Are you ready for this? Are you truly committed to better your life? Cause let me tell you: in this case it is necessary. It's necessary for you to understand that you need to change something in your life in order to improve your health condition. And hopefully you are already doing many things right and you'll only have to make small changes in your life; in my case it's been huge and I'm still working on it!
First of all, a note: the change cannot come from desperation. It will not work. You have to truly believe that by changing your habits you will have a positive change in your health that might not be immediate - and that's what makes it hard, it would be nice to just snap our fingers and Bam, problem solved! - but you'll see the benefits in the long run.
In addition, it is very important that you surround yourself by supportive people. In my case, that's been the strongest motivation and push to my changes. And even whit all of the above sometimes it's just hard!
So far I've "only" changed 2 things in my life but if you had known me before you would know what a big sacrifice this have been:
#1 - QUIT SMOKING!!!
I still cannot believe I actually did! And although it's now been 3 months, I still have cravings from time to time but it's getting better and better (my cravings are down to 1 a week, if any). What I crave most it's the habit, more than the cigarette itself. I used to love smoking and I think I'll miss it forever. Once someone told me: "If you are a smoker, you'll be a smoker forever" and not cause you cannot quit, just cause you know what it meant to you and you'll always crave those 5 minutes to yourself. The other thing with quitting smoking is that you do not notice the benefits right away so it's hard to stay motivated. I'm talking about health benefits. How do you know you are actually doing good to your body? Imagine how cool it would be if all of a sudden your skin would look younger and brighter, your varicose veins would disappear, you could run without feeling you're going to die, or if you could be sure that you're going to have a longer and healthier life as a consequence of that action you took. But no, I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. We have to be happy for the immediate and visible benefits such as:
- almost $200 more in my pocket
- I don't smell like an ashtray
- my teeth are whiter and they will stay like that for longer
- I don't have to wait till last minute to go through custom when I'm at the airport waiting for a flight
- I can drink coffee and alcohol when on a plane
- I can carry a smaller purse when I'm out at a bar (ok, this is lame... but it's true!)
- I can relax a bit more and enjoy lunch with my colleagues instead of running outside at 12:45pm
- I don't have to stand outside under the rain, snow, wind, freezing rain...
I'm sure there are more but this is what's coming to mind right now.
Okay, let's say I'm kind of happy I quit. But again, I couldn't have done it without my friends and colleagues' support (continuous support! ;) )
#2 - DIET CHANGE!!!
After a first diet fail, I now think to be on the right path with the SCD diet suggested by the osteopath I went to see when I started exploring alternative ways of healing my intestine. So far so good although my body is still adjusting to the big change and psychologically it's quite challenging. I'Il probably write a post on the challenges of being on SCD but here I'm ust going to say it is not easy especially if you like me love food! My friends used to laugh at me saying to hide food whenever I would get to a party. My mom always yelled at me for what I used to eat. Not necessarily junk food but lots, lots of food! And now... now I get excited when 3 days have passed and I can add another food from the list! lol (only people following the scdlifestyle style can understand this reference) And you would think that being on a gluten free, grain free, starch free, dairy free diet would make you loose weight. Well think again! I haven't lost a pound! Why is that? Probably because I'm allowed fruit and honey - although I should consume both with moderation - and it's my comfort food; I should stop that or at least be careful. As I said, I'm going to talk more about SCD but here are the benefits so far:
- I haven't felt pain or bloating since I started a month ago
- I'm rediscovering food and eating and enjoying food I never had before
- It takes me 50% less time to grocery shop
- I know the difference between butternut, acorn and buttercup squash and I can express my preference
- I learned how to use a broiler pan
- I'm generally improving my cooking skills
- I'm definitely eating healthier food
And many more. There are disadvantages too (and today it's probably been one of the worse day... PLAN! ALWAYS PLAN YOUR MEALS IN ADVANCE!!!) but let's focus on positive shall we? :)
#3 - TALK ABOUT IT. You're not alone! Share your experience. That's why I started this blog. It can be quite isolating; talk to people: you might be surprised how much support you'll get from the people you least expected.
And to close this super long post, here are some of the things I'd like to do in the future:
#4 - EXERCISE.
#5 - DRINK MORE WATER.
#6 - AVOID STRESSFUL SITUATIONS.
What about you? What are you doing? What are some of the things you have done to live a healthier life and start your healing process? Any suggestion/resource is appreciated.
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