Why I'm Doing This

This summer, I finally decided to give in and see a chiropractor about a few niggling joint issues that have been bothering me for a while (just basic back/hips stuff, the kind you’d expect for someone who stands all day in high heels, plus some elbow pain from bad ergonomics when I was a secretary).

As I expected, and yet to my chagrin, he wasn’t content to just fix my joints and send me on my way. He wanted to look at me as a whole person, evaluate my overall health, and nip any problems in the bud.

Well, anybody who looks at me could tell that I have a weight problem, and a look at a family photo would tell you that I’m not a genetic anomaly. My entire family - extended family included - is on the heavier-than-ideal side by at least 15 pounds, and most of us could stand to lose closer to 40. My mother is pre-diabetic, her dad is diabetic with serious nerve damage, and his mom was diabetic too. Clearly, I’m playing with the deck stacked against me.

After some weird tests, he decided that my pancreas was probably giving me trouble. That’s not good news, since the pancreas regulates blood sugar. I’ve watched my mom and grandpa both struggle with lots of health issues over the years, and I don’t ever want to be in that situation. The doctor told me, though, that if I followed his instructions we could prevent me from ever getting diabetes altogether, and I could live to a healthy old age. 

He said that the first thing to do is to start limiting my sugars and to research this thing called the “Paleo” diet. He said that it’s going to be hard, but it’ll be worth it. So here I am, almost 27 years old, 5’3” and 200 pounds, at high risk for diabetes, and I’m starting this diet. 

In the words of Dave Ramsey, you have to live like no-one else so that later you can live like no-one else.