It has been a year since my last post and looking back, it has been a year of blessings. Steve and I got married, I started a new job, the family is all doing well. This Thanksgiving, I overate two days in a row and ended up in the ER with a gallbladder attack. Now, looking back, I can see that this past year, I have been steadily declining in how much energy I had, my weight was increasing, and even though I was exercising pretty regularly, I was eating a high fat diet. Most meals were small, but when I did eat a big one, I had to lie down with a heating pad. I was in denial. I should have had the gallbladder out in the hospital that night I went to the ER, but thankfully, the doc was a dope and sent me home to suffer. The consequence of that decision has changed my outlook on the holidays and my diet completely. The first week I ate no solid food until I could see the surgeon. On the fifth night of liquids, I was up in the middle of the night after letting my dog out, and so hungry. I decided to try one of the grape juice popsicles I just bought the day before and when that lovely thing hit my tongue it was like a frozen holy first communion. The sugar hit my system and lifted me to heaven while I literally cried tears of gratitude for this journey. I could see that my senses had adjusted from a heightened sense of physical to an increased sense of the spiritual. I was taken back in time to when I was 12 and received my first holy communion and baptism. I could see my pastor’s young face, his dark eyes and hair and the glow that seemed to surround him. In my vision, I could see my brother, young and innocent-ish, my young and handsome father sitting with my beautiful mother. It was springtime, a little warm and I had been so excited about becoming an official member of the church, that I had not eaten since mid-day the day before. When that grape juice hit my body then, it was a burst of pure energy that was just like what I was feeling now. That feeling of being cared for by all the people who loved me flooded my eyes with big salty tears of gratitude. I still felt all of them loving me from the beyond and I was grateful for my mother still here for me to talk with every day. I realized that this was an opportunity to take a fork in the road for a real change in my diet. I learned to cook without fat and the food was seriously tasty to my surprise. I’ll be posting some recipes soon.
The surgeon recommended a very low fat diet, small meals with lots of vegetables (no olive oil), chicken breast or fish with few carbs. No butter, cheese, ice cream, Christmas cookies, candy, yikes! I was scared to eat solid food but once I did, it was so sustaining and nutritious that it felt heavenly. I would have to go through the holidays with this new diet and it was requiring me to focus on the real reason for the season. I also had to go through a course of antibiotics and rest, so everything seemed to slow down. I had to only do what was important and leave the “extra” stuff out so my priorities immediately adjusted. So did my skin, my hair, my digestive system, my lymph system and the inflammation just started to go away everywhere. My face, my upper body and back, my lower legs, almost immediately let go of a bunch of girth. My stomach is less bloated, but not fully back to normal. What a message from the universe! Let go of fatty meals, high sugar things, and eat like a girl, not a football player. LOL ❤
A Million Small Steps 