Monday, February 18, 2013

Life Decisions

Since this is the biggest piece of news I have at the moment, I decided I'll share some decisions I've made about my life.

Nothing about my dreams and hopes for my future has changed, however, there are some things I want to change about the present.

How I came to this decision is actually really weird, but hey, maybe there's something useful in it for you.

When I went to Berlin, I was almost immediately assailed by a terrible bout of hay fever caused by the heating systems. By terrible, I mean terrible. Constant sniffing, teary eyes, generally feeling miserable. Best of all, the medication I took in an attempt to control the reaction made it feel like the floor swayed under me. (Sadly, no euphoria accompanied it. ;-) )

Fortunately, my entire reason for being in the city was a huge conference of fresh produce exporters and producers and the related industries. For those (I.E. most of you) who don't know, I'm an exporter and sourcing agent by day. So it happened that my mom had a meeting with a business and she didn't want me to sit in. It left me stuck waiting around for her. Being utterly bored, I started munching on the samples of pineapples that this company sells.

And the allergies went away. Not completely, but definitely to a degree where I could handle them.

I spent the rest of the week eating pineapple and it made things a lot more bearable, although I'm sad to say my discovery came a tad late. (That's another story, though.)

It got me thinking, though. If a simple thing as eating pineapple can make such a huge difference to my life, imagine what significantly reducing refined carbs and sugars could do. Or making sure I drink enough water. Or not eating as much fat and adding more vegetables to my diet.

The implications could be staggering.

So now I'm making a concerted effort to change the way I eat. The plan is for me to eat almost completely differently by next year, but I'm going slow, gradually changing so it's not too much to handle. Right now, I'm drinking more water and cutting back on bread and sugar. Next month, I want to experiment with healthier meals.

Hopefully, the change will make a great improvement on my life.

Anyone else try to overhaul your diet? How did it go? Any tips?

7 comments:

Al Diaz said...

Whatever change you do with your diet, try to keep it balanced. That's very important. I went vegetarian because of medical conditions but I was warned it wasn't just about to eat salads all the time. You have to make up for the things you are banning from your diet, like animal proteins for me. And cannot ban all fat either. Just change the bad fat for healthy fat and in the appropriate amounts. My change was radical because my condition was critical but I also suggest if that's not the case with you, do the change progressively because your body might resent it. Some people feel the effects of detox more than others. Do not go on instinct on this one. Better consult a nutritionist. You'll thank yourself in the long run.

Kurt Hartwig said...

We did a wheat and sugar cleanse for a month and then eased back into more familiar foods again, while keeping those lower on our food intake - i.e. less snacking on tortilla chips or bread, less alcohol across the board. We get sick a lot less and there hasn't been any noticeable loss of lifestyle issues that we might complain about. Breaking the old habits is the hardest part of it.

Annalisa Crawford said...

I was going to offer some advice, but Al and Kurt have given you some great stuff already so... um... feeling a bit redundant now - although yay for pineapple, who'da thought it!

Misha Gerrick said...

Yeah I don't want to do anything extreme. I just want to cut back on things that I KNOW are bad for me but that continue to take up a significant portion of my diet.

Misha Gerrick said...

That's exactly what I have in mind. Not going completely around the bend on a health kick, but making choices I know I can make to improve my overall health.

Misha Gerrick said...

I know, right? Apparently it is high in Bromelaine (or something like that) that eases histamine over-reaction. Except, of course, if you're allergic to pineapple. ;-)

Empty Nest Insider said...

I definitely think that drinking lots of water is good for you in so many ways. Many people who only drink when they're thirsty can become dehydrated without even knowing it. It's better not to try extreme measures with dieting. One idea is to chew slowly, and practice portion control. I have to constantly remind myself to do these things. Good luck Misha!

Julie