Health Nuts

Tuesday July 12th, 2011 - Cary, IL

   Time to get healthy for the long haul, or however long my haul might be. I’m starting to realize just how much I’ve ignored my health for decades, and I’m embarrassed. I used to play multiple sports and exercise and go out of my way to try to eat right, and many made fun of me for it. My father was one. He never understood why I would worry about that.

   Our relationship was always strained, but it got really bad just as I turned 18. I could see very clearly by then I didn’t want to be like him, and what little communication there may have been prior to that ended up shutting off altogether when my grandfather passed away in December of 1981, the year I graduated high school. We were never on the same page.

   I remember the whole family being at a restaurant after Gramps’ funeral, and whatever I ordered had come with French fries that I didn’t expect. My father noticed I wasn’t eating them and asked me why not. I told him they weren’t healthy and of course he couldn’t let that go without belittling me in front of everyone and ended up taking them for himself.

   What happened to that kid who knew exactly what to eat and looked forward to regular exercise? 18 became 28, and I was already a veteran of the road by that time. Gradually, I got sucked in to the evil vortex of greasy food and out of the habit of regular exercise, all at the same time. It was gradual, but steady. Before I knew it, I was an out of shape slug.

   I know I’m not the only one who has done this, and thankfully I never got into drinking or drugs. I’ve seen how that really rips lives apart, but what I did was bad enough. It’s too easy to skip a workout here or have a greasy meal there and it ends up taking a huge toll.

   Youth can cover it up for a while, but way too soon 28 becomes 48 and diabetes decides to show up and crash the party. Twenty solid years of extra cheese, special sauce and high fructose corn syrup have done a nasty number on my innards and it’s time to knock it off.

   I’m sure there’s a lot of damage that’s already done, but some of it can be turned around and made right. It’s like years of driving a car without changing fluids. That’s asking for a lot of trouble, and an oil change alone might not be enough to get things back to normal.

   A big key is that I want to do it. It’s in my head, but it always was. I let my health lapse, but I knew it wasn’t smart but I did it anyway. I didn’t think about it after a while and just ate whatever I wanted with no thoughts of consequence. Now I’m getting the bill for it.

   That’s ok, I deserve it. Nobody forced me to eat those French fries, even my father. He was never healthy physically, mentally or spiritually and a lot of that was his choice. I’ve got a chance to turn things around, and I’m going to do it. Day by day, I’m making it so.

   I’m actually enjoying the process, at least for now. I’m eating vegetables and baked fish and drinking water and exercising every single day - just like I used to do in my twenties and should never have stopped. But I did. I won’t make that same stupid mistake again.

Posted via email from Dobie Maxwell's "Dented Can" Diary