How about you? What do you love? First on the list for most of us would be our families. But think about it! When you most enjoy your family, aren't you doing something together—preparing a meal, playing with grandchildren, enjoying a hike, traveling, going to the pool, beach, or ballgame, fishing, hunting—you get the idea. As an individual, I love anything outdoors. I love hiking and anything that involves being in the woods or on the water. These are all activities that require a certain level of health and now that my balance has become bad, I appreciate that fact more than ever. Health is not the absence of illness. It is the preservation of maximum function.
These are the things that bring joy to my life, and I am sure many of you are in the same position. Here’s the rub. One love may threaten the others. In my case, it was processed food, fast food, and soul food. I grew up in a southern family that did not have a lot, but those women in my family sure could cook. Back in the day, we called lunch dinner in the south and that was the big meal at my grandfather’s house. The kitchen and dining area were together in a large room lit by a single bulb on a wire hanging down from the ceiling. The bulb hung over a long table that would seat ten or twelve people and all the seats were frequently full.
That table was loaded with things that I loved so much that I peaked at 307 pounds. There were home made biscuits, cornbread cooked in an iron skillet with bacon fat, white potatoes and dumplings, fried squash, colored butter beans, fried chicken, rice and gravy, Kentucky Wonder green beans, turnip greens, and pie or cake for dessert. The vegetables were all seasoned with bacon fat or fatback. It was all washed down with sweetened iced tea. Sweet tea recipes may contain 2 cups of sugar with 8 cups of water, and it was always in our refrigerator. That was the main type of meal, but we ate breakfast and supper too. If that is the food you grew up with, that is the food that you love. I would rather have a seat at Aunt Mary’s table than the finest French restaurant even today.
I loved that food, but I definitely did not love being fat. I tried every diet and I lost 30 pounds multiple times. When I went back to eating soul food, I gained 35 pounds repeatedly. I went to medical school. I learned that I was fat because I ate too much fat. I became very good at avoiding fat and I lost a few pounds. At age 43, I developed large cell lymphoma, and I am convinced that my diet and weight played a role. I survived, but it was a hard lesson. The chemo and radiation treatments started changes that have ruined my balance today. Still, I know that I am extremely fortunate to be here.
As I recovered from lymphoma, I realized that my love of food threatened most of the other things I loved about my life. It changed my life in other ways. I became consistently more grateful for the ordinary things in life. It was hard to have a bad day. I was just grateful to be here. Cancer underscored the idea that my love of food threatened the other things that I loved, and I have slowly lost weight since.
I paid attention whenever I ran into medical information on diet. I learned that combinations of fat, salt, sugar, and carbs make food that tastes so good it is addictive for many of us. I learned that fast, processed, restaurant, and soul food make us too heavy because they combine those elements. I have changed my diet to whole, real food—lean meat, seafood, fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, and nuts. I also use intermittent fasting. I eat all my calories over 8 hours of the day or less. Since I have been eating like that, I have slowly lost 72 pounds and kept it off. Preserving my health has been worth it.
Poor diet and lack of exercise were taking the things that I love from me. By changing one thing that I loved, I saved everything else and I am still able to do many things that I enjoy. Food and drinks are fuel to give us the strength and energy to do other things. By using food in that way most of the time, I can still eat food like Aunt Mary cooked once a week. Don’t let one thing you love, take other things you love from you.
Food is just one thing that threatens to destroy our health. Smoking cigarettes, inactivity, and substance abuse are equally powerful. These environmental and lifestyle factors make us age and develop chronic illnesses more quickly. That is the key fact that can motivate individuals to make the changes that are required to live a longer, healthier life. If you want to be healthier longer—if you want to keep doing the things that make life worth living— these changes in your lifestyle are worth it. That is why health coaching is so important. The information out there about chronic disease is so confusing. To stay healthier longer, you need a trusted source of health information. Nurse coaches who know about chronic illness and optimal medical therapy can fill that gap.
I remember eating dinner in my southern family. I now see multiple members of my family with heart disease and type 2 diabetes and everything that comes with it. I am pre diabetic myself but I have lost 12% of my body weight, exercising more, and changing my diet. It is not easy but I am making progress.
Indeed. We had a lovely family thanksgiving. The tables were loaded with yummy stuff. But these days I have so much fun talking an sharing, laughing that I hardly eat anything. But then the next day I wish I had eaten more. 🤔😀Have a blessed holiday season, Dr. Bestermann. I look forward to more posts.