I wake up slowly, the room blurry, with a pain in my hip. I can’t sleep on one side anymore due to this chronic pain in my hip. I am a fairly active man. I am a black belt in Tae Kwon Do which I do once or twice a week in addition to resistance and interval training several times a week. I’m not quite 50 years old and I feel like an “old man” when I wake up. What’s going on?
Conventional wisdom would have me believe that these are just normal aches and pains common to aging. Get used to it, most people would say. Well, I don’t want to get used to it, and I don’t see it as my fate. I believe the human body is much more incredible than the experts would have us believe. The problem is we were never taught how to take care of these amazingly sophisticated machines.
So what is behind my morning stiffness and blurred vision? One word – Acid.
Where does this acid come from?, I thought.
I started to chart what I ate on a typical day and here’s what it looks like!
As soon as I get out of bed I have:
Coffee = Acid
I feel dread knowing I have to be at work in less than one hour:
Dread = Acid
I eat an egg bagel with bacon and cheese while I drive to work:
Egg Bagel = Acid
Around 10:30 AM, I need a break so I have an “Energy Drink”:
Energy Drink = Acid
I go to lunch with a friend and complain about a co-worker:
Negative Emotion = Acid
For lunch, I want to eat “healthy” so I have turkey on whole wheat bread:
Turkey Sandwich = Acid
Driving back to work, someone cuts me off and I get so angry:
Anger = Acid
Around 3 PM, I’m exhausted and need a pick me up, but again I want to make a healthy choice and have already had my fill of coffee so I choose a glass of orange juice:
Orange Juice = Acid
I finally make it home after fighting the traffic. Of course I need a beverage to unwind. I pour a scotch on the rocks.
Alcohol = Acid
For dinner, I eat a big fat steak with a baked potato and salad with vinaigrette dressing on the side:
Steak Dinner = Acid
After dinner, I feel like something sweet so I have a piece of homemade apple pie:
Apple Pie = Acid
Exhausted, I fall asleep in front of the TV. Feeling guilty for that second piece of pie, I go for run.
Guilt = Acid
During my run, I push myself hard (“no pain, no gain”) to the point that I know I will be sore tomorrow.
Soreness = Acid
After my run, I have a protein shake. I have read that you have to eat or drink something after an intense workout in order to prevent muscle loss.
Protein Shake = Acid
My day is practically over and I’ve done what I felt I needed to do to be healthy and maintain a healthy body weight, but I feel a little stressed worrying about tomorrow. Feeling I need to unwind, I go down to the porch to smoke a cigarette:
Smoking = Acid
After my smoke and a little promise to myself I’ll do better tomorrow with my quest for health, I go to bed early and prepare to get up tomorrow and do it all again.
I wake early the next day. The room is blurry and that pain in my hip is there again, but now my legs are sore from my run.
I can’t understand this. I eat right. I exercise and still I feel like an “old man” in the morning and need a variety of “pick-me-ups” during the day. What gives? Simply put, Acid = Pain.
Do you want to find out more about what you can do now to break this pattern?