As I mentioned in a recent post, I'm now having to make some major changes in the things I eat because I've recently learned in a Health Kinesiology nutrition work-up that certain things are stressing my energy system, not to mention being responsible for this awful, chronic cough that I've been dealing with for years.
For a while now I've been told to eliminate milk. That wasn't so bad - I actually enjoy rice milk and oat milk, and most coffee shops in West Seattle carry rice milk. Not eating sour cream was a challenge at times, and I should've been eliminating butter, but I don't eat too much of that anyway. But when recent word came that I was to give up cheese? Wow.
I really had no idea how much cheese I ate until someone tells you not to eat it. Nor did I realize what kind of psychological hold cheese can have on a person. To me, it is the ultimate comfort food. Some of my most prominent memories of my mom involve her famous macaroni and cheese meals. To this day, when I'm feeling sad and needing the comfort of food, melted cheese has a huge part in that. I can't eat a bowl of pasta without a handful of parmesan on it. And you're telling a New York City girl not to eat pizza or most italian food? Wow.
I went 3 weeks without eating any dairy (which means cheese too). I was thrilled to find out my cough was so significantly better. I slept better, mostly because I wasn't hacking up a lung when I laid down. I was losing weight too - cheese is high fat and high sodium.
Then the addict mind tried playing tricks on me. I went to my usual lunch spot and decided to not order the pesto chicken sandwich (which has melted cheese) but instead ordered the turkey/cheese/avocado sandwich . . . total disconnect on the fact that the latter had cheese. I took a few bites, realized it and then tossed it out (the cheese, not the sandwich). But that night I laid down in bed and felt like I was drowning again and was kept awake from the cough. Damn. A week later I had pizza, and the same symptoms came back.
I went another 2 weeks without cheese and then last might I decided I absolutely had to order it (in something that didn't even need it), and again, last night, I slept badly as a result.
Okay . . . okay, I get it! I can't eat the #$^*& cheese! LOL! I mean, how many times do I have to test myself before it sinks in? I'm laughing at the ridiculousness of this situation and my reaction to it. I found myself wishing that I was actually allergic to cheese, in the sense that it would make me sick if I ate it. Sick as in doubled over in pain, as opposed to just coughing. But then I realized I'd probably still try it anyway and just medicate it away; that's what addicts do.
I'm also supposed to be eliminating corn (which is on everything on earth, it seems), all meat other than poultry, and a few other things. None of those seem as torturous as the cheese.
So I sympathize - if you come to me for an HK session and I tell you that your body would like you to eliminate a food, I get it . . . it will not necessarily be easy. But I trust in HK to know that if my body is asking for something, it would benefit me greatly to listen. So I think I'll start listening and stop making excuses.
I'm going to need to do some HK psychological corrections on cheese, I think. :)
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