Fuel the fires within..

This is a subject I will not talk about very often, but it's on my mind as i sit here and watch the Vegan Black Metal Chef. I've had a very weird eating history. I was a fat kid. I was in that first real wave of obese U.S. citizens that came up in the 80's and 90's. My situation was not a biological problem. My environment shaped my body. I spent much time outdoors, and you'd think that I would get plenty of exercise by that fact alone. I ran around so much it was unreal. However, due to my Mum trying to raise me Vegetarian and everyone else giving me food I became a human garbage disposal. I was lucky enough to be a budding picky eater. It wasn't as evident in my youth as it is now, but I never got a taste for Soda Pop (thankfully). I never got a taste for some of the nastier things. I did have a nasty fast food habit. My body is responsive more than some to the things i put into it. At my peak I weighed in at over 300 pounds...probably well over. I was miserable. It took a ton of bad health habits and poor food to send me over the edge my first year in college and I got sick. That sickness put me down for a couple of years. During that time I began to read, and due to my lack of ability to eat much I began to watch the food network like a mad man (I haven't watched television in nearly 7 years).

I'm a late bloomer, but at this point my mind really began to open. I've never been dumb. Though, for a long time I was a very "learn by mistake" person. As my consciousness expanded I began to learn things about myself. I changed my diet and I got on the mend. I haven't eaten beef since I was 19. That was the first big decision I made. The process of knowing oneself is a life long journey. In the area I grew up in, making the choice to not eat cow is HUGE. Maybe not to my Mum, but to everyone else it is. That was the first of the big decisions I've made. Maybe one day i'll talk about my faith choices...that one still gets to the yokels. Anyway, as my diet changed to what I wanted it to be I felt better. My Mum honestly believes that cooking is bad for a person. I don't believe that. I do think most people cook in a very unhealthy manner. Just walk into any given city in the United States and the obesity rate will completely blow your mind. I know it blows my mind. Going out to eat (assuming you can find a place that doesn't serve FDA approved toxic waste) is rather horrifying. Serving portions are blowing away HUGE in the middle of this country. I've found from my travels that coastal areas tend to give a bit less food per meal (with higher prices...go figure).

So...i've picked up a few things about health over the years and made choices. I'm gluten free, beef free, milk free (I still eat cheese and yogurt). I'm not vegetarian or vegan. I eat chicken and fish, but i'm VERY picky about where my meat comes from. I don't want antibiotics and steroids pumped into my meat. Not good for the animal and not good for me. The largest choice was going gluten free. There are extenuating circumstances behind that choice, but it's a choir. A labor of love, if you will. It makes me feel great. I work out for the same reason...it makes me feel good.

I don't understand people who eat trash. People who put drinks into their system that can DEGREASE AN ENGINE. My body matters to me. I don't want to be on 23432 different medicines when i'm 50 because I ate 12 pounds of salt a year on top of mounds of buttered bacon. My body is a temple. My body is like any other bio system. If you put toxic waste into the natural cycle it will eventually stop that system. I've witnessed to many people in my family or associated with my family (family = biological and friend based) not care that much about their health. It's just down right sad and scary. So in a sense i've become a picky eater because I only want high quality fuel for my body. I enjoy staying healthy. I can't lie and say i don't get worried that i'll get fat again. Anyone who has lost over 160 pounds will tell you that they never want to go back. I am such a different person in some respects. In others i'm just more enhanced.

What we put into our bodies is purely our choice. If you fill your body with junk, what does that say about who you are? Do you eat fast food daily because "I don't have time for anything else". There is no excuse...none. My health comes first. One of the basic natural traits is personal safety. Eating properly, whatever that is for you, is just as important as breathing clean air or sleeping enough.

I think you get the point.