Our Health is Our Wealth

Over the last two months I have been watching my dad's diet. No he is not on a diet, but his doctor has instructed us that there are some things that he needs to remove from his normal meal plan (diet). The doctors said, 'no processed food, no caffeine and no salt'. Well for the months of November and December I have controlled his food intake thus, also controlling mine.

He was a Pepsi drinker, but during these two months, he has had one (1) Pepsi. (I let him get a treat last week) He drinks water and juices – orange, apple and cranberry. He still asks for a pop every now and then, but I remind him of his choices and why he can't have a pop. He drinks decaf coffee, (Yuck) but he doesn't complain. I think he is used to it. He eats grits, rice and eggs with no salt. Since my husband normally doesn't cook with salt, we have a lot of seasonings to choose from to make the food taste better.

We splurged and got a hamburger (Whopper) two weeks ago. We used to get Fast Food every week after we finished dropping off the Telegram Newspapers. That was our treat, but we have cut that out too. That is the hardest for me, because I'm not a cooker. My husband cooks. But I have found myself doing more cooking. My brother-in-law cooks for dad on Thursdays, so he will get a meal that day. I do make a mean salad. So he is getting his greens in.

So why am I talking about how my dad's diet and my diet has changed? I want to encourage you invest in your health and make some meal changes in your life. I know, people make New Year's Resolutions every January, so I want to encourage you to make some changes too. I could have written this column last month, but I wanted to make sure we were going to be able to stick with it. We have, so I want you to try it too.

Let's work on it together to be healthier in 2023. Check with your doctor to see what they suggest you do. Our communities are full of people who suffer from Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Obesity just to name a few that can be controlled by the foods that we put in our bodies.

Give it a try and let me know how it is going for you. Our Health is Our Wealth. Invest in you.