It’s the bounce that convinces me I’ve made a great change.
The one night of Chinese take-out. The innocent-looking deli meat sandwich (with actual wheat bread). A couple of Christmas cookies. A piece of pizza (with cheese!). A cutesy sugary cocktail. A couple bites of Marty’s restaurant steak. God forbid: a Coke.
You might find this list underwhelming (or worse, delicious), but for me each of these things is a bounce from the nutrition that keeps me functioning: Fresh vegan foods, without wheat or milk or cheese, plenty of fruit, very natural sweeteners (like agave) and as much as possible, raw produce. Delicious, fresh, real food!
The difference in the way I feel now from the way I felt several years ago isn’t so apparent… until I bounce. Every time I bounce, I remember why I made these changes. The bounces used to happen constantly. It was maddening! These days, I go longer and longer without bouncing. And yet, I’m still perversely grateful for the bounce—because it clarifies, again, why I want this.
After three weeks of eating strictly vegan, anything on that evil list will knock me out of my seat. Some of it will make me sick fast. Sugar takes down my immune system, dairy makes my sinuses act up in a scary way. The things on that list make me slow, and sluggish. They mess up my digestion. They screw up my sleep patterns, and waking up in the morning is nigh impossible. They make my arthritis flare up (ow). None of these things were all that apparent until I’d lived my life without them for awhile. I had no idea what my food was doing to me until I stopped eating some of it.
I don’t think these things happen because I’m some kind of food freak. I think these things happen because I’m a human being.
Without the bad stuff, I feel completely different. Light. Good. Happy, invisible digestion. Falling asleep when I want to and waking up easily. Sleeping soundly, even. Hands and fingers that don’t feel stiff or hurt when I work. A clear head. A great mood. Before I changed the way I ate, I don’t know that I’d ever experienced some of those things—maybe since the day I was born. And I would never have known the difference if I hadn’t started making changes.
Every time I bounce, I get back to business faster and surer than before. The bounce itself is unpleasant, and some bounces last longer than others (especially if I get sick). But I sure am grateful to the bounce for the reminder. My only request, O Bounce, is that you continue to get the job done faster and faster (with more months between) as time goes by. At least, that kind of bounce.
It’s hard to forget, after all, that my food experiences started with a bounce. When I ate meat at every meal and boxes of cookies for dessert, eating one vegan meal was a wonderful bounce. A wonderful, delicious bounce. Those bounces got better and better… until they inverted.
I request more good bounces, and hope to need fewer sober reminders. ;}
So… do you bounce?
(Do you need to bounce?)
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