Snacking is a Chronic Disease

I knew something was missing - more on this later - but I did not know what to do about it, until I stumbled across a documentary about juicing entitled, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. An Australian man in his early forties was carrying a lot of weight, and adding to the load daily with food and drink. He had a chronic skin condition that displayed itself all over his body, in an angry rash, and he knew he had to do something about his situation, or face an unwanted, early death. 

Joe Cross decided to start a juice fast, and he made vegetables and fruit drinkable, via a juicer he took with him everywhere he went. He committed to a sixty day juice extravaganza, and the results were extraordinary. 

Results are measurably extraordinary when they are extreme. Joe Cross was extremely overweight from extreme fast food consumption, and it took extreme measures and effort, to reverse his weight from heavy to lighter, and revamp his health condition. He had to give his body what it needs, what it requires to function optimally, and what it craves too, because fuel matters, and what we put in, affects how we live, breath, and have our being in the world. Joe was on many prescribed medications, and just like obesity, side effects from meds, can be deadly. 

Watching the documentary had me fascinated. I am a fit person, but I am also a bit of a sugar junky. I have good intentions with my diet, and when I am on a kick, I overbuy fruits and vegetables, hoping that I will stay on track and eat the recommended daily servings of both, but man alive, it is so much easier, to breakfast on toast with almond butter and a bit of jam, then to prepare veggies for a morning omelette. Veggies were the missing link to my wellness, and Joe's documentary hinted strongly at a solution, a way to include more of them, into my daily routine and into my body, to cure what ails. 

What ails you Linda? I hear you asking. Here is my list of ailments: 

Joint pain

Headaches

Muscle cramping

Disturbed sleep

Five extra pounds

Three on and off frequent flyer pounds (they come and they go and then make a return round trip)

Snacking

See the last ailment, dear one? snacking. Snacking is a chronic disease! I jest of course, but even as I attempt to take the funny out of the statement that snacking is an ailment, I cannot. Isn't it kind of humorous in a morbidly obese kind of way, to think of snacking as a sickness? Some people feel addicted to the foods they eat, and while I often resist calling anything we do an addiction, since we choose how we allotment our time, money, and energy, I can see how people get stuck in a cycle of behaviours that they do not want to be in, but have a very hard time extricating themselves from. I have vim and vigour for making healthy meals, but not all of the time... I have the time most days to prepare good for me foods, but I do not always have the interest, thus the snacking. But the snacking, dear one, does not do the body justice, does not serve the mind, the heart, or optimize functioning on a microscopic, cellular level. 

Before you run away to escape me getting all scientific, please don't go! I have no intention of discussing anything from a deeply physiological viewpoint, because that is not what interests me, nor am I inclined to do the work of a biologist: I am more of a, How does our behaviour affect our lives, kinda gal. This said, I knew some of my behaviours were negatively impacting my health, my physical wellness, and my confidence in taking control of fluctuating weight. I knew something was missing, as is commonly the case for most of us, and I discovered it was the infusion of micronutrients, after watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. 

So, dear one, I ordered a juicer, and I ordered a book with recipes to make juices. The juicer arrived and next, I headed to a local store for organic produce. Then, I started juicing, for me and my family. Here is what surprised me, and continues to surprise me the most: I am not hungry for most of the day. I drink vegetable with a bit of fruit juices twice a day, along with a fruit smoothie and one meal, and I am not at all interested in snacking, or sugar, or that mid afternoon coffee to keep me semi-productive. I exercise and my joints feel fantastic, and while I do cramp in the calves a bit still at night (I need to stretch), the cramps abate quickly, and don't have me shooting out of bed to stand-up until they pass. My sleep is still very disturbed and I have nighttime headaches and early morning residual headaches, but this is an indicator that I need an osteopathic treatment to realign what I have put out of place, as opposed to the awful congestion I often experienced from certain foods my body reacted to. Like Joe's chronic rash reactions to food, I have battled angry sinuses that cause headaches that make me vomitrocious, from dairy products. My sugary snacking gave me a bit of tasty and temporary satisfaction, but it was never enough, and I always wanted a little more now, or a little more later. Things are changing, and I know why. 

I didn't understand how micronutrients, fed directly into the blood stream, can act like high octane fuel. After one juice, my son was astonished and pleased with the energy boost he experienced, and I have to agree with him: he feels great, and so do I for that matter. It feels like an infusion of goodness, right into our veins, when we drink what I juice. If God made it, we ought to eat and drink it, but where can God's handiwork be found, in the majority of restaurants and grocery stores? People think produce is expensive, and I will agree, however: think of all the processed and prepared foods that come in boxes and containers, plus all the eating and drinking outside of the home, and do yourself a favour, by calculating the cost. Financially, it is less expensive to buy a juicer, a recipe book, and produce, then it is to buy from a drive through restaurant, or a grocery store, where the prices have skyrocketed for all products, that do not even remotely resemble, produce. 

You are no dummy. You already know all these things. If you have spare, extra, rolly weight in your midsection, on your thighs, arms, and anywhere else on your body, you know what is causing the gain, and dear one, if you are gaining weight, doing what you are doing, you will continue to gain weight - this makes logical sense. The beauty of design is built into our bodies by God, and when we decide to love ourselves with the food we eat, our bodies say a big Thank-You, each time. Think of revamping your diet as a form of repentance for mistreating your body, and for forcing it to work overtime, to the point of abusive exhaustion. 

You can change how you feel by changing what you consume, and from over here, I will cheer you on when you decide to do the work (it is pretty simple and easy to juice with the right equipment), with a raised glass, of micronutrient rich juice. 

You can take charge, dear one. Do your own research and be encouraged. Juicing changes lives. 

NOTE: Fast food isn't food, and it is more expensive in countless ways, than produce.