This is how I felt about not being able to figure out why I wasn’t feeling so great.
This is a story all about how, my life got flipped, turned upside down.
Seriously, it is. I felt like the baby in the picture above; frustrated.
I want to share a personal experience that you, my friend, may identify with. “But I don’t know you, how can we be friends?!” Well, reader, the fact that you are reading this post means that you visited fitmentality.com. The fact that you are here means you, at the very least, somewhat care about living a strong and healthy life. I also share this interest. This makes us friends.
Let’s hop in our FM version of the Delorean. We’ll go back in time to 2005. I was in college, loving life and preparing myself for the real world. I was happy, working hard, and excited about the future. I would study hard, workout hard, and try my best to enjoy what was supposed to be “the best years of my life.” I had no complaints, other than my own lack of time management skills that would lead to me making multiple promises to myself to never procrastinate and have to write a paper the night before it was due. Just don’t tell my parents that. It’ll be our little secret 😉 See? We are keeping secrets for each other. Like I said, we are friends.
Then, something began to happen. I started to notice that periodically, my body would feel exhausted and achy. I would go through periods of time that for a few days I would want to do little else than lay on the couch. After some time would pass by, I would feel better. At first, I figured “oh, I just got sick, it’s okay. It happens.” It’s true, we do get sick, and it does happen. However, I didn’t have many other symptoms along with feeling this way. Also, it would happen almost regularly, every couple months. Not only did it make it tough to do the things I needed to do during these episodes, I would need to completely abandon any physical activity I had planned. This was more than an inconvenience. I wasn’t able to force workouts, either. Being able to be active is something I cherish. When it was taken away from me, it was more than “aw man, oh well.”
I went to the doctor, and found nothing. My blood sugar was fine. My thyroid was fine. No other diseases were found. I was grateful that this was the case. However, I still didn’t have answers. This went on for years. Without warning, I would be down for the count every month or two, for a few days. “What is going on hereeeee?!?!?!” I asked myself. Now, there are folks who live with conditions worse than this on a daily basis. I respect very much when people with difficult situations, find the strength necessary to achieve their goals. I don’t pretend to think that I had it worse than anyone. It was simply a personal struggle.
Fast forward to a year and a half ago. I was getting my internet surf on, while listening to ESPN in the background. I forget who the report was about, but I remember hearing about a professional baseball player who would go through periods of time where exhaustion would keep him from practice. The report stated that he even fainted during a practice while feeling this way. They explained symptoms that he would have periodically. I wasn’t paying full attention to the TV, but when I heard this, I immediately stopped what I was doing. The report went on to talk about how the baseball player discovered he had an intolerance to gluten. When he started eating gluten free, he started to feel better. I quickly turned my attention to the TV and had a light bulb go off in my head. “OMG, what if that’s what’s happening to MEEEEE?!?!?!?!” I’m not sure if I actually said “OMG,” but i wouldn’t doubt it. I was pretty excited. I immediately started looking into this way of eating as a lifestyle. I began to do some research and was on my way to give it a shot.
After a few months of eating this way, I did notice a difference. I felt less bloated throughout the day. I would still feel the way I described before, but there would be longer periods of time in between. Over time, this would happen less and less often. I also realized I would either get less upper respiratory infections (colds, etc) than before, or I would get better quicker. The more time went on, the more time would pass between feeling like a punch to my health’s face. I have been eating this way for about a year and a half. I feel great and I have been able to stay more consistent with being active. I don’t pretend to be Superman, but I do notice a difference. Thank you, ESPN.
This doesn’t mean I think you should immediately drop the piece of bread you are eating. I don’t mean for the reader to think that I feel that everyone should eat gluten free. I am simply sharing an example of when I wasn’t feeling all that great, and decided to take an active approach to trying to feel better. How do you feel? Have you been wondering if maybe you could feel a little better, more often? Taking a close look at your fitness level and your eating habits could be a great place to start.
To be clear, when you don’t feel good, talk to your doctor. I am not advocating for us all to be our own doctors. Modern medicine is incredible and should not be overlooked. Always check with a health care professional when looking to make diet changes. However, there is nothing wrong with knowing that eating better and getting more active, more consistently, just may help us feel a little more awesome.
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