought it on myself. And several times in the past, it opened my eyes to just how important staying physically healthy really is. It needs to be up at the top for me. It’s hard to have mental clarity if you feel like crap. And as we age, it doesn’t get any easier, either. I could certainly eat cleaner than I do. My current vegetarian diet is loaded with carbs. I could do better with sleep habits as well. And I really think I need to be running every day again, as those are the times in my life when I felt my healthiest. There is always a reason and a purpose for everything that happens to us. For me, getting sick is a huge eye opener. It’s life’s way of telling me I need to be a better caretaker of the only package I’ll ever be given to navigate through my life on Earth. I intend to heed that warning… as soon as I feel better. Nothing like a health scare to motivate change.
