Be Gentle With You

So, I turned 48 last week, and 48 and I have been doing some honest talk. We decided it was time to look into some health issues we’ve been tolerating for …well, I don’t know how long because these things kind of sneak up on you. But, I haven’t slept through the night in years unless I’ve taken a sleeping pill – which I don’t like to do because I’m a pastor, and if someone calls me at 3:00 to say there’s been an accident and people are scared and sad and need their pastor, I do not want to miss that call. Also, I’m getting some pretty solid arthritis pain, and 48 and I are pretty sure we’re a bit young for that. So, we decided to try Whole 30 (Google it or see the “Health” tab on this site.)

I have never blogged. I’m trying it now. I’ll just chronicle my Whole 30 days, and see if I like blogging.  Here we go: Day 1

I woke up nervous because today is the first day of thirty-days-in-a-row that I am expecting myself to have will power. I know myself pretty well, so I’m pretty sure this is not going to go as planned. Mostly because I’m not good at planning, so…

The first thing I did was go get my bloodwork done, so I can have some data to look at in the end. I also weighed myself and took some “before” pictures. This is not a diet, no counting calories, no significant portion control. Whole foods that are not known to cause inflammation for one month. That’s what Sage and 48 and I are doing. So, some of my before pictures have nothing to do with my size or shape. I took a picture of my tongue (it’s bumpy and sensitive), my face close up, (so I can note any changes to my middle-aged-teenager-acne), how far my arthritic fingers can currently bend, and things like that. I made some notes about sleep patterns and headaches and such.

I ate a lot today. Seriously, I ate and ate: eggs, an apple, an orange, great-big-salad-with-chicken-and-kind-of-a-ranchy-dressing, chicken soup, celery and almond butter, applesauce, almond milk, and about a gallon of tea.

Now, we are supposed to be limiting fruit because it has a lot of natural sugar, but I’ve made an executive decision that my previous (practically-intravenous) use of Pepsi means my body will need some extra sugar these first few days in order to adjust.

I learned: Shopping, chopping, cooking, storing, and cleaning up takes oceans of time. I felt a little frustrated that my whole day off was spent in the kitchen (though I enjoy cooking), and there was so much clean up.

But, it made me think of my grandmothers…in their kitchens, in their gardens, at their markets. It’s only day one, and this experiment has brought me to the farmhouses in Maddock, ND and Gary, MN where my strong, industrious grandmothers grew, cooked, and served whole foods to their families. This is a very tender beginning to 30 days of learning (and perhaps, remembering) who 48 and I am.