Man cannot live on cereal alone

I started out yesterday feeling incredibly good. I was giddy, I was so happy. When I was at school, I felt like dancing across campus instead of walking. It would have been a much more interesting way to transport myself. I also felt like continually laughing. I settled for nonstop smiling. Beaming, would be a more appropriate term. From ear to ear.

And then my allergies started to attack me pretty hard. It took me down a couple notches, but I was still high on happiness.

Then we come to today. I started out good enough. I got to sleep in past 7 AM! (Side note: I am not a morning person. Some people may think that I am, because I get up pretty easily and I'm never grouchy. I'm even cheerful, to which my brothers can testify, from all the times I've woken them up with my own rendition of the VeggieTales song "Good Morning, George." But as the day wears on, I start losing it. Even when I get a good, long night's sleep. I do much better staying up late, getting a few hours of sleep and getting up at 10, than I do going to bed at a decent hour, sleeping 8-9 hours and getting up at 7...or earlier....) I've been a night owl functioning as a morning person for so long that it was nice to sleep a little later...even though it wasn't much later. I also went outside this morning and sat in our swing as I studied for my German final. I love being outside. After that, I decided to wash out a pair of my flip flops that had been full of sand for several weeks, and I had a mishap with the water hose. Parts of me got pretty drenched. And I had been sweating, so it felt really good to be all wet with the wind blowing.

But something happened after that. I started feeling really weak. So much so that holding myself up was hard. I lied on my bed for a good long while, even fell asleep for a short time, and I didn't feel any better. My mood definitely dropped then. I don't like feeling incapable of doing anything. Even though my allergies are annoying, they don't prevent me from doing much. The one guaranteed way to drive me stir-crazy is to make it to where I can't do much of anything. And I didn't feel like I could do much of anything today.

Then dinner time came along. Mama made roast, and potatoes and carrots, and homemade rolls, and gravy. It was delicious.

After I ate, I started feeling better. I started trying to figure out what about what I ate would make me feel better. I had eaten breakfast and lunch, so it wasn't that I was starving for food. I even ate lunch after I started feeling weak. So I knew that wasn't it. So I considered what I ate, and I realized it must have been the protein.

I'm not the biggest meat eater that you'll ever find. I'm not a vegetarian, but it's not uncommon for me to go days without meat. I know that there are other foods that contain protein, but I'm pretty sure my diet has been lacking in those things as well. I typically eat peanut butter on a regular basis, but we haven't had any in a while. I'm sure that if I closely examined my diet I would see just how out of balance that it is.

So, even though you've heard it a million times before, the lesson of the day kids is...eat a balanced diet. Your body needs many different things to function, and eating vast amounts of cereal all the time and few other things, like I do, doesn't cut it.

Now...does this mean I'm going to give up my cereal? I don't think so. That's a habit that I think is past breaking. To give you an idea how far gone I am...I've even made breakfast before for my family, and eaten a bowl while cooking, and watched them all munch on the feast I just prepared. I'll just have to make sure that I eat something other than just carbs, cheese, and the occasional fruits and veggies during the rest of the day.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a much better day. Having my German final behind me will greatly increase the odds in favor of that happening.