It's wild how effective a direct link between diet and severe foot pain is as a motivator. I've struggled to eat healthy my entire life (30yo) and I recently learned that, no, I don't just have shitty ankles from being fat, I'm literally eating more purines than my body can process. Little acidic crystal daggers in my blood.
I've had at least two untreated gout flare-ups in the past few years that I wrote off as twisted ankles at the time and it was finally bad enough this time to get me to a doctor. Way too much alcohol, way too much fat, way too much sugar.
I've broken multiple bones before, been stung by scorpions, and this most recent gout attack was still the worst pain i've ever felt in my life. It had me writhing in my bed, no possible orientation to rest my ankle where the swelling wasn't aggravated. This one was set off by going through about two liters of whiskey over the course of a week where I had fast food delivered every day.
A past episode was kicked off by a box of six apple fritters I bought and ate alone while on a similar fast food diet.
I knew my diet was killing me. I would go on runs and walk my dog miles a day and my weight wouldn't budge from around 325 because my diet was that bad. I'd go through spurts of healthy eating, but I'd always fall back into my old habits.
Just before this past attack I had a hellofresh box go bad in my fridge while I ordered ubereats every day. I just couldn't find the self-control.
Gout has, in some ways, been the best thing that ever happened to me. I just weighed in at 299 today. I have a lot of weight left to lose. I still occasionally order fast good. I'll definitely drink again at some point.
But I know if I fuck up and let that become my every day instead of my occasionally I'll be back in that bed writhing around at 3:00AM begging to die or for the pain to stop. Or the chronic gout will lead to kidney stones and I might enjoy a new kind of worst pain i've felt in my life.
I'm lucky that gout is treatable by eating the same food that's good for weight loss. Chicken, and greens, mainly. All I drink now is tart cherry juice and lots of water.
But pain is an incredible motivator. I got an early warning sign of where I was headed and i'm grateful for that.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/gVq3x0M
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