Overarching philosophy

This morning I woke up at a respectable time (7:30) and took my thyroid pill. It needs to be taken and digested on an empty stomach, so I put off tea or breakfast. By the time I got Nick dropped off at work, picked up dry cleaning, and started laundry, it was after 9. What I've been writing for the last few days was still on my mind. I've been dogged by the idea that I need to change my focus. I need to shift from being discontent with what I am to putting every effort into being something else. Negative (I don't want to be/I'm unhappy being) to positive (I want to be/I'm living like I am).

So in that vein, I decided it was time to do a WOD again. I still have a broken elbow, so there are a wide variety of things I can't do. But there are still things I CAN do. Starting on the ground floor of the apartment building, I ran up the stairs to the third floor, walked down the hallway running the length of the building, down the stairs to ground level, across through the parking lot, and back to the other set of stairs. I did that round 4 times, then went back up the stairs to our apartment. In the apartment I did 4 rounds of 10 air squats and 10 sit ups. The whole thing took me about 20 minutes, and then I took a shower and had a banana with almond butter and tea with milk for a mid-morning "breakfast". Then I picked up the book I'm working on right now, Deep Nutrition by Dr. Catherine Shanahan, MD. This book talks about the idea that the food you eat talks to your genes, and turns them off and on depending on what chemical messages are being sent. This is something that I've had a nagging feeling about, something that I've thought just has to be true but I've never really had words for. It's making me think a lot of things.

The first thing I'm thinking is that honestly, at the very core level, I got some good genes. The book talks about the idea that there really isn't a "genetically gifted" strain of humans. We all have the potential to become strong, athletic, and beautiful, but it's heavily influenced by the genes that are "on" at the time of our conception (and thusly, what our mothers are feeding themselves, and our fathers are eating).

I'm in a generation that was conceived before BigAg took over our food supply, before genetic manipulation of foods became so widespread, before our world became so automated and so sedentary. Essentially, I got un-messed-with genes to start with. My father comes from a long line of tall, strong, robust, workhorse bodies. My mom's genes are the more unknown, given her family history, but her father is still alive and well at 93 years old so there's gotta be something good there. The good stuff was turned on when I was conceived. I didn't start with "slowed down" genes.

I have known and acknowledged for a long time that I have good genes. My teeth are straight, my jaw is strong. I am tall, my muscles form quickly and grow easily. I have a strong heart (despite anomalous flaps of tissue). For a long time I was free of any persisting diseases, although Hashimoto's Disease and similar thyroid disorders do have a genetic component. My research into Hashi's has told me that there is *something* that is turning those genes on. They haven't narrowed it down to a specific factor, but they know there are components in the environment, in personality, and in our food consumption. Add in the idea from Dr. Shanahan's book, and it falls into place. Our food talks to our genes, and in that way our food becomes us. The food we eat forms us. Which I have always known, but never really believed on a gut level. (Sorry, bad pun, couldn't resist!)

So essentially, if food is a conversation you're having with your body, what conversation do you want to have? Do you want to be a bully? Do you want to throw crap at your body, useless oils and calories and unrecognizable chemicals from the food labs, and see what your body does with it? Do you want to treat your body like an experiment and see what happens when it gets a steady supply of nothing it's evolved to need? The current generation really is a demonstration of what happens when the body doesn't get what it needs to be optimally healthy. Incidents of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes type II are astronomical, and we know those diseases are acquired. We know those diseases are a result of lifestyle choices in the majority of suffers (as with any absolute, there are exceptions that prove the rule).

After my late breakfast, I finished the laundry and a couple of other tasks, then walked across the street to drop off the dry cleaning and get a salad from the deli. I was intent on the Apple Valley salad: apples  (vitamins A, B, C, K, and fiber), dried cranberries (vitamins C, E, K, manganese, and fiber), salad greens (potassium, manganese, calcium, pantothenic acid, iron, and fiber), walnuts (vitamin E, folate, omega 3 fatty acids), goat cheese (calcium, protein, niacin, thiamin), and chicken (protein, vitamins B6 and B12, selenium) and balsamic dressing (iron, maganese). Basically I just had a really good conversation with my body. I gave it pieces that it needs to be healthy and to turn on the right genes.

I see good things coming from this shift in focus.