Well.  First off, dairy and I ARE NOT friends.  Gas, oh my gosh the gas.  Bloating, yuck! Wheat = inflammation in my body (as does for all bodies).  I had joint aches that I have not experienced since I had knee issues in college. My movement was so hindered when I would exercise (which I kept to ), that I almost felt winded getting up and down with different things.  WTH?????   Alcohol. Hello night sweats and TOTALLY interrupted sleep.  I was waking up slightly during the night around 2ish, but having a few drinks almost  every evening (with dinner and one after), that put me in a whole different ballpark of NO SLEEP.

And so, as December progressed, I played a little experiment with my body – how bad do different foods make a body feel and why do people think they are doing themselves a disservice by ‘denying” themselves food/beverages that make them feel SO BAD?????  I already gave you my results on the wheat, dairy, alcohol ingestion.  During this time, I would play around with, does it matter if it is organic wheat or conventional?  Does it matter if I eat a commercial dessert vs. my own?  I kept to my preservative free no added sulfite wines, but even that, while I am able to drink red wine again, drinking after 5-6 pm and no sleep are synonymous for me. And throw in a little digestive inflammation. I already know that hard liquor and commercial wine does not agree with me – hard liquor literally burns my tummy and commercial wine gives me night sweats, so I stayed away from that.  Beer I have not been big on for a while, so I did not “indulge” in that.  Oh wait, I did have a Sami Claus for Christmas shopping and THAT destroyed my head with a wicked headache and my gut just burned after it.

So, tell me people, Why?  WHY WHY WHY is it that you deserve to be eating/drinking that food/beverage choice that you know is going to make you feel terrible in the next 30 minutes to 4 hours?   What is so important about consuming something that hurts you? Does that instant gratification mean more to you, numbing some part of your mind/heart, stuffing something down your mouth when something really needs to be said,  have more importance to you than your total body, mind, soul health?

I get having a piece of something or a glass of something on occasion. But after the month of December, I can honestly say, it is NOT worth it for me.  I am in the cleansing process now of getting rid of all the yuk I ingested and taking a hard look at what I need to health next in my mind and heart.

We all have pain, sadness, grief, hurt, betrayal, bereavement, lies, foolishness, layers of these things in us.  I want to die healthy vs. living sick.  If you have read my book The Real Language Of Food Constructive Recipes For A Healthier You, you know I watched my mother live a slow painful death. Do you really believe you have to be sick to die? Do you really believe that aches, pains, health issues are part of getting older? Yes, there are certain things that happen Healthwise, but  you still have the option to live as optimally as possible for yourself.

I want to be as pan free and dis-ease free as possible for my nest 40+  years.  What about you?