Your Body’s Telling On You

We’re not as in control of our health as we like to think. Most of us assume that if we’re not in the hospital or on heavy medication, we’re doing fine. But that illusion gets shattered the moment your body decides it’s had enough.

We live in a society that praises hustle over health, speed over self-awareness, and convenience over consciousness. So when I got the call telling me I had cancer — chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) a little over a year ago— it wasn’t just a diagnosis. It was a disruption. It was the body lighting up a warning flare that forced me to pay attention in a way I hadn’t before.

It exposed how disconnected I had become from my own body. From what I was eating, how I was moving, and how I was thinking. And it exposed a deeper truth — that most of us are living by default, not decision. By impulse, not intention.

When Health Becomes Real

After the diagnosis, I did what many people do when crisis hits — I tried to fix everything at once. I dropped the processed food, cut out sugar, and jumped into a strict routine. Some days, I felt like I had it all under control. Other days, I was two seconds from snapping at anyone within reach. It felt like I was constantly fighting against myself.

There’s a reason for that. Change — real change — isn’t just about willpower. It’s about unlearning. My mind would rebel against my new choices like a toddler throwing a tantrum. One part of me knew the lifestyle I was building could save my life, but another part — the subconscious part — didn’t want to let go of what felt familiar and comfortable.

That inner conflict is what many of us are battling. Not a lack of knowledge. A lack of internal alignment.

Here’s where things got complicated. Despite my bloodwork showing no progression and all good markings a year into my diagnosis, my lymph nodes in my neck began to swell. To get to the nuts and bolts, I was experiencing a ton of sharp and unexpected pain for about 5-10 minutes and then it would dissipate and come right back. This was the continuous cycle day after day. My doctor (after confirming my blood work looked great!) immediately suggested medication — the kind you stay on for life. Said we could start immediately.

Both my wife and I began what felt like a game of 20 questions with my doctor... Do you think it's caused by stress? Could it be from anything else? All so calm and quick it was like a thousand no's returning back to us with not one skip of a beat. Wrote his notes about calling in a medication and off he went — to the next patient. 

But something didn’t sit right. My wife and I dug deeper. We found that the pain and swelling could be caused by a few other factors I was experiencing: a dental issue I was already scheduled to start treatment for, and dehydration from pain medication I’d been taking for weeks for degenerative disc failure in my back. None of these had been explored in the office before a lifetime prescription was handed over.

That moment crystallized something for me:

We are quick to treat, slow to investigate.

No one asked me what I’d eaten recently. No one asked if I was hydrating, resting, or dealing with other issues. And that’s a problem.

We’ve normalized speed over understanding. And in that rush, we miss the root causes — and risk building our health on guesswork. Building foundations for our health on top of pharmaceuticals

Nutrition, The elephant in the room

Here’s what we know, and what we too often ignore: ground this in real facts. According to the CDC, poor nutrition is linked to over 678,000 deaths each year in the U.S. A global study in The Lancet found that diet contributes to more deaths than smoking. Chronic inflammation from sugar, ultra-processed foods, and chemicals in our diets has been directly tied to cancer, heart disease, and depression.

Yet, despite all that, our grocery stores are filled wall-to-wall with products that prioritize profit, not health. We stock sodas at every checkout and put real food behind price tags most families can’t afford.

We’ve heard the sayings — you are what you eat, food is medicine, your body keeps the score. But we’ve turned truth into cliché.

This is where it gets uncomfortable.

I knew what I was supposed to do. I’ve read the labels. I’ve seen the research. But I still found myself resisting. That’s because there’s a huge difference between being educated and being self-aware.

We’re not short on information. We’re drowning in it. The internet is full of meal plans, health podcasts, workout apps, and ten-step detox guides. But none of that matters if we’re not willing to be honest with ourselves about what we’re actually doing — and why we keep doing it.

"Educated negligence" — that’s what I call it. It’s when we’ve got the facts, but our actions don’t line up. It’s when we’ve read the labels, seen the documentaries, followed the influencers, but still grab the drive-thru bag because it’s easier. More convenient. Familiar. And we justify it by calling it our guilty pleasure or our cheat meal.

And I get it. We protect the things that comfort us, even when they harm us. Food is emotional. Habits are protective. Change feels threatening. When it’s a forced change, we tend to bump heads with it instead of embracing it with understanding.

But here’s the truth: staying unaware is what allows us to stay the same. It’s a defense mechanism, not a lack of intelligence. Because once we wake up to what we’re really doing — once we become fully aware — we’re faced with a choice. And choice brings accountability. That’s what we’re avoiding.

Real, lasting change requires discomfort. And that’s what most of us are running from.

If we don’t confront our patterns, we protect them. And those patterns don’t just sit quietly. They evolve. First into symptoms — headaches, fatigue, anxiety. Then into conditions — high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity. Then into crisis — strokes, heart attacks, cancer.

Awareness is the bridge between education and transformation. It’s not enough to know. You have to see yourself — honestly. You have to look at the habits, the excuses, the silent agreements you’ve made with yourself to keep living a lifestyle that your body is begging you to stop.

I remember reading a headline once that said people who neglect their self-care aren’t truly loving themselves. I rolled my eyes and thought, “Here we go with the self-love fluff.” I figured it was just another feel-good phrase for a social media campaign. But I was wrong.

The truth is, I had never been taught — or encouraged — to talk about self-love, that was completely foreign to me. It always felt foreign. And if I’m keeping it real, it definitely didn’t feel like something men talked about. That wasn’t how we were raised.

But I’ve since learned that self-love isn’t about bubble baths or affirmations. It’s about protection. It’s about discipline. It’s about recognizing your worth enough to care for yourself like someone you’re responsible for, — like the oxygen mask instruction on a plane: secure yours first so you’re strong enough to help the people around you. Same principle.

To be aware is to protect yourself. To be aware is to care for yourself — not as a reaction, but as a priority. Because you deserve to be here. But not just to survive. You deserve to live — fully. To enjoy, to grow, to build, to discover. That’s self-love. It’s not soft — it’s living.

Health Equity

So where does this all land? Right here: in the reality that health is not just a personal issue — it’s a systemic one.

Because while we each have a responsibility to take ownership of our habits, we also have to name the systems stacked against many of us from the start. Especially in marginalized communities.

According to the USDA, over 17 million Americans live in food deserts — neighborhoods where fresh fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods are hard to access due to lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers. Meanwhile, fast food and liquor stores saturate these same areas. That’s not coincidence. That’s design.

A 2023 study published in Health Affairs found that people in predominantly Black and brown communities have significantly higher exposure to environmental toxins, lower-quality healthcare, and fewer recreational resources — all factors directly tied to chronic illness. Another study from the National Academy of Medicine showed that structural racism contributes to disparities in everything from infant mortality to life expectancy.

This is not just about who chooses what off the shelf — it’s about who has shelves that offer real choices in the first place.

 Poor health leads to poor performance, both physically and mentally, which impacts employment, family, and future. And we blame individuals for breaking down in a system that was never built to support them.

But naming the system doesn’t take away our personal power — it strengthens it. Because once we recognize the layers, we can learn to peel them back. Once we understand what’s been done to us, we can decide what we’ll no longer do to ourselves.

Our health is a form of resistance. Our awareness is a form of protection. And our commitment to better — even if it’s one small step at a time — is how we reclaim what’s always been ours to begin with: the right to be well.

So no, this isn’t just about what you eat. It’s about what you believe you’re worth. It’s about seeing the full picture and choosing to be part of the healing — not just for yourself, but for the next generation, too.

Your body’s been telling on you. Maybe it’s time you listen.

— Troy Rienstra