What If?

We're in Pennsylvania this week with my parents, visiting my sister and family members. Saturday night  I had an conversation with my niece that's had me thinking . . . 

She shared an ongoing struggle she has had with food sensitivities and has spent a fair amount of time and energy trying to track down what she's allergic to. Between doctors' visits and trial-and-error, she has come to the realization that she has a sensitivity to fructose and anything with fructose in it causes a lot of gastrointestinal discomfort and pain. As a result, she reads labels like crazy and seldom eats out because fructose is in so many prepared foods. 

What got me thinking - a lot - about this is that she is absolutely not apologetic about her food sensitivity. She is matter-of-fact, accepts it for what it is, and doesn't worry about what someone else might think of her because of what she does and doesn't eat. And I'm sure that no one would ever say to her, "Oh, just one bite won't hurt . . . live a little . . . it's just one cheat . . . " Even if someone would be that insensitive, she knows that eating something with fructose in it will leave her miserable and she's decided it's clearly not worth it.

She knows that those food items taste good, but she knows they aren't good for her and she's made the decision to not eat them. End of discussion.  Because the decision has been made, she doesn't agonize over whether or not she she should eat something, and she really doesn't care what anyone else thinks. This is about her and her health.

Everyone understands when someone has a food allergy or sensitivity. Whether it's fructose, gluten, peanuts or something else, we don't expect someone with a food sensitivity to cheat "just this once." If someone has made the decision to be a vegetarian or vegan, no one urges them to "splurge" and have a steak. 

What would happen if we adopted this same attitude about our own health? What would happen if we viewed off-plan food the same way my niece views food containing fructose? What would happen if we didn't care what other people thought or said?  This IS about our health, and while we won't suffer immediate consequences if we eat that slice of pizza, the long-term consequences of not getting and staying at a healthy weight can be devastating - physically, mentally and emotionally. 

We have a right to be healthy, and we have a right to expect others to respect the choices we're making to get and stay healthy. As always, it's a choice we have to make every day . . . choose wisely :-)