We’re approaching the last week of January, 2024. I will be 61 this year. It is amazing how things have changed since I first became an adult. Speaking of adulthood, I was considered and adult at the age of 18. Technically, this is true for today’s young adults. However, when I turned 18, I was also old enough to drink alcohol legally. Today’s young adult have to wait until they are 21 to legally consume alcohol. A lot of them don’t wait.

That is just one of the things which have changed since I became an adult. I was 38 years old when the 9-11 attack occurred in New York. Then everything changed. Security at the airports in the U.S. were on high alert. The attack changed the way we move through airports permenantly. It also made everyone who looked middle-eastern look suspicious. I believe it was the beginning of the increase in hate crimes that are with us today.

Then we went to war with Iraq, then Afghanistan, where we remained for about 20 years. The cost to the country was billions and billions of dollars. Then in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic threw the world into chaos. The world came to a grinding halt. We lost businesses because they didn’t survive being shut down for endless months. The businesses that did not shut down were damaged financially. Some businesses found a way to make the shut down work for them. For example, it seemed as though Chick-fil-a’s business plan was designed to work and thrive in the case of a shut down due to pandemic conditions. It seem like they were ready for it.

Government spending went through the roof. They gave away money people were not required pay back. They authorized business loans, that at this point, seemed kind of sketchy. Scam artists took full advantage. Inflation went way up. Prices followed suit. I don’t know how people are buying groceries and paying rent. Housing cost is absolutely ridiculous! I have been blessed that my land lords have not raised my rent to something I can’t not afford. Change never ends and it’s not always good.

It’s a new year. So I am making changes for myself. Hopefully these will be good changes. I have started attending church weekly. I have been a member of my church for 12 years. It is a church I began attending when I first moved to South Carolina. When I moved, however, it was a little further away, and I quit going regularly. This year I plan to go regularly regardless of the distance. I also plan to participate more with the activities there.

I’m changing the way I eat. I intend to exercise more. I have already begun walking at least 30 minutes a day. I have struggled to lose weight for 16 1/2 years with no success. There were times I did manage to lose a little weight, but I could never stick to a plan long enough to reach my goal weight. I would always gain about 85% of the weight back. All of this has to change.

This year I am cutting out all plant based products and foods from my diet, including any oils that come from plants. Yes, that only leaves meat. I like meat. I always have. However, for this diet, I plan only to eat ruminant meats; animals that chew the cud (just like the Bible directs us). Their diets are plant based. They have the digestive system equipped to deal with the different defense mechanisms in plant life. I have learned (sometimes the hard way) that humans do not have the proper digestive system to be on a plant based diet. Think about it. All of the things that are bad for us have their origins in plant life.

I was taught (as we all were) that a more plant based diet is better. What do you do about the carbs? What about when these plant based dishes upset your stomach and the rest of your digestive system? Yes plants have nutrients that are beneficial to humans, but our systems can’t safely digest or process what we need from plants. It’s something I’ve been reading about. We can get more of those nutrients by eat the meat of the animals who can process these plants.

My plan this year is to eat meat, including the fat! What I expect to happen is weight-loss, of course (almost no carbs). However, I suspect that many of the issues my doctor has been on me about, and the many medications she has prescribed over the year will disappear and become unnecessary. I expect healing. I have been at it for 3 days and I already feel better. Also, I have lost 4 pounds. Fatty meats keeps you satiated for a long period of time. So the usual hunger that comes with most diets do not happen on this carnivore/zero carb diet.

I have high hopes for what this new year will bring. And I hope to continue making changes in my life for the better.