How My Struggle Motivated Me

By

Desiree Future

Hello everyone, I hope you’re doing well. It is a blessing to be alive on this very fine day. As you can see, I’ve done some remodeling. I wanted a fresh, new space for everyone to enjoy.

In the past two months, I have had a health scare and lost both of my godparents less than two months apart. They were still in love after meeting as teenagers, and they were buried side by side. That’s true love in my eyes.

Thankfully, my health scare was not as serious as I thought. It turned out to be something I could fix by changing my diet completely and exercising more frequently.

When I went through chemo years ago, I learned how to eat healthier. I lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off years after treatment. Somewhere along the line, I got lost in the amazing foods I encountered at restaurants, in my office, at family gatherings, and so on.

As a single woman over fifty, I started to hate cooking. The cooking and cleaning up parts were not pleasing to me: only the eating part. I just wanted to come home, pop something in the microwave, and be done. Or bring a bag of cooked food home with me. Nothing more, nothing less.

That is, until my health started declining in subtle ways. Then there’s the brutal winter we just experienced here in New Jersey. Cold weather and neuropathy are a bad combination. Trust me on that.

When I say changing my diet completely, I mean staying away from the foods I love but don’t love me. With neuropathy, exercise can be challenging, and I let that stop me from moving more. However, after this scary mode I went through, it motivated me to try harder. Get up and get moving.

My friend and I take a ten-minute walk during lunch. It’s just enough for exercise but not too much since I still have to work.

As far as my diet is concerned, I’m seeing a Dietitian now to get me on track. I’m learning to eat better and shop better. When I go to the grocery store, I head straight for the first and last aisles. As they have the best unprocessed foods for me.

Funny how something that scares you motivates you to make a change. Not just a quick, small revision but a major overhaul. In yesterday’s grocery trip, I went to four different departments: produce, meat, frozen vegetables, and dairy. Yes, I have food at home, which I’m constantly cooking.

Sure, I miss eating out for dinner or a fast bite while driving. But those foods cause me more harm than satisfying my hunger. However, I’ve learned that I can still go to different places to eat. I have to adjust how I order my food to enjoy it.

Life is just like this in so many ways. We all expect things to work out in our own way. I mean, why wouldn’t we, because things have not changed in all these years.

However, when articles need to be rearranged differently, it can cause some friction. Whether it be with you or others around you. The key is to remember that nothing stays the same; it only gets better.

What have you done totally out of your box that you’re glad you did? Drop a comment below and let me know if you like the renovated site as well.

Philippians 3:13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.