I haven’t really posted about this yet, but a while back, after a couple of blood tests that came out kind of wonky, my doctor told me I had to keep a pretty strict lifestyle to the time being. I didn’t really live an -unhealthy- lifestyle before. I cut out (for the most part) processed foods in July 2011, and stopped eating things with ingredients like ‘flavours’ or ‘colours’ in October last year. I don’t smoke, I exercise, I’m not a heavy drinker and most of the time I get a fair bit of sleep. So, I was quite surprised that I’d have to turn it up a notch. The irregularities were in my liver and gall bladder, and I had high blood iron, so I had to eat foods that were healthy for those organs and avoid foods that were not. I’m allowed “very little alcohol” (in my doctor’s words), I’m not supposed to take things like ibuprofen, tylenol, cold medicine or any other drug that’s not prescribed to me, I am to avoid red meat and cut back caffeine and eat foods like salmon, avocado, whole grains and nuts (luckily all things I enjoy). I’m allergic to cigarette smoke and since antihistamines and second hand smoke combined is pretty bad for the liver, I can no longer go to any bars or cafes that allow smoking inside. For the past month, I’ve followed this advice, and even when my body eventually sorts itself out (which it should, since nothing was worryingly bad, just “off” a bit), I feel pretty committed to continuing.

I do occasionally hear stuff like “you’re still young, live a little!” I don’t feel like I’m -not- living though! I get up early and go for bike rides. I’m thinking forward to the future a lot. I make delicious meals myself and leave indulgence in restaurants to rarer occasions, and I have a lot of fun with friends still. Eating a more natural diet, I actually feel more alert and my senses are a lot sharper, and I really appreciate flavours and smells a lot more. It’s also made me think about what kind of life I want to have later on. I want to live in a way that I can enjoy a high quality of life in the future as I age. I want to be 60 and hiking, biking and travelling, not 60 and struggling to walk up stairs. I’ve figured out that I have a LOT of ambitions as to the amount of things I’d like to do and accomplish in my life, and I realized that I’ll need a lot of time to actually do them! I might be “still young” now, but I wont be forever. This August, I’ll turn 28, and I want to live in a way that will allow me to enjoy myself now AND later on. So, exercise, healthy fats and whole grains, arts and travel it is!