A Tale of Too Many Shrimp:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...the summer of 2004, to be exact.

As much as I absolutely hated still being in corporate America, a stellar job on a panel interview had landed me a promotion at work.

Even though I was not looking forward to the long hours of doing a job I didn't like, and would much rather have been working on yourbestbodynow.com so I could help YOU live a more healthy and fit lifestyle, I took the job because the pay increase would help me pay some bills.

A good friend of mine took me to lunch at my favorite Chinese restaurant, where I had the honey walnut shrimp just like I did every other time we went there, which was about 3 times per week.

Later that evening, another friend insisted going to the same restaurant, and I had my favorite dish once again.

By the end of the day, I had put down nearly 2 lbs of shrimp. However, I had stayed true to my "lean down" program and had only string beans with my shrimp instead of rice.

Proud of having eaten such great food AND following my program's rules to boot, I went for an evening 3-mile jog around the Rose Bowl stadium near my then home in Pasadena, CA.

About half way through the run, I noticed that my body had begun to itch a bit.

Remembering that I was wearing the same sweat pants that I had done my morning jog in, I figured that I was just dirty and would be in desperate need of a bath when I got home.

As I neared the end of my jog, the itching got more intense and I reached inside my shirt to find 4 or 5 little bumps.

"DARN!" I thought. "I've got poison ivy".

This was the absolute last thing that I needed.

As I was walking to my car and cooling down, the itching was REALLY starting to get bad, and I noticed two or three people looking at me as if they had seen a ghost.

When I got to the car, I looked in the rear view mirror to see if I had something on my face.

To my shock and dismay, my face was completely swollen. I looked like the Elephant Man! I could not even recognize myself.

It was then that I realized that I did NOT have poison ivy, but was having an allergic reaction to all the SHRIMP!

By the time I raced home and ran in the door, my entire body was literally in flames. I jumped quickly in and out of the shower and then smeared hydrocortisone all over my body to ease the treacherous itching sensation.

In a panic I went directly to my 24 hour a day, 7 day a week medical advisor--the internet.

After I typed in my symptoms, I saw both pictures and descriptions which confirmed that sure enough, I had made myself sick with shrimp.

Luckily for me, a few teaspoons of Benadryl had my face and body all cleared up the next morning. Quite frankly I haven't touched shrimp since---and for good cause!

The Lesson that I Learned...

No matter what anyone tries to tell you, always remember too much of ANY one thing can never be good for you. You may not have the type of reaction that I did (and I hope you never do!), but an unbalanced diet of ANY kind will have some negative effect on your health down the road--- even if the initial results "look" great.

So the next time that some diet scam artist or big company with a product to push tries to convince you that you need to either eat or drink one type of food source all day in order to have Your Best Body, DON'T BUY IT!

For optimal nutrition, it is an absolute MUST that your body gets its nutrients from a variety of food sources.

One great place to get many of these food resources is the featured foods page of our members area.

Don't just read the principles you find there, LIVE THEM day in and day out. When you have not only the body that you want but also notice how much healthier and full of life and vitality you are as a result, you'll be so glad you did!