Comment on Being a Healthier Person by Mannedood
This is a wonderful little narrative about your experience. I very much enjoyed reading in, for more reasons than one. It's well-written and really keeps you interested in a (what could be considered by some as mundane) subject, and more than anything, it's a story of a powerful and difficult journey.
I myself have been on a similar road for the better part of a year. While I have never been a smoker, my weakness was horrible food. For two years after leaving home and getting my first place, I lived on fast food and junk food, not thinking at all of how it could affect my body. While I didn't gain nearly as much weight as I SHOULD have, (the weight gain, let's just say, was the least of my worries; I was not considered obese, but definitely above average weight,) my immune system plummeted, I stopped getting my period, and I became altogether unhealthy. I was suddenly sick all the time, and didn't have much energy to do much of anything. I didn't even drink water. My excuse was, "It just makes me thirstier! And besides, I want something yummy to drink."
It was getting to the point where I was getting sick every two weeks. Who wants to live like that? I couldn't take it anymore, and I decided to take a look into how I was treating myself, and what I was putting in my body. Like you said, it started off as mental preparation for what I was about to give up; fast food and processed foods. I was also going to have to learn to cook, which I had previously been horrible at. I started making small changes to my diet while at the same time learning everything I could about nutrition. I knew that the way I had been eating wasn't good for me, but I had no idea about half of the things I was REALLY putting into my body... It was no wonder I was always so sick!
A few months later, both my fiance and I are eating great and feeling great. We got a cheap treadmill off of Craigslist, and we started shopping at an all-natural holistic grocery store (and no, it's not more expensive! We spent the same amount of money buying fast food 2-3 times a day!) and I'm slowing cutting meat out of my diet, as well. (I'll never be a full vegetarian, but I'm trying to get down to a 5% meat diet.) There was a time, a few months ago, when I would have told you that there was no WAY I could ever live without Taco Bell. But now I see things differently. The last time I tried to eat Taco Bell, I nearly threw up. After eating good, natural food for so long, my body literally tried to reject it. It tasted revolting... My comfort food, the food I had been eating weekly for almost 10 years, was revolting. It was amazing.
I have more energy, I feel so much better, and it's just getting better every day. Patience really is key; although it's taking a while, my immune system is starting to return to it's former glory, and my period has started again. It's been a rough road, but it's so rewarding!
Sorry for the huge comment... Your story was inspirational, and I hope other people offer their testimonies as well!
I myself have been on a similar road for the better part of a year. While I have never been a smoker, my weakness was horrible food. For two years after leaving home and getting my first place, I lived on fast food and junk food, not thinking at all of how it could affect my body. While I didn't gain nearly as much weight as I SHOULD have, (the weight gain, let's just say, was the least of my worries; I was not considered obese, but definitely above average weight,) my immune system plummeted, I stopped getting my period, and I became altogether unhealthy. I was suddenly sick all the time, and didn't have much energy to do much of anything. I didn't even drink water. My excuse was, "It just makes me thirstier! And besides, I want something yummy to drink."
It was getting to the point where I was getting sick every two weeks. Who wants to live like that? I couldn't take it anymore, and I decided to take a look into how I was treating myself, and what I was putting in my body. Like you said, it started off as mental preparation for what I was about to give up; fast food and processed foods. I was also going to have to learn to cook, which I had previously been horrible at. I started making small changes to my diet while at the same time learning everything I could about nutrition. I knew that the way I had been eating wasn't good for me, but I had no idea about half of the things I was REALLY putting into my body... It was no wonder I was always so sick!
A few months later, both my fiance and I are eating great and feeling great. We got a cheap treadmill off of Craigslist, and we started shopping at an all-natural holistic grocery store (and no, it's not more expensive! We spent the same amount of money buying fast food 2-3 times a day!) and I'm slowing cutting meat out of my diet, as well. (I'll never be a full vegetarian, but I'm trying to get down to a 5% meat diet.) There was a time, a few months ago, when I would have told you that there was no WAY I could ever live without Taco Bell. But now I see things differently. The last time I tried to eat Taco Bell, I nearly threw up. After eating good, natural food for so long, my body literally tried to reject it. It tasted revolting... My comfort food, the food I had been eating weekly for almost 10 years, was revolting. It was amazing.
I have more energy, I feel so much better, and it's just getting better every day. Patience really is key; although it's taking a while, my immune system is starting to return to it's former glory, and my period has started again. It's been a rough road, but it's so rewarding!
Sorry for the huge comment... Your story was inspirational, and I hope other people offer their testimonies as well!
Wow thanks for sharing this and good on you for making the change to a healthier lifestyle! I always say that nothing gets you as motivated to lose weight as a nice, sincere success story.