Summer… traditions are built in the summertime, fun traditions. Vacations to the same cool place at the beach, or camping… so many possibilities in the summer. Fourth of July… I mean, of course it makes sense that we blow up our health focus with horrible food, sugary treats that drive blood sugar through the roof, and weaken the insulin response to the point where we are slow, sluggish, tired, stuck… becoming “puffy”, or perhaps “puffier”.
Tradition. It is all worth it, right? Because of tradition.
You know, the next tradition is right around the corner. Beer, pizza and chips. Yep, football season is already upon us. What a mess we are, so caught up in tradition that we don’t care if we kill ourselves for it. In the middle of the football season we think we need to eat our kids Halloween candy, and for some reason, the day of turkey and gravy, seems to require that people eat sugar too. Tradition.
We let tradition become the thing that makes it nearly impossible to stay a very committed course of correction, for any length of time. I know this, because I tend to be guilty of letting my 80/20 (80 being the amount of food I consume that is on my 60 Day Turnaround plan), drop to something closer to 60/40… which is not where I either 1. operate the best, or 2. feel the best.
So here I am, thinking “yep, once again the summer caused me to become a little more puffy than I want to be”… puffy, good word, feel free to use it.
You might wonder why it matters. It matters because your health is a constantly shifting, always important, highly dynamic, never put your finger on where it actually lies, problem. Yep, it is a problem. Your health is a problem, because the moment you forget about it, it gets worse, and the effort to get it better, takes you away from the things you think you love. Problem.
And now, you are here at this place where a decision to be committed could possibly come oh so easy. But the difficulty lies within you, inside of you in this little place known as conviction.
The question that you should ask yourself. Is there ever a time in your life, that you can honestly say that you will regret being healthier. Imagine these words, “I really wish I hadn’t been so committed to my health for the last 6 months”… “I can’t believe I am dying in my 90’s with 20 grandkids, and 10 great grandkids… I really wish I had neglected my health more, I shouldn’t have been here this long”… silly thoughts because nobody ever regrets being healthy. Ever.
Thus, I ask you as we head into the fall, do you have any good reason to neglect your health any longer? 3, 2, 1… go.
Be well and be blessed! – Dr. E