I started working out consistently about two weeks ago, and I’ve gotten really serious about getting in shape. I started with a Youtube trainer whose routines are fabulous. Since then, I’ve added in jump roping. I am feeling really good physically and mentally. I’ve now incorporated exercise into my disciplines, and I’m glad that I did because it’s leading to increased focus and motivation to do other things. One of the things I realized is that I don’t eat enough food to support where I want to go with my physical health on my current diet. I also don’t eat enough carbohydrates or high protein foods. I know I need energy and protein to build muscle. There are plenty of protein-rich plant-based foods and supplements I can take, but I just don’t eat enough to get everything I need. Plus, I’ve experienced a bit of malnutrition in the past six or seven years, and I am more willing to experiment with animal products now than I have been for a long time. I just want to improve my health on all levels, and if that means I eat eggs and fish every so often, then so be it. If I find that those foods don’t work for me, I’ll let them go and keep searching.
I started last weekend when I started eating eggs regularly again, and the results have been shaky so far. Each time I ate them, I felt slight pain throughout my body. After eating them yesterday, I felt pain again. It was nothing severe, but it was noticeable. I saw my naturopath this morning, and he advised that I only eat pasteurized eggs. Apparently, the organic free-range eggs I was eating are still from chickens that are fed corn, wheat, and soy. Ingredients that cause havoc on a body fighting autoimmunity. I bought some pasteurized eggs this morning and tried them. I still felt even more pain afterward.
The naturopath did say that some of the discomforts could just be due to my body not being used to me eating them, so I should monitor it. I won’t lie; I also ate some raw cashews, which have become a bit of a vice. I can eat a few without a problem, but I never just eat a few. I eat too many, and I feel the effects in my body. So, the cashews could have just made things worse. I don’t know. I’m having trouble giving them up again. The cashews feel like all I have as a comfort food. When I get tired of vegetables, or I want a snack, I eat cashews. But there’s a good chance that I would benefit from not eating them. They have proteins in them called lectins, and some say they damage the lining of the small intestines. I’m trying to heal my leaky gut, so I probably shouldn’t be eating them. My body tells me I shouldn’t eat them, and certainly not so many. I think I had to say that out loud because I’ve been thinking it but still going to the store to buy them. It would be foolish for me to do all of this to heal and start sabotaging myself. I need to address what’s behind my need a comfort food.
But as I continue on this health, wellness, and now success journey, I’ll have to try things to see what my body responds well to. I realized today that so much of diet and nutrition is general and baseline standardization. Some say the way to optimal health is through a plant-based diet because meat is bad. Others say we’re supposed to eat a carnivorous diet because chemicals in plants are causing harm to our bodies. Both say they feel the best they’ve ever felt after adopting both diets. I know both are telling the truth because I experienced feeling the best I’ve ever felt when I gave up meat. But 15 years into it, I am dealing with health issues, and I know some of it has to do with my diet, whether it’s a result of what I’ve been eating or what I haven’t been eating. Eating meat is still not super appealing to me, but I’ve decided to incorporate fish back into my diet, but only wild-caught fish. Rolling around in the back of my head has been the book “Eat Right 4 Your Type” by Dr. Peter J. D’Adamo. I bought the book about seven years ago and flipped through the pages but never gave it enough consideration to implement any of the recommendations. But lately, as I’ve gotten more and more serious about my health, I’ve wondered if there was something to me requiring meat because of my blood type.
I had the woman who performed my first colonic years ago tell me I needed to eat red meat (I’m not there yet), but I blew her off. And just as I was thinking about eating meat again, wondering if not eating meat contributed to the decline of my health and if it could be a solution to restoring it, I spoke to an old friend who went on a mini diatribe about how he turned his life around on a carnivorous diet. I noticed that both sides operate in extremes. Vegans villanize meat, and carnivores villanize vegetables. I get it. I villainized meat too, and to be honest, my feelings haven’t changed a lot. It’s just that I’m now open to doing what I need to do to be in better health. I’m willing to try fish to see if I experience any improvements. I realize now that the debates around the way we should eat are personal. Not everyone is the same. So, the truth is somewhere in the middle. I suspect the point is for everyone to find the right balance for them.
So, I bought some wild cod and wild tuna. I’m going to test it out over the next couple of weeks. I suspect I’ll get the protein I need between the eggs and the fish. I’ll report back.