Know Thyself

I’m learning a few things about me. Know thyself, Plato said. It’s taken almost 48 years, but I’m getting there. 

A couple of things I’ve learned recently: my body was not designed for early morning workouts and I’m better staying away from sweets. 

I enjoy working out late at night. 10pm, 11pm, no problem. I take advantage of the “anytime” USP part of Anytime Fitness. But a morning workout brings on nausea worse than a Hallmark movie. 

We all know that sweets are unhealthy(even though my daughter, Shelby thinks they are the foundation of the food pyramid) but only recently has that fact become a painful reality for me. I started eating healthy on September 5, 2014. Yes, I know the date. Since then I have lost over 20lbs and 5 inches in my waist. In my fat days sweets didn’t bother me. Today is a different story. 

A couple of weeks ago at a birthday party I had a thick slice of chocolate cake topped with sea salt caramel gelato icecream. The next morning I woke up to a headache and nausea hangover. Not convinced, last night I had a cone of peanut butter, caramel and cookie dough icecream. I am a sucker for caramel. I’m just a sucker, really. This morning I awoke again feeling like garbage. 

Thing is, there’s really nothing wrong with the occasional sweet treat or even the rare over-indulgence. As disciplined I am with my diet and exercise these one-off treats don’t move the scales or my waistline. But once a body has been cleansed of junk, it doesn’t appreciate it’s re-entry. 

There’s a spiritual lesson there, too. 

But the biggest lesson for me as I’m getting to know myself is that something may be okay, but it’s not always the best thing for me. 

There’s a lot of application in that truth.