Category Archives: Fitness

Ok, so let me begin by saying, that it is not my cat but neighbor’s cat and honestly there is more than one.  The dogs, squirrels and birds too.   I suddenly seem to have a kinship with the neighborhood animals who have been a thousand times more friendly than some of the residents on my street in general.   I digress…there is a point.

Lately it has become apparent to me that I haven’t been JUST getting a sick stomach for, I would say over a year now.  My belly has been going through varying degrees of weight gain, distension, nausea, water retention, and more.  I am not pregnant.  I am active.  I love the outdoors and even if I cannot exercise heavily, I tend to take walks to clear my head or digest food after lunch or dinner.  I have however, been under a lot of stress.

I’ve been reading Carolyn Myss recently and digging into the chakras of course starting with the first and it suddenly came to me that, perhaps I have been overeating and having such symptoms because I am not spiritually and emotionally grounded.  It was a breakthrough.  So from the moment I woke up this morning I was determined to find ways to get myself metaphorically standing on two feet again, depending on myself along with a daily dose of loving care, affection and attention.  No more Blanche DuBois for me, depending on the kindness of strangers.  Not withstanding all of the celebrations and successes I have been having it has been a tremendously tough year for my health, relationships of all kinds, finances and just plain living.  That being said, it also occurred to me that on top of stress, perhaps it was simply the food I was eating.

I have a mother with cancer.   Stomach and colon.  She has suffered for the last 10 years of her life and yet tenaciously been determined to do everything she can to stick around and stay healthy, happy and sane.  She has had most of her colon removed and continues to have regular pain which has thankfully been temporarily alleviated.  So my own stomach and colon health has become a somewhat of a focus for me too.

But yesterday, after a conversation with her regarding some food she ate out, which is not normally a problem, she became overwhelmingly ill.  She has eaten at this particular restaurant before.  And this was the second time at this same place she had become sick.   We determined she should not eat there again of course.  But after our conversation I had to pause.

This is where the neighborhood cats come in.  Elliot especially.  She loves to come to my door and talk almost every day.  She’s a bit temperamental but we get along really well.  I often feel guilty because as I am not a pet owner, I generally don’t keep treats in the house.  When friends come over with their dogs I usually reach into my refrigerator and grab something tasty – some left over chicken or beef or something they like (with their parents permission of course). 

So a couple of weeks ago, I happened to be eating a Lean Cuisine and put a finger nail sized portion on a plate for Elliot as a gesture of our little friendship.  I mean, I wouldn’t normally let any of my friends go hungry or not offer them a sweet or sandwich or a cool drink during a visit.  She absolutely snubbed it.  And not only that, but she snubbed it every time I did it there-after, barely taking a whiff, not even bothering to taste.  And so did my other little furry friends on the block for weeks.  Not one of them would even so much as lick the dish.  And I have been leaving a little bit of different kinds of food out to see if anyone’s interest peaks.  The revelatory and resounding response has been “not a bite.”

This morning, for the lack of regular breakfast food, I decided to pop my favorite turkey and apples into the microwave.  It was yummy.  But it also made my stomach turn and as I am for the first time relaxed and with a lot of time to indulge my sensibilities this morning, I realized it was the food – nothing else.

Because of the hectic rush of life, I have been forced to eat a diet of whatever I can find and afford outside of home.  No matter how I try, most of it is filled with either far too many ingredients and certainly plenty of chemical preserves that my body could possibly want to process.  And there it is.  Do I need a bigger sign?  My body is starting to reject everything that is not cooked in my own kitchen.  Even food at Whole Foods and other places of its kind are leaving my body with a feeling of illness no matter what I choose or how little I have.  There are simply TOO MANY ingredients, and too many other indeterminable factors including freshness of food, sanitation and cleanliness of outside kitchens that I have no control over, going into my food and I have had enough.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not an indictment against fast food or any particular establishment.  I am not placing blame.  But if my neighbor’s cat won’t eat it, I think I had better start paying more attention.  Animals are a lot smarter than we are at times.  They might be more willing to gobble up slop and more often (hmmm).  But they do definitely know when something doesn’t smell right and what will most likely make them sick.

The conclusion I have come to is that, I really and truly do need to re-develop my consciousness about eating.  Because what is going into my body is having a direct and immediate effect on my mental and physical state.  And don’t want to feel sick any more.

Lesson One:  Listen to your cat more often.  She knows better!

Happy Eating Ya’ll!