A Story of Recovery:

Mellow Yellow

I have been abstinent for ten-and-and-a-half months and have lost 45 pounds. One evening as I was getting ready to go on a date with my husband, I glanced in the mirror and remarked to him that I thought I looked yellow. My husband, who is color blind, took a quick glance at me and said I looked fine to him, so I let it go.

The next day in church I had a friend come up to me, and say, “Did you take up smoking? Your fingers are all stained.” I was appalled and insulted that she would even think to ask this, but when I looked down at my hands I could see why she asked. My fingers looked like they belonged to a 20-year chain smoker!

We had a discussion, and someone suggested that it could be from what I was eating. Her baby had turned yellow after she had fed him nothing but carrots for two weeks. I knew, however, that it could be something more serious, perhaps with my liver,  so I went to get my blood checked and see the doctor about this problem.

After receiving  clean blood-test results, the doctor began to google causes of yellow discoloration.

“Are you eating lots of orange and yellow vegetables?”

“Not every day.”

“How about fruits?”

“Not every day.”

“How often are you eating them,?” she asked.

Well, that is when the truth came out. I was eating a high carotene, yellow or orange fruit or vegetable at least twice a day. I love them because they tend to be sweet. Oh yes, my sugar addiction was showing up again.

The doctor suggested altering my diet, which I did. But my yellowness, despite not eating any of those bright-colored foods, didn’t go away for a full six weeks. I found it really challenging to avoid yellow and orange foods. (I thought I’d found a new white vegetable, but it turned yellow on me after cooking!)

My sponsor and my local group had a bit of a healthy laugh at my expense. They encouraged me and said that being temporarily yellow is a small price to pay for the joys of abstinence. So now I am working on being mellow and yellow.