A Dose of The Healthy Lemon

                  Health is not just a class you take in high school anymore. It’s everywhere. Our magazines, infomercials and talk show pundits are constantly giving us advice on how to maximize our health through diet and exercise. Frustrated, I usually dismiss the information because it sounds so sweeping and impersonal.  What the doctor on television doesn’t know is that I am a Diabetic who needs good carbohydrates, so the strict “no carbs ever” approach is not going to work for me. We all are inundated with information when diet and exercise have no “one size fits all” approach.

 But truth be told, some research is hard to ignore. I know that driving through McDonald’s for breakfast is a mistake. I even picture my little pancreas as a hamster on a wheel working at hyper-speed to eke out insulin from the only reserves I have left. Soon enough, I will be entirely depleted of insulin and dependent solely on needles and insulin vials. What can I say? I’ve slipped. I’ll admit to anyone who asks that I plan meals based on convenience, which requires very little actual planning. I can sum up my diet in two words – convenience and cravings. Those are two enemy combatants of any human, especially one with Diabetes.

On top of Diabetes, I have been dealing with a few other issues lately. I visited a GI doctor who diagnosed with me GERD (acid reflux). I wake up in the middle of the night nauseated at least once a week. I miss the healthy lifestyle I had once created for myself. I had a Diabetes blog, and I cooked healthy food, ran and counted carbs. I was making my own salad dressings and almond milk. What changed? I started working an “8-5” career. Suddenly, I am negotiating with my alarm clock for more sleep each morning. As a result,  I am grabbing quick breakfasts at my work cafeteria. I am saying “I’ll go!” when a coworker asks if someone wants to go get a burger for lunch. I indulge in the donuts and baked goods that circulate the office. I come home from work with very little desire to hit the kitchen, so I throw something together or eat at a restaurant. Each week looks like the one before, and I have gone from being a health nut to being in a health rut.

When my friend Catherine Portera reached out to me to talk about her new business, The Healthy Lemon, I was very eager to listen to her ideas. Catherine is a part-time nurse living in East Memphis who developed a passion for health and fitness. She completely revolutionized her eating habits and exercise regimen and the positive results are indisputable. She is a former running buddy of mine, and now I wouldn’t dream of keeping up with her. We’d run with her daughter Louise in a stroller, and I’d still struggle twice as much as she. Catherine was making very intentional lifestyle changes both inside and out. It is because of her work ethic and dedication that I trusted that any wellness-based business she put together would be well researched, genuine and worthwhile.

So, we sat down for coffee at Café Eclectic with my latte and her Earl Gray and talked about The Healthy Lemon. Shortly, we were beginning my own health assessment. I was impressed with the thoroughness of the questions and the thoughtfulness behind the feedback. When I would commit to a goal, Catherine would remind me that it needs to be practical and sometimes gradual. Catherine equipped me with my own folder containing research articles - some she wants everyone to read and others she pulled with my own health concerns in mind. We went over a few recipe ideas I could incorporate during the next week. I committed to new exercise goals. We discussed sleep and stress management. When I left, I felt that I had been given the right tools and encouragement to give it a good faith effort. While I am always happy to help a friend with a new opportunity, it became obvious that I am very much a prime candidate for something like this – a personalized wellness coach who will help me cut down on the intimidating time commitment by providing me with research and recipes and hold me accountable each week with follow-up contact. I received an email this morning with the recipes we had discussed, personal tips and more encouragement. For the first time in a while, I am excited to re-invest in my own health. It just took someone with a willingness to invest with me, and now I am an eager client with The Healthy Lemon.

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