I find lately I’ve been staying up later and later. This is a problem because I’ve continued to get up fairly early in the morning, with the early sunrises and my alarm ⏰.
My excuses for staying up late…
The sun doesn’t set until late and I want to see the stars or have a fire after dark
The evenings are mild and I want to sit out back and enjoy the fresh air before going into my stuffy bedroom
I get myself down some rat hole on my phone, learning about some random thing on the internet
I get watching some YouTube videos I previously downloaded
I don’t have to get up early because I’m working remotely
If I’m exhausted at work the next day nobody will know unless of course there is a Zoom meeting
Smoking cigarettes these days is pretty much considered to be an socially unacceptable behavior. Cigarette smokers are considered to be addicts, people with a bad habit, that at best need a medical intervention to quit their nasty habit. Strangely enough, such beliefs do not extend to those who eat a lot of processed foods that are high in sugars, salts and unhealthy fats.
Diabetes, especially the most common form of the disease, Type 2 Diabetes is largely caused by the over-consumption of sugars and unhealthy fats that destroys the pancreas due to the constant overproduction of insulin. Much like a light bulb or a motor driven with too much voltage, the pancreas cranking out all that insulin to burn off all that excess sugar in blood ultimately starts to burn out and body stops producing sufficient insulin which causes blood sugar to rise, which causes various organs and parts of the human body to break down, much like an automobile lacking engine oil or coolant.
It’s something one should want to avoid if all possible. Yet it’s hard, when so much of our culture is about promoting unhealthy, often processed foods. Processed foods aren’t inherently bad, but they are often bland and unpalatable without the addition of saturated fats, salt and sugars. Even when food is lightly processed, there is a trend to cook with saturated fats, salts and sugars for taste, even when there might be healthier options to cook with spices, fruits and vegetables.
Any popular dessert promoted widely in the culture is likely loaded with saturated fats, salt and sugars. But you don’t have to listen to the advice, you can go for natural flavors of fruit and vegetables, enhanced with spices. Cookies aren’t just bad for you because they have loads of sugar, and therefor calories, but also are bad for you because they use butter or palm oil shortenings to give them that soft texture. But there are other ways to get enjoyment in eating from natural foods.
For a while I was a bit obsessed with sugar and salt substitutes. I liked the idea of minimizing my sugar and therefore calorie intake by using things like Splenda or in case of salt, Accent MSG. But I am coming to realize such things are really false options. Many of the artificial sugars may have just as bad of impact as the real thing on one’s pancreas, and aren’t really about making the behavioral choice of eating food that isn’t so sweet or salty.
It’s not as hard for me as I live alone and have full control of the food I purchase at the store. If something is not in my pantry, then I can’t eat it. Yet, there are constant temptations — lunches out with the team, cookies and candy brought in the office, mom’s home cooking. To be rejecting it all seems to being a picky eater. Sometimes I don’t — I’ve learned to make peace with mom’s home cooking, as she’s not going to be around all that much longer and a meal I don’t have of hers, there is a good chance it won’t be available in the future. And it’s about averages, not the exceptional meal. But I do walk past those free cookies and cakes in the office.
I really thought I would be able to overcome the upset rumbling stomachs, the gas and pain, the mixture of constipation and the runs from my high-fiber, high-protein diet I’ve been on. I like being satisfied and eating good healthy foods, and I thought I could adapt but lately it’s been so difficult. As much as I like those bowls of kidney beans with maple syrup, the homemade bread with carrots, the 15-bean soup and pea soup, I think I need to seriously think about cutting back on eating those kinds of things are truthfully, it’s not making me healthy, it’s making me sick.
I want to be healthy and live the good life, but right now I don’t think I am going in that direction with my irritable bowels, excessive pissing from excessive water. I’ve been checked out by my doctor, I am healthy and only improving as my weight continues to decline and my nutrient profile increases, with healthy blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels. But I do obsess over food too much these days, and just have gotten so horrified at what most Americans eat these days and think tastes good. Good I guess if you like the taste of food that’s poisoning your body.
All week I’ve been getting up at 5 AM to cook. I’m awake early and I’m up to run to the bathroom, so I usually start with a soup, stew, beans or rice on the stove and homemade bread in the oven. And oatmeal – banana pancakes or a pound of spinach and vegetables with two eggs mixed in for binder on cast iron pan on a different burner before the morning walk at 6:20. Then usually by 8 am the soup and beans are done simmering and I have a good meal come dinner time. Usually as dinner warms up in the evening I knead dough, prepare beans to soak, chop vegetables or tidy up the kitchen. Then I retire to bed by 8 or 9 pm as I tired and it’s dark out. Plus my electric bill is up due to all the cooking, lol.
I won’t say I’m a good cook or I eat much standard American fare these days but I like to control what I put in my body and make good basic foods that I can understand. I rarely use more than a handful of minimally processed ingredients in any dish, even my bread is simple – whole wheat flour, water and yeast – and a very small amount of salt and no sugar. I really don’t use recipes as most are too complicated and unhealthy for my tastes. Probably people think I’m werid.
