I have tons of things going on right now but some things have been banging around my head all day so here goes.
My 2018 can be summed up with one simple question my wife asked me last night: “Are you ever going to get well?” Wait for it... Ha!
I’m as fit as a fiddle without looking like a cello so whatever can she mean?
In fact, it was a banner year for me! Two new titanium knees within the last eight months followed by rigorous daily workouts and I was just starting to walk like a humanoid, and then...
The slip-and-slide fall game! Ha! Man, do I ache! Just as I was starting to walk perfectly, a big little set-back. Such is life as some like to say. Get out the walker, locate the pain meds and start over. Just about there.
I the meantime, I managed to plant two of my garden beds with a variety of lettuces, spinach, kale, arugula, snap peas, radishes, green onions, and also started a healthy compost pile that’s cooking right along (that’s right, while crippled). A new greenhouse goes up next week to propagate a continuous flow of seedlings.
"Why, that’s just crazy!" you might say.
That brings me to my personal reflections on 2018 and why they are largely positive.
First, I have two new knees! How could I possibly top that in the same year? Earlier I posted some ridiculous items such as losing weight while eating like a pig during 2018.
"So, what are we talking about Bear? What exactly is the data and where do you stand now?"
Happy to share. I was a 'healthy’'198 lbs in early 2018 when I started to seriously eat out of the garden. Then I dropped most meat, dairy and gluten from my diet, and the pounds started rolling off.
I love all vegetables and lost most of my cravings for meat, dairy, gluten, sugar, and processed products, but remain flexible especially around company. Okay, I did cop an attitude about grocery stores being poison stores. (gulp!)
I did a TON of research on unprocessed whole food, plant-based eating. I followed no diet of any sort, ala Paleo or Keto, just garden-to-table eating habits and added a ton of other organics to my diet including things (veggies) I never heard of. I am the total opposite of a junk-food vegan. I view organics as a nutrient delivery system. I have no other agenda. I dropped to a low of 158 bs and have gained back 4 lbs in the last two weeks while…get this…eating totally plant-based. Digest that for just a moment. Gotta cut back on the veggies! We cook legumes and veggie soups on the weekends to last the week. Daily salads are much more than salad. I no longer use oil. I get plenty of good fat from whole foods and nuts.
I actually limit protein intake as I get way too much and learned that IGF 1 levels should be monitored.
I lost some muscle after two knee replacement operations but exercise at the gym helped put it back on plus some. In fact, I don’t wish to add more muscle. You heard that right. My stomach is flat, I do no sit-ups, but do moderate plank and core exercises. I have never slept so well, eat, feel satisfied, and digest extremely well. I make it a habit to get to bed much earlier. Energy level is above par. I kicked a cold a short while back in a matter of hours! If I feel absolutely great outside, I have to wonder how the inside of me is feeling. This has been year 66 for me, I turn 67 in two weeks.
I am in otherwise good health, but we should all wonder what havoc decades of western eating has wreaked on our bodies. Is it too late to ward off heart attacks, cancer, diabetes? My dad was fit as a fiddle all his life but died of cancer at age 80. He ate a well-balanced western diet, that was not totally plant-based. Therein lies my motivation. I have an uncle going on 96, my mother going on 88, great-grandparents who lasted to 98!
I could look at this as a 13 year stretch or a 30-year stretch. It becomes a no-brainer.
That brings me to 2019. My sister has been mostly vegetarian as long as I have known her. She’s a healthy sibling one year younger than I with no major health issues. She has a goal of 'going vegan' starting the first of the year. I’m glad for her, but still...
Whether I turn vegan in 2019 or flexitarian or nutritarian, my goal is to learn more about organics and do more high-density gardening as the garden is my new grocery store!
So, 2018 was a lesson year for me. I learned to eat well (something I felt I already knew) and to feel better than I could have imagined.
Here’s hoping your 2019 will serve you just as well! |
