This weekend, I traveled with a group of 11 girls to a rural part of Maine to work with a community called H.O.M.E. This organization takes the basic needs of its community and provides them with resources whether it be homeless shelters, trade and craft classes, soup kitchen, or a food pantry. There are also people who live in this community simply for a more simple way of living. One family we met had a profound impact on me by challenging me to think about how I live my life.
This family could rightfully be defined as "Hippies" as they themselves used the word. They lived in a converted school bus which was complete with 3 modes of heat (electric, propane, and woodstove), an air conditioner, and access to the kitchen next store. The mother had been a nurse who was fed-up with modern healthcare and who is now very much into alternative therapies and nutrition. We had a conversation about how effective alternative therapies can be... only drug companies don't want you to know that because healthy people aren't profitable. We also talked about how important nutrition really is to being healthy, how a good diet affects all parts of your body. As a CFer who is told to eat high-fat high-calorie foods, I was mesmerized by her knowledge. She encouraged me to watch a documentary called Food Matters, which discusses the true importance of a healthy diet to help combat chronic illnesses.
The documentary was clearly a lot to take in. If nothing else, it showed me that the "high-fat" foods that I eat to keep up my weight, are probably doing more harm than good. It taught me about natural foods, the impact preservatives have on the body, how difficult it is for your body to digest red meat, and the ways in which your body can become so dependent on medicine. Though I would never replace the medicines that have kept me alive, I learned that there is even more that I can do to complement my regimen of medicine. I took away two major lessons from this documentary,
1) As quoted at the beginning of the film: You are what you eat. For the most part, I eat like crap, because with CF its hard to see the major repercussions of eating greasy, nasty food... cause we often don't pack on the pounds as quickly as someone else. I enjoy greasy hamburgers, pizza, chinese food, even the occasional fast food. But I realized that these things, while maybe not making me obese, are impacting the way my body processes food, they are making me tired, and they aren't optimizing my body to fight off infection. So I realized, I need to be more mindful of what I put into my body. Of course, making such a profound lifestyle change is difficult... especially as a college student with virtually no money in my budget for organic, unprocessed food and a cafeteria that supplies many meals packed with preservatives (after I watched the film, I got a bbq pulled pork sandwich....) However, if nothing else, it made me more mindful about my choices. Should I get the fried chicken or the vegetarian meal with lots of protein filled beans? It made me realize I need to add more salads and raw food to my diet in order to get the necessary nutrition (since the film said cooking vegetables strips them of essential enzymes) But how do I avoid losing too much weight? By adding nuts like almonds and cashews to my diet... by covering my salad with salad dressing and cheese, by eating healthy snacks throughout the day.
I'm the type of person who sees food as a necessary part to living a full life. I love to enjoy a chocolate candy bar without worry of packing on the pounds, on the pretense of eating a "high calorie diet." Yet, these people I met this weekend inspired me to make better choices, though I don't believe in sacrificing the simple pleasures in life too, too much. I am an advocate for taking care of your body, and I never realized how much the food I eat may be impacting my health. I can feel my lungs tightening when I haven't had vegetables for a few days, or when I've been eating take-out too much. No wonder why!
2) Avoiding stress is one of the best medicines: One of the big take-aways from the film was the impact that stress has on the body. Why do you think you get sick when you're stressed out? Because, as the film explained, stress breaks down the vitamin C in your body, which helps to build up your immune system. I noticed while away on that service trip, though I hadn't even been able to go running or drink enough water...that I felt spectacular. Why? Because I wasn't thinking about all the homework I had to do, I wasn't sitting in traffic on my way to my internship, I wasn't involved in any drama among people, I hardly looked in the mirror or cared what I looked like or what I should buy to look better, I didn't care what time it was, who I had to text, where I had to be, or what I had to do tomorrow. I was living in the present moment. And living in the present means living stress free.
The people I met at H.O.M.E. showed me the importance of living simply... of eliminating unnecessary stressors. No Pulmonologist has ever asked me how I'm dealing with stress. I always try to figure out "why me." Why am I doing so well with CF? It often times doesn't make sense. I have the most common and "worst" mutation and I have the most deadly bacteria. Why am I so healthy? I think a lot of it has to do with the ways I manage/avoid stress. These past few years, I've had more free time in college than being packed with activities in high school, I've avoided drama with friends, I've found a group of amazing people to have fun with and de-stress, and most importantly I've generally had a better attitude about CF which used to cause far too much stress in my life. As far as dealing with stress when it does come I've done yoga and practiced breathing to calm down and I've released a large part of my stress by running. When do I get sick? When I let my stress get out of hand, when I stretch myself too thin, when I worry too much about the future, and (sorry boys) when I have my period and my hormones make me freak out about everything. The exacerbation I had last month came at a time where I was transitioning into my last year of college, after a summer of unlimited free time. Makes sense doesn't it?
So I learned a lot about positive changes to make in my life. Live simply, stop worrying about the things that don't matter in order to eliminate even more stress. And treat my body better by being more mindful with what I put into it. Sure, I can still have the occasional candy bar, but I must be more mindful about how to build up my immune system by providing my body with the nutrients it needs to survive and prosper. I think these lessons aren't just necessary for CFers, but for everyone!
