Week Three: Going Strong!

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the mind in achieving lifestyle changes. In fact, I will go so far as to say, for me at least, it's impossible to achieve permanent changes without my mind first understanding, agreeing with, and embracing the change desired.

All that to say that after years of working to change my eating habits from rather mindless and super-sugared to mindful and natural foods, changes have taken place. 

I have been, of late, ramping up the input into my mind, input that provides positive reinforcement. I watch soothing, quiet videos of cooking Mediterranean foods. I watch videos of people living quietly and purposefully in France or Italy or Greece. I find myself energized. I find myself inspired. I find myself calm.

These moments of reframing my life in my mind eventually stir me to actions both intentionally and, happily, spontaneously. I pause before food choices determining if they are the best for me in the moment. Impetuousness is rapidly disappearing. 

I picture myself differently now. I picture someone who lives in beauty and health, naturally and comfortably because the choices serve my goals. I picture someone who enjoys living, someone who realizes the decisions made today create the moments that follow. 

Success or stuckness depends on the current mindset and then on the subsequent choices.

It's all coming together.

It's taken years. Years!

Changing one's mind is not a decision to take lightly. It is serious business, complicated business, and very very rewarding.

I weighed on Saturday, two days ago, and was happily surprised to see that my weight has decreased 5 pounds already. No suffering at all, just beautiful food, nurturing choices, and a mind at peace with my body.

Never surrender.

Ten Days in the Middle of October Unprocessed: Successfully Sorting It All Out

Though my posts are few and far between, still my October Unprocessed carries on quite well.

Even so, a few no-no's have crept in, still my eating is healthy and under control much more than normal.

Though my stress levels are through the roof, still I am conscious of that fact and take proper measures to dispel the buggers which trigger stress eating.

Breathe. 

  * * * Think it through.

Breathe. 

  * * * Think it through.

Breathe. 

  * * * Think it through.

And then, focus on the differences between feeling and being healthy and feeling and being unhealthy.

Breathe some more.

  * * * Study the goals, get them into my head, any way possible.

Carry on.

Seems to be working.

Never surrender.

Days Seven - Motivation is Key

Without real motivation it is difficult for me to get moving in an energetic way. I can sludge through my day, sure. But if something motivates me, pleasantness occurs.

My choices are sounder when I am motivated.

Today is a good example. I was hungry for my first meal of the day, at noon. I'd had a handful of nuts and some water earlier on. 

What to eat, what to eat? 

Then, I saw the naan bread on the counter. I'd forgotten about it. All of a sudden my thoughts swirled with possibilities. 

I plucked chicken meat off some pieces of a roast chicken from Friday night as I heated up the cast iron skillet. Some good chunks! Yum!

I drizzled a bit of extra virgin olive oil onto one side of the bread and helicoptered some salt on top, placed it oiled-side down in the skillet, and let the heat do its magic.

While the bread was browning, I tore apart a large lettuce leaf, grabbed a fresh tomato from my garden and rough chopped it, and sliced a red onion piece which I cut into small pieces. 

Time to flip the bread after oiling and salting it.

I poured myself a short slender glass of probiotic juice, quartered a juicy organic apple, and poured a big glass of water.

When the bread smelled browned and delicious, I lay it onto my plate, scooped the chicken on top, added the tomato, onion, lettuce, and several basil leaves fresh from the garden. Then, a little salt and pepper before I folded it in half.

It was beautiful!

It was so tasty it hit the spot like nobody's business!

Today's motivation was the naan bread purchased last evening. That unique food item sparked my mid-day meal, and thus the creative energy that propelled through the rest of my day.

See? Small things. Anything. Noticed things.

I've been happy and energetic and productive all day.

Life is only as hard as we make - and I make it haaaarrrrd sometimes.

Still learning.

Still learning.

Day Four - Gathering Inspiration From An Unusual Place

This morning as I watched a YouTube video hosted by a talk show host whom I shall not name - he has been around a long time and is quite famous - I noticed something.

Mr. Host has lost some weight. His face is thinner, as is his neck. His shoulders are less round and schlumping. 

I remembered him saying a couple of weeks ago, just in passing, that he'd been off sugar for about four months. I didn't think anything of it, but did retain the information. He'd become quite obese, lumbering even, and I wondered if his sugar denial stemmed from a health issue. Again, I didn't give it much thought at the time.

But today, his appearance revealed a noticeable change. I guess I hadn't been paying attention, usually just finding a video and listening, not watching. The change caught me off-guard this morning. I was surprised at how good and healthy and content he looks. His countenance more than anything gives away the fact that his determination to work toward better health is really paying off. 

In just four months.

I went back to former videos and sure enough, he was much larger four months ago. My, how he's changed in that one-third of a year.

His eyes are clearer, his skin, too, not waxy and sweaty looking as it has been. His freshly trimmed beard and hair reveal someone who is no longer averse to glancing in the mirror. His clothing suits him better; gone are the baggy flannel shirts and bulky hoodies.

Energetic, engaged, excited. He is back to his old self, and I couldn't be more impressed or happier for him, because I know what mirror avoidance is like. I know what breathlessness from too much abdominal fat is like. I know what facing limited and ugly clothing choices feels like, with extra girth keeping buttons from buttoning. I know what panic and anxiety over being stuck is like. It's horrible. 

I also know what success feels like, to befriend the mirror, and to find satisfaction and happiness in clothing that is attractive and fits well. I know the joy of breathing easier. I know the happiness of your face reappearing after having sunken into cheeks swollen with fat. I know the giddiness of feeling lighter, walking easier, doing everything easier. It's bliss. Every day.

Yes, podcast guy whom many people know, you inspired me today.

 

Congratulations on your successful journey. Keep it up! 

Your health flatters you!

Day Three - Unlearning and Relearning

An injury in my foot is really cramping my style. It is healing, slowly, as in the way of things.

I want to be in the kitchen whipping up all sorts of delicious foods but, alas, it's not to be. I have to stay off my foot awhile longer.

But I did carefully step into my herb and flower garden today where I sat at my little table to pluck coriander seeds and roll them into a bowl to dry. It's a ritual that always pleases me. The aroma! The colors! The peace and quiet!

Afterwards I again carefully stepped into another garden, the sun drenched backyard garden where the lush lawn cushioned my healing foot enough so that I could make it to the chaise lounge for a good long sun bathing, staring up into the maples, still green-leaved for the most part with a smattering of reds and yellows. A brilliant blue sky for a background, a warm low-in-the-sky autumn sun coaxing creatures out for a ramble.

All this got me to thinking about food. When, I wondered, did we go off the rails? I mean, ultra processed food is a rather new invention, becoming ubiquitous in the1980's according to Wikipedia. The addiction and dependence snuck up on us from then on creating massive sugar addictions and obesity, among other things. Who knew the dangers? 

Well, we do now.  

It's a hard habit to fully break for me, having utilized ultra processed food-like substances all of my married life without thinking about the harm they cause. I have gained a ton of weight from the 1980's until now. It is all too easy to stress-eat high-calorie fake foods: affordable, accessible, and palatable. 

I have to say, my palate has undergone an unlearning when it comes to these substances, though sometimes the Siren call wins. I'm always sorry afterwards, and I'm learning to remember the longer lasting sorrow before partaking. Most of the time. The gratification lasts minutes, the regret, hours. This I full well know.

Lying in a garden under the sun in between a large strawberry bed and an autumnally colored blueberry bush affirms to me that eating as God intended in not hard once the truth is known and embraced.

It just takes focus.

Now, for a cottage cheese and freshly picked tomato salad sprinkled with a few pumpkin seeds for my light supper. 

This is truly living!

Day Two - Check Those Labels

 Good choices again today even though plantar fasciitis is acting up today in my left foot. It happened once before - years ago! - and I was able to conquer it with proper home treatment, which I am doing today. It means I can't stand on my feet for a week or so while I ice, stretch, rest, and allow the inflammation to subside.

So, today I didn't prepare or eat what I wanted to, but I made good choice nevertheless. Husband was sent to pick up some healthy rice and bean and veg bowls for our supper with homemade tortilla chips. So good!

Tip for the Day: Always read your labels!

October Unprocessed, Second Time Around, Thirteen years Later, Day One

In 2011 my family and I participated in October Unprocessed, a month of eating better. According to the guidelines, unprocessed can be whatever a person wants it to be, but it must be an improvement on the quality of food one eats, especially with regards to processed vs unprocessed foods.

We went completely unprocessed last time. We read labels, we ate the way our great grandmothers would have eaten. In the end, we felt better, clearer, and more knowledgeable about the foods this country offers.

Well, here I am again, this time going it alone and with a few tweaks.

See, my family and I have greatly improved our eating since our adventure that October. We still eat processed foods now and then - mostly sweets because, to be honest, we are all addicted. But the quality of sweets is improved and the quantity reduced.

This go 'round my aim is to tighten up the screws a bit and get back to more unprocessed and less sugar, because as we all know by now, sugar is the devil. (My blood sugar levels are always perfect, in case you wonder. Sugar is bad no matter how good ones' numbers are. It does terrible things to our bodies.)

Unless specifically noted, everything is fresh, homemade, organic, and the best I can find.

How will I feel in the end? We'll see?

I shall record my journey weekly, just for fun and accountability.

Today:

Breakfast: unsweetened oatmeal with organic raisins, cream (NOT ultra pasteurized), and a small pat of good butter. An organic apple, Good Belly probiotic juice, cinnamon tea with cream

*Gouter: Reese's peanut butter cups - okay not ideal, I admit it

Dinner: Baked chicken, mashed potatoes with cream and butter, fresh steamed broccoli, fresh picked tomatoes, sliced.

Dessert: Kefir

* 'Gouter', is a French word for the light afternoon snack enjoyed around three or four o'clock. For me, it's usually around three, if I partake at all.

Here we go!