Day 3: I need advice!

Today is Day Three, and I'm starting to gather my balance on this whole measure-what-I-eat-of-only-healthy-foods thing. For a bit there I was tottering on the brink! I can't emphasize enough how glad I am that I started this thing mid-day Saturday.  My mind and body knows that this isn't a short-term diet with a start and end point, this is a life-long journey.

Learning point: When starting a life-change, start mid-day on a Saturday. And above all, don't start on a Monday morning! Your mind needs to know this isn't a clean start, it's simply a daily choice.

My ear infection is healing, but still bothering me. It's difficult to tell whether lethargy and shakiness is due to that, or my new health regiment. Any time we change things up, our body tends to go ballistic. Just think of how your body feels after feasting at Christmas for a week. Ugh. Changing for good also has its effects, and I'm using logic that I mentioned on Saturday to work through it. In a few days, my body will adjust. Don't give up.

While hunger and even shakiness can be endured, there is another consequence from eating healthy where I'm needing advice.

The past couple of nights I can't sleep due to hunger. Last night I woke at midnight and was awake until past 1 o'clock. First, I have not been starving myself (heh, yeah that's never a problem!). I ate a piece of fruit within an hour of going to bed. When I couldn't sleep I got up and tried reading and made a warm cup of lemon water, both of which didn't help. Finally, I got four saltine crackers and was able to sleep afterwards.

Does anyone have advise on this? Is this normal? I have experienced insomnia on various levels for the past several years, and it's always worse with I cut back on eating.

Day One: Crash, Burn, & Logic

After weeks of mental prepping, and emotional pepping, Day One started off with a bang.  Of the crash and burn variety.

I woke up this morning to my daughter declaring that I have students at the front door waiting.  I glanced at the clock and realized...it's almost 10 o'clock!  What???  I haven't slept to 10 in... months? years? decades?

In my foggy state, I grabbed my phone to see I had 2 missed calls and several missed texts.  I clicked open my calendar app and surely enough, I had scheduled 4 piano lessons starting at 10 am on Saturday morning.

Moving as quickly as possible, I lumbered out of bed, grabbed on clothes, and ran a brush though my hair.  I made it down to welcome my students only 8 minutes late.

This past week I've been suffering from another ear infection, one of the side effects of the many allergies I spoke about yesterday.  My ear this morning was completely clogged, making my movements sluggish. Whenever someone spoke, it took me about twice as long as normal to process.

As I sat and listened to the first student go through her piano scales, it hit me that I hadn't eaten.  I hadn't had water!  I hadn't had coffee!!  And today was Day One!!!

The shakiness started during the 3rd lesson.  By the time I finished, it was past noon, and I was ready for food and a shower and possibly my bed again.  This day was really not going as I anticipated. Without giving much thought other than needing to feel better, I opened the refrigerator, pulled out last night's dinner leftovers, and warmed it up in my Starbucks Oregon mug.  And I ate it. Olive oil-saturated pasta salad.  Crash and burn.

After my shower, lying on my bed, feeling tired, shaky, and intense ear pain, the solution came: Make Day One start tomorrow.  After all, I royally messed up and I can't salvage today.  Make sense, right?

Actually, it makes emotional sense, but not logical sense.  

A couple of days ago I thought through the most important mental aspects of a life change.  I came up with these four: Logic, Organization, Faith, and Social Support.

Logic tells me to keep trying even though I fail.  Logic tells me that everything I eat the day before starting a diet is just as significant as everything I eat the first day of the diet.  Logic says what I eat today and tomorrow will effect the way my body feels 5 years from now.

Emotions say, you messed up, may as well splurge today.  Logic says, pick up where you left off and
keep trying.

Emotionally I wanted to give up.  Logically, I needed to do this day just as I had planned.

The crux: eating healthy isn't the exception, it's the rule.

So guess what?  I listened to Logic instead of Emotion.  I dutifully measured out my afternoon snack and dinner. Today wasn't perfect, but I don't need perfection.  Today was proof that I can keep going, and I definitely need that!

My Daily Avocado is Back!

***Disclaimer: For those of you who are new to My Daily Avocado, I am NOT selling anything. I'm simply a mom trying to be healthy and help others be healthy too. I don't preach; I just share ideas and examples from my own life.***

The past few years have been full and fun, with a bit of crazy in the mix. Having just turned 40, I look at the 30s as being, by far, my best decade yet. I began the past ten years as a newlywed; now I'm a mom of two and in love with my husband more than ever. Over all, life is really good!

So the crazy and the bad?  First, any mom won't need an explanation: life is simply crazy with kids! Besides the go-go-go and emotional roller-coasters in any mom's life, I have had a few health problems that have gotten in the way of my goals.

The biggest trigger has been allergies.  I have severe allergies to 25/50 things for which I was tested.  The Doctor said, "Wow! You're allergic to everything!" Those allergies include dust, mold, trees, grasses, and various kinds of pollen.  I pretty much knew all that, so no surprise. What did surprise me was my allergy to cats (yes I have a cat and no I won't get rid of her!) and cockroaches (...um...bummer?).

These and several other allergies reached a point a few years ago where I thought I'd be hospitalized.  I was chronically sick (flu or cold every two weeks), in bed constantly, and I hadn't exercised in months.  This all led to depression and other complications, along with a defeated attitude toward eating. And yes, I gained weight.

I have now been taking allergy allergy shots for the past year and a half and it's helped significantly. I'm not totally out of the woods when it comes to allergies (who knows what else I'm allergic to???) but it's better, and I'm a long ways from being hospitalized. Last summer I made the conscious effort to begin exercising again. It is paying off. I feel really good, my depression is gone, and my body is stronger. I am ready for the next step--eating right again. I don't eat badly, just not always logically or in moderation.  I really need a jumpstart.

Enter 21 Day Fix!  I have heard great things about this diet.  Even though I am anti-diet (I'm more interested in a long-term life change), this program is more of a door to eating more healthily and establishing new patterns and habits for the LONG-TERM.

I will call it the Container Diet, since measuring foods is how it works.  And... that's it! No counting calories. No weighing yourself. (I'm measuring inches when I start and finish.) There is a list of foods to choose from and various colors of measuring cups that I bought on Amazon.  It's that simple.  Lots of work, yes, but simple.  (My biggest effort comes from planning my meals, but I'll get into that in a future post.) The cost? A whopping $9.49.

Want to see how I do? Follow me for the next 3 weeks while I tough it out through my new health journey! I'm looking forward to inspiring you and keeping the momentum alive long after 21 days have come and gone.

Blessings or Stressings?

Life has been on the hectic side lately.  We are smack-dab in the middle of the kitchen project I mentioned a few weeks ago, living with half a kitchen—and not the essential half in my opinion.  There are beautiful cabinets up, but no counters or running water.  The past week has been bustling with strangers coming and going from our house at all hours of the workday and weekend.  After months of waiting, it’s a bit overwhelming to have so much happen so fast.

We have been eating frozen meals via a microwave in the garage and occasionally going out to eat.  My favorite place to go has been Jamba Juice, where they have all-fruit and vegetable smoothies and that kids and I like.  I even have a coupon I got through email for a buy-one-get-one free.  (Ask me to send you one and I will!)

There have been twists and turns in this project to be sure.  You reach a point, though, when you’re almost ready to say, “I don’t care if it’s not perfect.  Just be done with this mess!”

The cabinets were installed over a Saturday while Jay was at work.  I ran around town trying to keep the kids entertained.  When I got home, I looked about, pleased at the progress, but also puzzled because they looked nothing like the sample I had.  It turned out the wrong cabinets had been ordered for us.

Not the best news to be told when I’m without a kitchen, longing for this project to be done.

Now, for the good news.  We love the cabinets we got, even though they are wrong!  Furthermore, we get new paint inside our house, courtesy of a very apologetic contractor.  Still, this whole fiasco has been, to say the least, stressful.

Another thing that has me stressing (I mean blessing) is a sudden increase in my teaching schedule.  As the opening of the school season came, I was contacted by a slew of potential piano students who had happened to find me on the internet.  Without planning it, I have gone from one to nine students in a matter of weeks.  It’s great for the fundage, not so great for my sanity!  It is wonderful to be teaching again, though, and outside of being slightly overwhelmed by my new schedule, I’m truly loving it.

There are other stressors.  My husband has been working long hours, often six days a week.  I recently began teaching a Sunday school class for toddlers.  Not least on the list, both my kids have been demanding a lot of attention lately, with Eden begging me to teach her to read and Lance doing what all 2-year-olds do.

In short, my life has been demanding.  But, everything that provides stress also provides blessings, and I find that I really have a wonderfully full life.  How can I complain when the things that give me the most stress, also give me the most joy?

Don’t Count Calories

Lately I’ve been participating in an invigorating diet competition.  My rivals are a load of fun and think they can beat me.  But we all know better, right?

Now that we’re nearing the end of the competition, I’d like to share a few secrets of my success during this competition.  (If I lose the competition, I’m going to be sufficiently humbled, but for now, let’s just assume that I’m going to win!)

My biggest cause for success during this eight-week competition has been not counting any numbers.  I haven’t counted calories, carbs, fiber, fat, or any combination thereof.  What has resulted?  Weightloss and a genuine interest in keeping it up long after the competition is over.

So if I haven’t tracked what I’ve eaten, what have I done? 

I have simplified everything down to a yes or no question.  Is it healthy?  Is it more than I should eat?  Will it make me feel good in two hours?  Is it worth the splurge?

When my focus is on reaching a particular number (of calories, points, etc.), I lose my motivation when I see that I am not going to reach my goal that day.  Let’s say it is noon and I’ve already eaten 1000 calories.  Well it’s nearly impossible to meet my 1500 goal with lunch and dinner still ahead of me!  I may as well give up for the day!

And I usually do.

When my focus is on being healthy instead of reaching a number, my effort goes from all or nothing to a much more moderate way of eating.  I ate more for breakfast, so likely I won’t be as hungry for the rest of the day.  I won’t condemn myself or stress.  I’ll just try to be sensible, and don’t eat when I’m not hungry.

Getting started on a healthy diet is a challenge, and it helps to count calories in order to learn what a sensible diet feels like.  After a while, though, let common sense be the guide.  It will work for a lifetime, and I’m not sure anybody wants to count numbers for the rest of their life.

By Example

Recently I saw a photo of a little girl in diapers standing on a scale, looking at her weight with a worried curl in her brow.  The photo was being used as a warning to moms about the messages we send our kids about weight-obsession.  Our little girls, particularly, watch and pick up our fears, insecurities, and our focus on that big W word—Weight.

Ever since having my daughter, I’ve been determined to teach her to make healthy choices at a young age.  When I was a child I was chubby and felt insecure physically.  The way I was treated by kids and teachers at school created scars that still hurt at times.  (Mostly the hurt now is just fear that my daughter will go through something similar.)  Understandably, I do not want Eden to have her weight be an issue while she is in school—or ever, for that matter—but I cannot deny that part of weight is wrapped in genetics and she probably will have to face it at some point.

My job, then, is to teach her how to overcome the weight “tendency” the best she can—without teaching her to obsess about her weight!  Where is that line?  Can I make her conscious about something, without leading her into the weight-obsessed mindset most of our society already pushes?

The answer, I think, is recognizing myself as the example.  Do I obsess about weight in front of my child?  I can talk about portion control and daily exercise with positive results, but am I mixing it with a panicked fear that if I don’t do these things, something very bad will happen?  Does my need to lose weight overshadow my ability to love?  If I eat more than I should, do I carry on about my regrets and fears?  Is my self-image wrapped up in looking a certain way?

My child watches and learns how to be healthy, both physically and emotionally.  I pray that I am able to teach her to be healthy in both aspects.  

Kitchen Project

It’s been hectic at our house this summer. We are currently without cupboards in our kitchen and soon to be without water, refrigerator, or any other useful appliance. Due to some water damage we are getting a new kitchen, which really is a blessing even though it feels like a curse right now.

The curse is enough to drive me crazy—trying to get the cabinet guy to call me back, trying to find that pan that was once in its perfect spot, and trying to make dozens good decisions in a matter of hours. And another obstacle: my anxiety for the days to come.

I am dreading the weeks when we won’t have a kitchen, and when we’ll be hearing slamming, hammering, and drilling nonstop instead. How will my kids react? How will they nap? Where will we go during the day?

And where will we eat? Will I gain ten pounds from eating out all the time? Friends have told me that I should BBQ outside and use paper plates, which is a useful idea I plan to do. But what if it’s too hot? Where will I keep the meat if I don’t have a refrigerator?

So many questions and so many concerns. I really should let tomorrow take care of itself.

Ultimately, this situation is the perfect topic for a health blog because there are so many health ramifications from being kicked out of your kitchen. I plan to give updates as we progress through this unanticipated project. Hopefully I’ll be sane enough to do so!