The first half of January has been pretty uneventful for me. I haven't been tempted to eat any non-healthy foods and I've been feeling great. Of course, I didn't cut back on my yogurt and coffee as I thought I might either. If I go by the signals my body is giving, I've lost a little weight anyhow so I haven't felt the need to be overly-restrictive.
But that's enough about me, how are you doing? Have you been trying to change what or how much you eat? Has that caused any problems for you and, if so, what have you tried so far to get around it?
I can tell you this--health goals rarely if ever unfold in a straight line. A binge eater, for example, almost always has one or more crisis points and may binge a few times while trying to break the pattern. It's not about whether you struggle. It's about whether you get back up when you fall.
Many people who try to leave grains and refined "neolithic" foods behind them suffer withdrawal. Has that happened to you? The lucky folks just look back fondly at their old foods while others are shocked by how strong their cravings are. They have to become obsessed with their goals for a while in order to see past how much they want wheat or other addictive foods. If/when they succeed in breaking the pattern the obsession can be managed and then broken by learning new tricks such as intermittent fasting but that can be a tough period.
Other withdrawal symptoms include feeling what is referred to as the "low-carb flu." If you ate grains and heavily sweetened neolithic foods for many years you have gut flora that include the "bad boys" and they are the source of feeling both cravings and sickness. Cravings mean they're demanding to be fed junk food and sickness means they're actually dying because healthy food encourages the "good guys" who crowd out the bad ones. So being sick for a while can mean you're getting healthier!
If you changed your eating pattern at New Year's and stuck with it, you may be feeling fabulous about now--how cool is that? If you're like me, you hadn't noticed that you hadn't felt GOOD in a long time so you're feeling too good to be legal.
If you tried but couldn't stick with healthy eating, why not give yourself permission to try again? Instead of beating up on yourself, how about being your own best champion and rooting for yourself to feel really, really good after you get through the tough part?
Well, it's a beautiful day here in southern Nevada and I'm going outside to play with my 3 toy dogs and visit with my neighbors. You should do something that gets you outdoors, particularly if the sun is shining--sunshine is very healthy.
Just remember--you own your body and you own your life, so live toward having the one you wish to have.
No comments:
Post a Comment