Friday, October 19, 2007

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?

10 comments:

Jess said...

That's kind of convenient, in a backwards way. It's a lot less tempting to stuff your face with fatty, salty food when you know you're going to get a roaring headache if you do.

Misty said...

No fat? No alcohol? No SUGAR?

You poor poor thing. Although, in an odd way, I am supremely jealous. I want to have strange health issues that cause me to look like a svelt sexier version of myself.

Also, just wanted to let you know I moved. Wanted a more generic URL. So, stop in whenever you get a chance. Nothing's changed but the location. Thanks for the comments earlier. Nice to know I am not a Martian. ;)

Tess said...

Holy shit, this is awesome. You practically have a SHOCK COLLAR for unhealthy foods!

artemisia said...

In a way, I think it is really fantastic that your body reacts the way that it does to unhealthy foods. You have a built in warning system!

How do you handle meals for you and your family? Do they ever stage a coup because they just want fries and a burger? Or have they just never known that stuff?

Laural Dawn said...

Wow - Your every day diet sounds like me in this pregnancy. If I eat the wrong thing my body makes it very clear.
Poor you.
I agree about porks - bacon, sausage, etc.
I love them, but whenever I eat them I get really sick. It's gotten to the point where I pretty much avoid anything like that because it's not worth the agony.

email said...

Hmmm... I can't decide if I would think it really sucked big time, or if I would be overjoyed if I shared these issues. On the one hand, I LOVE and ADORE food, so it would suck to have my body reject meat and cheesy goodness and fatty buttery goodness and CHOCOLATE!!! On the other hand, I'd probably a lot hotter. :)

Banana said...

These are good reasons to eat healthy fo sho!

I wish fatty foods gave me a tension headache. Instead they give me delicious taste in my mouth.

Anonymous said...

I only WISH my body would react strongly to things that are bad for me. Sadly, it takes a MAJOR indulgence in MAJORLY (sorry not a word, really, but I like it anyway) bad food to negatively affect my health. So, I have to rely on...ugh...willpower. *sigh* so hard being me ;P

Family Adventure said...

I wish my body would react when I eat too much chocolate. Alas, it does not, so I keep going! And going. And going.

Not pretty.

Heidi

Sara said...

...wondering how the cross border shopping trip went!