Health Kick? Part 1: Nature

I’m a pretty healthy gal, by nature and by nurture. Tessie made a specific request that I write about my “health kick”. I suppose it’s a health kick, if that term still qualifies when I don’t go in and out of healthy phases; I’m just always kind of always even stevens.

This is just Part 1, because it would be too long to write it all out. I thought I’d start out with the Nature part of my health regimen. My body likes healthy things and I physically react to things that are not good for me. Some examples:

1. Anything with too much sodium or sulphites gives me a wicked migraine. I can eat a few potato chips, but eating the whole bag is not an option unless I want to spend the night throwing up and avoiding light and noise. Back when I ate meat, bacon and ham would go straight to my head, literally.

2. I don’t digest meat at all well. This is the reason I am a meat avoider. It just sits there in my stomach, making me feel bloated and uncomfortable. There may or may not also be frequent trips to the loo.

3. Alcohol and sugar give me a very attractive rash on my face. It starts in the creases around my nose, then heads north to my eyebrow region, settling nicely on my giant forehead. The wine is gone in 2 minutes. The rash stays at least 2 days, if I treat it with cortisone cream. I have cortisone cream in my car, my drawer at work, my purse and my bathroom cabinet.

4. Fatty and fried foods make the veins in my hands bulge out and pulse (see attractive photo below). I also get some kind of tension headache.

My hand after eating too much Roasted Garlic Brie in Bread

5. I’m naturally pretty active. I don’t sit still for very long. I always feel the urge to be Doing! Something! I watch TV while doing a number of other activities. I challenge myself to do more crunches at the next commercial than I did in the last. Even now as I write this, my legs are crossed under my desk and the top leg is swinging randomly and, while I stop to think about my words, my hand is over my mouth with my finger tapping my nose.

Paints a pretty picture, doesn’t it? Bulgy, fidgety, rashy Lori. As ugly as all of this seems, it does lead me to avoid over-indulging in things that are unhealthy.

Next in the series: Part 2: Nurture. Can’t wait, right?