Do You Have a Relationship With Your Diet?

I didn't and I now know that that was why I got so sick. Four years ago, I suffered from headaches, leaky gut, an inflamed bladder, fatty liver, inflamed gallbladder, IBS and what I would term seriously, high anxiety. The result of these conditions was horrible digestion, heart problems, 30 extra pounds, a loss of muscle, a loss in mental clarity, what I perceived was chronic fatigue syndrome, but I now understand was adrenal burnout, hair loss, vision impairment (night blindness), brittle/cracked, yellowing nails, deep circles under my eyes, dull rashy skin, repeated bladder infections, joint pain and Peripheral Neuralgia in my hands and feet, which is caused by a nutrient deficiency and is not arthritis. I no longer have any of these conditions or symptoms.

I didn't even think of food as anything other than what was my favorite, what made me fat, what did I think was nutritious (reading package labels for my info…so wrong) and I ate it with no thought to any schedule. I thought many small meals was supposed to be better, but in fact we now know it speeds up damage to the pancreas and exacerbates insulin resistance. Whenever I felt like eating, I ate. I’d say I had a combative relationship with food, always managing it to keep weight off, never just eating for health. The only thing I did right was I did not eat at night and I didn’t drink alcohol or smoke. Otherwise, that was my relationship with the most important thing I can do for myself, which I didn’t realize at the time. Nor did I even think that I was missing this important relationship in taking care of myself, which becomes very important over the age of 50, because good selfcare is crucial to longevity. Now that I have this relationship with my diet, I can’t imagine how it would have been possible to properly care for myself without it.

Not having a relationship with my diet was the biggest mistake I have made in the maintenance of my body. By not managing my diet on a nutritional level and controlling what I should eat of each food group (meat, veggie, fat, carbohydrate) I realize now I had abandoned control of the one avenue to health and beauty I had, my diet. The moment I started correcting, controlling and choosing foods based on nutrition and not entertainment or taste I started to make inroads into the multiple health problems I had and four years later I am the healthiest I have ever been.