January 13th, 2025
It is truly remarkable how fast the urge to go for a sugary dessert has altogether disappeared from my mind. I noticed the semi-sweet chocolate chips in the cupboard today and had zero temptation to grab a few. I am quite sure that I still eat too much but healthy choices lead to healthier choices. While I can’t blame sugar for the lack of discipline in all areas of my life, there is no doubt that its presence in my system affected all aspects of my life. Each good decision I make, I know, has a ripple effect on both my body and mind.
As for my body, my progress in yoga today proved that Saturday was not a fluke. I was feeling more confident and relaxed, more control over my body but with a greater ease of effort. Progress in yoga is made in millimeters and each day is different. The pose that was easier yesterday might be harder today and for another pose, just the opposite. I can confidently say that I have become a stronger practitioner of yoga than where I was one year ago, despite all the injuries, challenges, and sugar intake of 2024. So that feels good to have fought through everything and not entirely regress but even make a little bit of progress.
Besides sugar being removed from my life, I credit the curcumin turmeric I take daily as another key to my health, increased flexibility, and less painful life. There were times in 2023 and in the start of 2024 when I could not straighten my back, particularly after days following a good tennis session. Tennis, as a high-impact sport, can be really hard on the body. Sadly, I always embraced the stereotypical male athlete’s mentality to power through it. I certainly brought that energy to yoga when I first began, as if these poses were things to be conquered rather than experienced.
The curcumin turmeric that my podiatrist prescribed (Check it out at Further Foods) changed my life overnight as I briefly mentioned in Day 13. As a brief anecdote, several years ago I noticed a small lump where my left shoulder meets my neck right above the collarbone. It was visible and noticeable to none but me. I thought it might have been just a strain or muscle thing but it persisted and gradually was growing bigger to the point where I noticed its presence. I brought it to the doctor who of course sent me to a specialist who declared a lipoma, a non-cancerous fatty lump right beneath the skin. I was told they don’t go away on their own- I am learning doctors always say that. I researched it and couldn’t find any natural remedies, but I was still too cheap to pay for a simple and common surgical procedure to get it removed. Within a few months of taking that turmeric, it disappeared. There is no other explanation because nothing else in my life changed. A lump that had been in my neck for years gone like that.
I continue to take it today post-surgery, and I will start to take an even more powerful plant-based version called EB-A7 from a medical food provider called EBM Medical. Right now, I take about 2000 mg of Turmeric daily and this will increase it to about 2250 mg with additional properties to make my body absorb it even faster. I can’t wait to see what happens.