Today, I start a new adventure. I am beginning a 26-day detox program. This program is designed to detox all of the major elimination organs (colon, kidneys, liver, gall bladder). I'm using this program, designed by Green Smoothie Girl, to kick start my healthy eating. Years ago, I followed a very simple plan of eating. I eliminated wheat products, dairy products, condiments, and sodas from my diet. I ate mostly whole foods and very little in the way of processed foods. I lost 100 pounds in three months and kept it off for another three. "What happened?", you ask. Just this: I reverted back to the old way of eating. Quick, easy, grab-on-the-run foods. As a result, I not only gained back the 100 pounds that I had lost, but added a whole lot more. Today, I weighed in at 317 pounds. That might be a good weight for a 6' 4" linebacker, but for a woman that barely tops 5' 2"--not so good. There are a lot of factors as to why I want to loose weight. As I implied, I don't just want to loose weight, I want to be healthy. I want to be healthy in every area of my life: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. My weight is getting in the way of that.
Physically: I have a great deal of pain in my knees. Granted, as a young girl, I injured my knees by falling a lot during sports, however, the weight is just adding insult to injury. Literally. I can't walk very far without being out of breath. Sometimes I get winded just getting dressed in the mornings. There is the genetics card at work here, as well. Diabetes, heart disease, and cancer are all in my family, both sides. It's kind of like the story of Dracula. Dracula (or any vampire, for that matter) can not enter your home unless he is invited. Being over weight is like an invitation to the vampires named Count Diabetes, Lord Heart Disease, and Viscount Cancer. I want to close the door on them for good and all. Eating whole foods as opposed to processed foods can not only shut the door on these "vampires", but drive a stake through their nasty little hearts forever.
Mentally: I feel like (as my Detox Buddy said) I'm "foggy brained". It sometimes takes me a while to get the gears moving. I make mistakes on things at work and at home that I shouldn't have made. I read things wrong or don't comprehend what I'm reading. Not always, but enough that it bothers me. I know I'm smarter than that, but it keeps happening. I know that when I ate whole foods, my thought processes were a lot clearer, sharper even, than they are now. I want to get that back.
Emotionally: My emotions are in a constant turmoil. I dread the drive to and from work. I get so angry at people. In fact, anger is a pervading emotion most of the time. Just lying under the surface and waiting to come out. I don't like to be angry. It is a mostly energy zapping emotion that doesn't need to be the primary emotion. It has it's place, just not all the time. I want to be on a more even keel; emotions only coming to the fore when appropriate. I would like to be more calm and content. Again, when I was eating whole foods, I was more calm and contented.
Spiritually: Recently, I've realized that because of my weight, I don't participate in church as I once did. I've been sitting on the sidelines and longing to jump in. Having no energy and not wanting to stand in front of the congregation doing what I love to do because of how I look, I've become spiritually lethargic. Eating whole foods helped to clean this temple we call a body. It made it a comfortable dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Not that the Holy Spirit doesn't dwell in a temple like mine. However, I think this must be a hard place for Him to dwell. It's not healthy, clean, or very inviting and so I imagine it must be uncomfortable for Him. I want to make it as clean and inviting as I am capable of doing.
Each day, I want to write about what I am experiencing in this detox. I hope that it will inspire someone else to find a way to get healthy, too.
I'm off to have my breakfast. I'll write more at the end of this day's adventure.
Tally ho!
Nevada Smith
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