I am struck again and again by the excuses we make about not taking care of ourselves. When I say "we," by the way, I mean us, as human beings, and I include myself. I am going to talk about some recent conversations with some friends (who shall remain anonymous) to illustrate the point.
Take T. She's a grandmother, recently divorced, has struggled with her weight for many years, and is having blood pressure issues. She has a job and is a grandmother, so she's busy, but that's not the downfall. The downfall is food that is convenient and diet soda. I've said this before, I'll say it again: diet soda is poison and makes you fat. Deal with it. But I digress.
Another friend, M, recently became a mom. And she has the same hip problem I have/had. She put up with it much longer than I did, and now, after having her baby, feels like she's back at square one. In our conversations, she revealed that she does not eat in a very healthy way. When I suggested she consider raw food to help with the inflammation, she almost gagged. She also needs to change type of exercise, from an intense gym workout to something less traumatic, like yoga or swimming. And by the way, being a former runner, I know how hard it is to make the shift. The stops: convenience, a husband who will only eat junk food, and wanting to spend her spare time with her baby instead of cooking or doing other things that address her injury.
A third friend, MR, has been dealing with serious and irreparable health problems since she was born. She regularly ends up in the hospital. Out of all of us, she is the one whose health should be the most important priority in her life. Yet, she eats horribly, doesn't get adequate sleep, does not exercise, and runs herself into the ground. About a year ago she was in the hospital for 2 months with a large open wound in her leg caused by an abscess. For a while there, it was touch and go. Now, she's in the hospital again.
Me: I have had my entire life's focus on my health and well-being for the last couple of years, but it is always a choice, each time it's a choice. I am not certain, to be honest, that if I had a relationship (or, god forbid, kids!) I'd manage to ever eat well or exercise. I know it can be done because people do it, but I can't tell you how.
Nowadays, health has to be a commitment, a lifestyle choice, or an addiction.
Which brings me to the other point: food is an addiction for us modern people. What a drag that we are so attached to eating and drinking what is essentially shit that we would rather keep ingesting it and slowly die, break down, stuff ourselves full of meds, than simply letting it go. How did we get here?
