Way Off Topic--Sort Of

I'm sure that I'm not the only quilter in the world who finds it more exciting to work  in my studio than to do the hard work of being healthy.  Right?  I've got the aches and pains associated with getting older and it's WAY easier to sit back, look at the latest uTube and perhaps--more than perhaps--dig into that bag of M&M's (or some equally delightful product) and just enjoy the afternoon.  We only live once,  right?
Wrong!  Is it truly living when we can't do the things that we should be able to do?  One thing I have learned over and over again is that we CAN do things for our health if we'll only do them.  Unfortunately--as I said--I've learned this over and over--and over.
Twice now, I've had yearly physicals and come out unscathed.  By that, I mean that I didn't get a diabetes diagnosis.  I have diabetes in the family so I am ripe for it--especially given some of the things I regularly have put into my mouth.  So . .  .I've been lucky--but luck is just that and there is no guarantee that it will hold.
The very real condition that I have had to deal with is severe arthritis in one foot and moderate arthritis and a neuroma in the other foot and--thrown in for good measure--hip pain.  Walking has gone from being a real pleasure and an opportunity to ponder whatever needs pondering to becoming a major chore with every step one of pain.
So, here's the good news.  For many people--myself included--giving up sugar in one's diet can result in greatly diminished pain that is caused by arthritis.  After three days on this new regime, I could walk the  route around our neighborhood fairly comfortably.  After six weeks, I am walking at least 2 miles (the pedometer is in the mail) now without any pain unless I go faster than I should. I think I'm ready to climb a mountain!  A short one, that is. My sister-in-law--who likes to play tennis everyday--was at the point of having to give it up because her joints hurt so badly.  This past week, she told me that she hated to tell me that I was right (because, if possible, she loves sugar more that I do) BUT her joints stopped hurting after 3 days of no sugar.
I'm also "the victim" (self-induced) of the wheat-belly "syndrome".  Man, who doesn't like carbs?   The staff of life and all that.  But, you know, they're gone also. I am passing along The Hungry Girl cookbooks info above.  Not all of her recipes are suitable for what I'm trying to do, but everything I've tried, I've liked--as long as I add lots more onions and garlic (and they're so good for you).  Her website  is www.hungry-girl.com and she has free recipes you can try.
I'm not trying to convert anyone here--I'm just sharing this in case it might resonate in your life.  As much as I like to quilt and to sit and knit and read books and do many other things of a couch potato nature, it is equally important that I get my body moving.  When I move my body, I feel better and when I feel better, everything else is better, too.  Now, all I need to do is to remember that when my hand starts reaching for those muffins at Ingles . . .