My Sluggish Journey to Good Health

I grew up in southeast Texas on a steady diet of starches. My understanding about good health could have filled the bottom of a small rice pot but no more. My energy level was always pretty low for a young person. I didn’t even recognize the importance of drinking water. My journey toward better health actually began with enlightenment about the body’s need for water.

It happened unexpectedly. I was watching a children’s show, which isn’t unusual for me because I’ve produced children’s shows and write for children. The segment I was watching was designed to illustrate the body’s need for water. The gist was this: If you washed your dishes in orange soda, would they be clean? No! They’d be sticky and disgusting. You have to use water to get dishes clean. What about your body? If you only drink sugared drinks and never drink water, your insides never get clean!

Somehow, that object lesson impacted me so thoroughly, I began the practice of drinking water immediately; and I’ve been drinking water daily ever since. Here’s what’s so memorable about that change: I had never liked the taste of water and virtually never drank it up until that time; I was 28 years old.

I don’t remember whether drinking water had an immediate impact on the way I felt, but I remember what did have that impact. A few years after beginning the practice of drinking water, I decided to participate in Discovery Channel’s National Body Challenge. Once I signed up, I had access to information about my specific body weight and type. Along with recommendations about caloric intake there was an explanation to this effect: Food is meant to be fuel for the body. If you give your body the right fuel, it will work more efficiently.

Again, I had an “Aha!” moment with regard to better health. I began to research the question: If food is fuel for the body, what type of fuel did my body need? Lo and behold, I learned something that the food pyramid never taught me. I discovered that if you eat the correct balance of food types in small meals throughout the day, your body’s metabolism will stay up and so will your energy.

The big change that now took place in my diet was eliminating white rice from my regular weekly menu. I put starch in its proper place, which means I cut it down to a very small part of my daily intake. The result of that change was absolutely remarkable. Even though I was approaching 35, I began to feel better and more energetic tha
I had since childhood. It was like getting a new lease on life.

By the way, another change that came with drinking water and reducing starches was that for the first time in my life I became regular. Goodbye, Metamucil! At this point, I was more hooked on health tha
I’d ever been and became an avid treadmill-walker. Since then I’ve become a runner, but that’s another story; and the journey toward better health continues.