Trying New Things, Eating More Healthy

This semester alone I’ve suffered through pneumonia, bronchitis, strep throat and also managed to catch every cold that circulated around Penn State’s campus. In an effort to not be sick anymore, I decided to eat healthier and hopefully (finally) feel better. I’ve never been the kind of person who ate anything and everything I wanted to. Except maybe when I was younger, but teaching kids not to mindlessly indulge in countless sugary snacks seems pointless and unnecessary because they inevitably work off all the calories anyway just from running around anyway but that’s besides the point. I eat a relatively good amount of fruit and vegetables, stay away from fried foods to the best of my ability and avoid eating too much gluten.

Side note: I avoid eating too much gluten because I am gluten intolerant, not because of any new health trend. If I eat too much gluten, I get very tired and my joints hurt, but as long as I don’t eat bread or pasta I’m usually good. Unfortunately that in and of is kind of hard to do at college, but South has really good sushi and salad places so I get by. Avoiding gluten for no apparent reason is not shown to help your health in any way and is really dumb because most gluten free products have a taste that resembles cardboard.

The two things that really trip me up are drinking enough water and staying away from sweets. I fill up my water bottle every single morning before I leave Atherton to go to class, but it stays relatively full as the day goes on. I try to remember to drink water throughout the day because I know how good it is for you. It helps cleanse the body of toxins, hydrate skin, keep you alert and a cornucopia of other benefits. My roommate can attest to the fact that most days I get back to the dorm at 7 or 8 p.m. with a water bottle three-quarters of the way full. Disappointed in how little water I drank throughout the day, I usually try to chug the rest of the water bottle. Regardless, I don’t ingest enough water throughout the day. I also have a really bad sweet tooth. I can’t leave the buffet at Redifer without getting at least one chocolate chip cookie, but more often than not that number is closer to two or three though. This also goes against the kind of gluten free rule.

So this week I decided to go completely gluten free to make up for the stray slices of pizza and pokey sticks I’ve been eating recently and also eat healthier in order to feel better. Although this is easier said than done, I’ve been doing pretty well. I haven’t eaten anything with gluten in it all week and I’ve stayed away from the sugar too, substituting in more fruit in order to appease my sweet tooth. I’ve worked hard to eat a balanced and pretty clean diet. I haven’t felt sick at all this week, which is (sadly) progress in regards to my health. Although I’m only a week into my new healthier lifestyle, I’ve been feeling good and I hope to keep this up.