Well it finally happened- the whole family got sick. Probably not the flu since the fevers were low grade or absent (in D at least), but a nasty cold hit our home last week and is still taking us down. I'm back at work, but my chest is wheezy and achy and the couch is lingering. Besides that most of my energy is finally back, L is much better (because he is off the hook whiney when he is sick!), and E & D seem to be healing as well.
Having two kids when everyone is sick, and one of those kids being L is soooo hard! L became quite intense, needy with this cold and all of my reserves were depleted on my own sickness and taking care of E. Needless to say I didn't win any awards for best mom, or great parenting. Thankfully it will be over soon and we can get back to being a better version of ourselves aka, healthy.
I am really proud of myself for not getting crap while sick. When I get any upper respiratory infection or frankly any illness, I despise veggies, especially fresh one, and crave comfort foods, carby, sweet, starches. This time I had some mild cravings but they were manageable and I just continued eating real meat/eggs/veggies/fruits/nuts foods and I think that contributed to me not getting as sick as I could have and not having much nasal congestion- dairy and sweets cause me to get "stuffy".
You may be noticing that I haven't posted a picture on here in a while- it's because I'm a bit lazy and a bit too busy. I used to avoid blogging because I didn't have the time to make a nice looking post with pictures, but then I decided I wanted to post and really the words and my process are the most important, not how entertaining it looks. Ideally I will start posting pictures again, but I'm still getting my footing with being a working mom of two who's fiercely committed to eating really food and being on top of my life (by life I mean my own behaviors/responses to the world).
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Journey to Wellness
The title sounds epically cheesy, but thats where I find myself right now. It's been about 4 weeks of making major changes in my diet and exercise plans and I find myself on a journey to wellness. What I'm doing is ditching grains, sugar, processed food. I'm eating meats, bone broth, veggies galore, some fruits, nuts and but butters, fats, and the occasional treat like dark chocolate/red wine. I would say I am about 90/10 or 95/5 with treats. This has been surprisingly easy since the treats make me feel like crap.
I'm not trying to run 4 days a week any more, just doing some short weight/body resistant exercises, walking more, and occasionally running.
What are the changes I have seen so far? Lets start with the physical:
PHYSICAL CHANGES:
I have lost about 3-5 lbs. Now I give a range because it fluctuates, and honestly I am not too sure I even care to look at lb loss, you'll see why in the next few points. My clothes are getting much looser, I have more muscle definition (but guess what, I'm barely even working out! Oh the horror!!!!), I have lost at least 1.5 inches off my waist (I didn't start checking this till a few weeks in, so I believe it would be more), I feel more stable/solid when doing exercises or movements that require balance. I also notice I have more consistent energy level. It doesn't mean I never get tired, I still drink coffee in the morning. But I don't have the drastic ups and downs I used to have when eating grains. I also have little to no stomach discomfort. Now I have never been someone who suffered from major stomach issues or IBS, but I didn't realize how much better it could be till changing my diet. I am now incredible sensitive to eating foods that are not good for me- I had a small amount of dark chocolate and green beans (which are actually legumes), one of them does not agree with me- will have to experiment to see which at a later time.
Now the more important ones that make doing and sticking to this so easy, psychological changes.
PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES:
Almost immediately I noticed improved mood, more consistent mood, more energy, clearer thinking (literally felt like my thoughts had slowed down), and this has made sticking to the diet changes so easy. When you suffer for long enough and finally come out of it, the fear of going back can be incredibly motivating. So does this mean that I am always incredibly happy go lucky and never feel upset or down? No, but overall I am happier, I can recognize what brings about changes in my mood, besides just randomly (well probably not randomly, but blood sugar or diet related) feeling bad. I am much less anxious, my BP is less reactive. I have always had a pretty sensitive BP, white coat syndrome, etc. I had to go to the Dr twice about 2 weeks into the diet changes and obviously was anxious (though not as intense as in the past) and my BP was fantastic, better then it had been when I weighed 15 lbs less and exercised A LOT. What do you think about them apples!?! I was impressed.
FAMILY CHANGES:
D and I and E (we always try to include L) eat all our meals together (when we are home), prepare our meals together at home, and actually enjoy/discuss our food together while eating it. It seems like even though we are buying more expensive foods- organic, grass-fed, whole foods, we are saving a significant amount of money by not eating out often, and by often I mean maybe 1 meal a week we grabbed some chipotle.
My biggest sadness/frustration/hurdle right now is L's diet. I am not sure how to even begin his transition. So he's incredibly smart, strong willed, and sensitive and has a love for grains, breads, pastas, cakes, cookies. He literally dreams about his birthday cake Babka made and wakes up telling me about it. Chocolate is his life blood-ha! Often times he refuses anything remotely whole food like and then has terrible behavior because he is hungry. I have been debating trying gluten free options with him first, and of course we continue to offer our real and healthy foods- without much success at all. I know how powerful food can be for children, and his behavior clearly changes for the worse when he is given a bunch of sugar. I don't plan to have him never eat grains or sugar while out at a birthday party or in school during snack, but I want him to eat well when he is with us, which is a lot of the time. I think I'm struggling because I don't want to be the "bad guy" and create issues of control around food. Words of wisdom on this appreciated.
I'm not trying to run 4 days a week any more, just doing some short weight/body resistant exercises, walking more, and occasionally running.
What are the changes I have seen so far? Lets start with the physical:
PHYSICAL CHANGES:
I have lost about 3-5 lbs. Now I give a range because it fluctuates, and honestly I am not too sure I even care to look at lb loss, you'll see why in the next few points. My clothes are getting much looser, I have more muscle definition (but guess what, I'm barely even working out! Oh the horror!!!!), I have lost at least 1.5 inches off my waist (I didn't start checking this till a few weeks in, so I believe it would be more), I feel more stable/solid when doing exercises or movements that require balance. I also notice I have more consistent energy level. It doesn't mean I never get tired, I still drink coffee in the morning. But I don't have the drastic ups and downs I used to have when eating grains. I also have little to no stomach discomfort. Now I have never been someone who suffered from major stomach issues or IBS, but I didn't realize how much better it could be till changing my diet. I am now incredible sensitive to eating foods that are not good for me- I had a small amount of dark chocolate and green beans (which are actually legumes), one of them does not agree with me- will have to experiment to see which at a later time.
Now the more important ones that make doing and sticking to this so easy, psychological changes.
PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES:
Almost immediately I noticed improved mood, more consistent mood, more energy, clearer thinking (literally felt like my thoughts had slowed down), and this has made sticking to the diet changes so easy. When you suffer for long enough and finally come out of it, the fear of going back can be incredibly motivating. So does this mean that I am always incredibly happy go lucky and never feel upset or down? No, but overall I am happier, I can recognize what brings about changes in my mood, besides just randomly (well probably not randomly, but blood sugar or diet related) feeling bad. I am much less anxious, my BP is less reactive. I have always had a pretty sensitive BP, white coat syndrome, etc. I had to go to the Dr twice about 2 weeks into the diet changes and obviously was anxious (though not as intense as in the past) and my BP was fantastic, better then it had been when I weighed 15 lbs less and exercised A LOT. What do you think about them apples!?! I was impressed.
FAMILY CHANGES:
D and I and E (we always try to include L) eat all our meals together (when we are home), prepare our meals together at home, and actually enjoy/discuss our food together while eating it. It seems like even though we are buying more expensive foods- organic, grass-fed, whole foods, we are saving a significant amount of money by not eating out often, and by often I mean maybe 1 meal a week we grabbed some chipotle.
My biggest sadness/frustration/hurdle right now is L's diet. I am not sure how to even begin his transition. So he's incredibly smart, strong willed, and sensitive and has a love for grains, breads, pastas, cakes, cookies. He literally dreams about his birthday cake Babka made and wakes up telling me about it. Chocolate is his life blood-ha! Often times he refuses anything remotely whole food like and then has terrible behavior because he is hungry. I have been debating trying gluten free options with him first, and of course we continue to offer our real and healthy foods- without much success at all. I know how powerful food can be for children, and his behavior clearly changes for the worse when he is given a bunch of sugar. I don't plan to have him never eat grains or sugar while out at a birthday party or in school during snack, but I want him to eat well when he is with us, which is a lot of the time. I think I'm struggling because I don't want to be the "bad guy" and create issues of control around food. Words of wisdom on this appreciated.
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