I'm enjoying my new lifestyle. The "narrowing", the people "seeing it in my face", people "seeing something different", how I've been "melting away"... it is all a step in helping me to be more healthy.
And in being more healthy, I'm able to do things more and more, little by little. Like climbing hills without getting winded so fast. So being able to walk for such long distances in a day without wondering where my legs went at the end of the day.
As I said in my Sermon this past Sunday, this new lifestyle is still a struggle. I'm not addicted to it yet. Maybe that's because I grew up in the Nancy Reagan - "just say no" era. I won't become addicted. I already have an addiction. It's called junkfood, and the withdrawal is a killer, but I'm managing. (just kidding - about the addiction part, I mean).
When coming home from my Conference the other day, I stopped and grabbed a cup of coffee and a snack. Sure, I probably shouldn't of had the snack, but I was also still under my cals at the end of the day. Give me "some" credit, I didn't have a Big Glup or Super Swallow or whatever those oversized drink containers are called.
At one time, I would get a caffine-type of soda pop to get me through a trip. Sometimes the fatigue from lack of sleep + a trip = a strain on me.
I recently read an article that talked about the calories and sugar in those oversized soda pop cups. As it turns out, there is as much calories in one of those cups as in a complete meal. 500-700 calories. And let's not even start about the sugar content. That is enough to send some people into a brain overload, and what goes up, must come down... which then means another big cup of soda pop.
And to top this all off, for me to be able to stomach all of this, I would also grab a bag of chips to offset the sweetness of the pop. So there is another 300 or so calories at least - lots more if I get a large bag and it's a long trip.
So let's say I go to visit my granddaughter - a 8-10 hour drive. One to two drinks=1000 calories. A big bag of chips=way over 1000 calories.
Just in the "alert aid", I've matched my daily caloric intake. We haven't even added in the meals yet.
Ugh!
And back to the fatigue... Another report shows that people who don't get enough sleep are 4x more likely to have a stroke. FOUR TIMES!
So now I'm adding up the number of times I've stayed up late because of that extra computer game, or got up extra early after packing for a trip all night (there's one of my soda pop and chips trip), or the late-night emergency calls that I don't allow some rejuvenation time for at some point the next day... you get the idea.
So let me get this straight... I lack sleep, so that will make me four times more likely to have a stroke, and to help me make it through my trip because of my fatigue, I would get a super-size pop and chips to help me push through, which would make me too fat to get on an ambulance stretcher when I do have that stroke.
If it's any consolation, a growing body of research shows that coffee drinkers, compared to nondrinkers, are less likely to have type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and dementia and have fewer cases of certain cancers, heart rhythm problems, and strokes.
To wrap it up, may people know that fresh veggies are better than something out of a can. Research is now showing how much healthier fresh fruit and veggies are in all aspects of health, and how much your mate might even enjoy the benefits as well. So as my friends in the United Methodist Ministries would say, go play in the dirt! (you'll have to find out the benefits on your own!)
So now I'm going to have my coffee, an apple, and keep on down the road.
