Sunday, December 13, 2009

Dec. 13, 2009 - feeling better

A treat is not a treat when it gives you a 24 hour food hangover.

Yesterday I felt somewhat better, although still anxious. I'm generally optimistic and I really wasn't feelin' that way at all, although I tried not to voice my thoughts. I took yesterday off working out too, and all day long I was so lethargic - you know how you feel when you take cold medicine - that was me yesterday. I am absolutely certain it had to do with my cheat meal - I have not felt this way since I started eating clean. I will be putting a lot of thought into it before I cheat again, even though all the other clean eaters I know are able to do it now and then.

I'm coming on the the end of my second week. I will weigh in tomorrow to get some numbers, but I wanted to list a few successes I have had:

1.) Mood is vastly improved
2.) Achy joints have subsided - in the mornings and late evening before I had trouble getting up and down my stairs, my joints were so stiff and painful
3.) Skin is clearing up quite nicely, even the roseacea seems calmer
4.) Improved energy level.
5.) Acid reflux is greatly improved - I have been able to cut waaaayyyy back on my meds

I haven't had a Diet Coke the entire time, and after the first day I wasn't even craving it. This is coming off a 1 1/2 to 2 litre a day habit (I sound like a druggie - hahaha - a diet coke head)

Here are the things that I have learned:

Planning is essential - I have learned from people wiser and more experienced than I how to make a bunch of food ahead of time so you always have something to eat. A couple of times a week, since my schedule allows it, I am making chicken breasts, prepping my fruits and veggies, slicing up my ciabbatta bread from the bakery and putting it in the freezer for toast. Next I want to add making fresh dough for pizza and calzones. (probably not til after Christmas).
But always be ready for your plans to go awry - Despite my best-thought-out menu plans, the day escapes from me frequently. So I also have things like apples and almonds, homemade trail mix, low fat cheese sticks, crackers and Kashi bars stashed in my workplace, my car and my kitchen. No matter what you plan to do, sometimes the school calls and you have to rush out the door right that second. It helps to have a backup plan. It may not be the perfectly planned out meal you had hoped for but it is way better than the vending machine or the drivethru.
Work out first - If I plan to work out later in the day it keeps getting shoved back for some other obligation. I am working out the second the door closes behind the kids on their way to school. I am dressed in my workout clothes, my sneakers are in the living room, and there is simply NO EXCUSE to miss it. For crying out loud, it's only 30 minutes!

People keep telling me I am obsessive and the CE is "taking over my life". I agree completely, and I think to be successful, at least until these things are all ingrained habits, I need to think about it constantly, to analyze it, assess it, and come up with ways to improve what I am doing. Obsessed people are successful people. I think about all the great inventors of the past - how they kept working away at something until they made it work the way they wanted it to. Now we look back and think they were great, single minded and purposeful. I want to look back at my change and feel the same way. Success is worth a little obsession and social weirdness to me.

I have to go hop in the shower. I am leading the Sunday School class in a beading project today. We are making "Nativity Bracelets" - the story of the birth of Jesus in beads, lol! Have a great day - I will post the eats later today!

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