You’re going along in life, trying to deal with the stresses the best that you can. Your life is busy. Cooking is not a priority. You grab meals on the go or fix them quickly. You love the smell, texture and taste of bakery breads. You love ice cream. And cheese. Oh yeah, especially cheese.
You couldn’t gain weight as a toothpick of an adolescent, but that hasn’t been a problem since you had kids. As a matter of fact, for most of your adult years you’ve been carrying around an extra 10 to 20 pounds. Actually, probably 30 at the worst times. It bothers you, but not enough to do something about it.
You wonder at the body you see in the mirror. Wrinkles. Why already? Gray hair. Why already? And it’s not just what you see in the mirror it’s how you feel. There are aches and pains in your body. Joints, bones. If you sit in one position too long you stiffen up. Sometimes when you bend down you grunt as you stand back up.
You go to the doctor and your cholesterol numbers are on the high side. She suggests medication. You don’t want to go there yet. You figure you can get your numbers down with diet. That’s a good plan, yeah. Only you can’t seem to stick to the diet. The memory of your grandfather who had a stroke and lived for 10 years without being able to walk or talk niggles at the back of your brain. But you still can’t seem to stick to the diet.
There is so much confusing information out there on diet. High protein, low carb, low fat, low glycemic load, food combining, soy is good, soy is bad, dairy is important, dairy is poison, eat meat, don’t eat meat. It makes your head spin. You cut out sugar and refined flour and you loose weight. But then you cheat. I’ll just have a little ice cream. I’ll just have a little more. Sour dough bread isn’t supposed to be as bad as white bread, I’ll just have a little piece. I don’t have time to cook a healthy meal, I’ll just make some spaghetti. I should make a salad, too, but that will take to long. Tomato sauce is made from vegetables….
You wonder what is wrong with you. You know what you need to do. But you still won’t do it. You aren’t eating right. You aren’t walking much anymore. What happened to those daily hikes that made you feel so alive? Why can’t you get back to that place?
Then it happens. One of your best friends gets cancer. On top of 3 other people you know that have cancer. And they are all your age. It’s the wake up call. It’s the “enough is enough” moment. It’s the push you need. You buckle down and start researching diets again. You talk to people. You finally find a diet that makes sense. Something you can do for the rest of your life. Only you rename it a “live it” since you want to be living with it forever. And you start to follow it. Really follow it. Even though it’s not easy all the time. But you stick with it. Because you’ve had enough. Enough!
That’s my story. Sound familiar?