Turbulence

Its been a rough week since I last posted.

On Thursday, I received the devastating news that my mom has Parkinson’s Disease. This shook our world pretty hard. She’s young (48) and healthy in every other way. Her father had Parkinson’s Disease (PD) so when she started mentioning her left leg felt stiff and weird and was headed to the doctors – I secretly was afraid that’s what it might be. My grandpa’s disease was fairly rapid and heartbreakingly painful near the end: dementia, inability to feed himself, talk, even move. So my first reaction was just emotional shock and grief at a possible similar future for my lovely, amazing mom.

But we’re trying to be positive – she’s young and proactive and healthy. She’d holding off on meds until she really needs them and instead is going to be focusing primarily on exercise. The doctor recommended this as did several PD websites. Its going to be a rough road – and we’re all still reeling from the news – but I’m positive that that she will make great strides because of her focus on her health, her positive attitude, tenacity and faith.

This news is also a reminder for me to focus on exercise and better nutrition as in this case, it could be genetic. I’ve been lazy and haven’t gone to the gym in a long time – but since making the change to vegetarianism I feel like I’m making healthier decisions regarding food.

I’ve eaten less fast food and less readymade food (like greasy chicken chow mein and corn dogs) since making the change. When I’ve gone out to eat – if they don’t have anything readily vegetarian, I order fish. Not something I would ever order typically – but now, it’s the first thing I look for. When I go to the buffet near my office, I load up on vegetables even though the fried chinese food looks divine.

So while it was not the main driving decision behind me becoming a semi-vegetarian, the healthy aspects of vegetarianism is nonetheless a motivating factor. I haven’t lost weight (well, maybe a pound or 2) and I don't feel like I have a huge surge of energy – but overall I have noticed that I feel less bloaty and I'm eating way more vegetables than ever before. Which my digestive system is thankful for. Yay fiber.

Side note: I want to investigate and see if there's a correlation between slowing PD and vegetarianism. If anybody out there has any personal experience with Parkinson's and vegetariansim - I would love to know.