One of the purposes of this blog is to present examples and stories of how people have been motivated to adopt healthy actions using the principle of engaging the whole person. My own road towards more health conscious living provides an example.
I had read and heard over a period of 4 or 5 years that it’s important to read labels on foods before purchasing, but I had not changed my actions. Then a series of actions drove the point home.
I participated in a cooking activity in which I tasted herbs and spices, and then put the ones I liked into a stir-fry. In addition, I needed to monitor the amount of fat that I ate to change a test result. I listened to my body in a way that enabled me to distinguish the difference in how I felt when in a meal was high in fat versus when it was low.
Now I read labels. It’s fun. I look for ingredients that add variety. The motivation came from a series of experiences.
Could you share a story in the comments section about how you adopted a more healthy action?
I had my first kidney stone not long ago. Anyone who has gone through such an ordeal knows how miserable it can be. Mine was several weeks’ long, with the majority of the pain in mostly only the first week. But it resulted in three emergency room visits.
While there’s no definitive way to pinpoint the exact cause of a stone, there are common sense factors that play into it. In my case, having grown up in a poor family, I lived on junk food for far too long. Even after adopting a more healthful lifestyle some years ago, I was still a soda junkie, and could never bring myself to drink water. I’d consume cup beyond cup of herbal tea, but coffee and carbonated beverages made up a large part of my daily fluid intake. This, more than likely, was what led to that miserable experience.
Following my doctor’s orders, I cut back my coffee intake to one or two a day, and rather than drinking soda and tea at home, I began drinking water–lots of it. I still crave a Coke now and then, but it’s something I include as an occasional treat these days. Most of the time, I’ve grown accustomed to drinking only water. I’ve also saved a lot of money (minus the cost for extra Brita filters), lost a few pounds, and haven’t had a stone since.
It took getting a kidney stone to realize such a simple thing, but I feel a lot better about it now. And what better way is there to enforce this new habit than by remembering that horrible ordeal and fearing another? Water: 3 liters a day keeps the stones away!