When I named this blog lifeatroomtemperature, I was thinking about all the everyday things that make up a person’s journeys around the sun. I have reached the stage in my journey where I must think less about what I want and more about what is good for me. I was pondering this over lunch recently when, out of nowhere, I remembered these words.
“I can change. If I have to. I guess.”
I have no idea how my mind wandered from the tasty lemon vinaigrette on a side salad to The Red Green Show. I wouldn’t have qualified for membership in the Possum Lodge, but I can relate to their lament.
I was standing in the bread aisle not long ago when I noticed a fellow shopper standing patiently behind me. “I’m so sorry,” I apologized as I stepped aside to let her pass. “I’ve reached the age where I have to actually read the labels before I can buy anything.” A kindred spirit a few loaves down smiled and nodded.
For most of my adult life, I’ve paid far more attention to dollars and cents than grams of saturated fat and sugar. My first inkling of coming attractions began about six months ago, when I went in for my annual checkup. The doctor turned the computer screen so I could see the results from my blood work. My cholesterol, never cooperative, had the doctor’s attention. “I’ll need to see you again in six months,” she said. “That will give you time to get these numbers down.” She recommended changes to my diet– less red meat, baking rather than frying, switching to olive oil.
“What about butter?” I asked.
She raised an eyebrow. “You use butter?” She responded to my nodding head with a smile and a shake of her own. “Oh no… no butter!” She recommended some suitable substitutes and sent the nurse in to schedule my next appointment.
I thought I did well during those six months. I gave up butter, ate more ground turkey and chicken, and used only olive oil for cooking. I was feeling pretty good when I walked into the examination room for my follow-up.
The doctor turned the computer screen toward me and pointed at the results. “Everything went up.”
“Up?”
“Well, except for your good cholesterol. That went down.”
She turned her attention to triglycerides, which are apparently affected by more than just a few of my favorite things. Then she asked the most dread question of all.
“Do you exercise?”
Why, yes.
I exercise caution, my right to vote, and patience (most of the time). I even own exercise equipment. (I did not tell the good doctor that an elliptical makes a great coat rack.)
Notice there are no quotation marks around that response. In the moment the doctor looked at me and asked the question, I was like a kid sent to the principal’s office. Busted, I shook my head and quietly said, “No.”
I spent a few days nursing my bruised ego, and a few more searching words like cholesterol, triglycerides, and healthy diet on Google and Pinterest. Finally, something clicked. That click led to the Sunday lunch where I enjoyed lemon vinaigrette for the first time. The elliptical still maintains a primary function of holding coats and jackets, but this too shall pass. I know now that I can change.
If I have to. I guess.
Copyright 2018 Sherry Hathaway. All rights reserved.