Day 17: It's been a week???

I can't believe it's been a week since my last post.  WOW! Time flies.

This past week has been filled with a lot of ups and downs.  The ups have come in the form of less bloating, reconnections with my favorite Ultimate Reset foods (sweet potato, anyone?), clothes that are no longer tight, and a generally brighter attitude about where I am on my health and wellness journey. The downs have come in the form of caving to some sweets (s'mores, anyone?), snacking once or twice off of the kids plates, and an occasional bad attitude about the aforementioned infractions.  I let go of the s'more infraction right away.  It was good and yummy and gooey.  Three of my favorite adjectives. However, that small taste of s'more seemed to have opened the floodgates to a few more infractions.  In my normal life, these would not be infractions. I don't eat or live that way.  I track my food, do my workouts, drink tons of water, and I indulge on a regular basis for life is meant to be enjoyed. However, these 21 days are VERY strict and are about reconnecting with old habits or beginning new habits.  So, for these 21 days, there really is no wiggle room.   I wiggled.  A lot.  What to do, what to do?

My options were:
1)  I could bag the whole thing and quit.  For those of you who know me, you know that "quit" is not in my vocabulary, so this option was clearly not actually an option.
2) I could just get back on the program and not beat myself up.
3) I could just get back on the program AFTER beating myself up.
4) I could whine and moan about how this program is so hard.

There are other options, I'm sure, but these were the first ones to come to me.  I am happy to say that I chose #2 with about 3 minutes option #3 mixed in (the beating up passed very quickly).  Once the moments were done, I moved on.

My results may not end up being as wonderful as I had wanted them to be, but that is ok.  The point is that I have reconnected with my healthy habits and foods, and I am feeling really good.  So far, during week 3, all is well.  I have just 4 more days to go.  I am looking forward to them.

Onward and upward.

Day 10: Living the dream

As I sat yesterday with my hunger pangs, I began to think about all of the people in the world who have NOTHING to eat or drink.  The other day I watched the kids at the local pool play with the water and the shower near the sandbox.  They take the endless water for granted.  They press the button, the water comes out, and they walk away while the water is still running. I don't think that they realize that water is a precious commodity around the world, something that is in short supply in many areas of the world.  More often than not if there is water, it is contaminated.

It's the same with food.  We are blessed to have an abundant supply.  While watching the kids at the pool I noticed that they (seemed) to take it for granted: go to the snack counter, ask for something, put down your money, and voilà, there's your food.  Let me say: There is NOTHING wrong with this way of being.  I do not expect 10 year olds to wonder about the rest of the world as they go to buy an ice cream cone.  It would be great if they did, but I would never expect that from a kid.  My only point is that these observations gave way to thoughts about my own relationship with food.

As I worked through my pangs of hunger, I realized that the pangs would disappear as soon as I had my snack of blueberries and an apple.  If kids around the world can live for days without food (they can, but that's not to say that they SHOULD), I can go a few hours without snacking.  Yesterday's afternoon reflections gave me great pause and an amazing sense of, "Hey, this is NO BIG DEAL."  I sit here now, and I am grateful for the food in my cupboards and my refrigerator and, though the hunger pangs have begun again, I'm fine.  I am not worried, and I am definitely not stressed about where my snack will come from.  Today, my perspective has changed.  I am not hungry.  I am blessed.

Onward and upward!

Day 8: 1/3 done

Doing the Reset this time around has been really challenging.  I have been feeling VERY hungry which is unusual with this program.  I have not been snacking and have been following the program almost to a T (I confess that I had a nibble of a chocolate chip cookie yesterday).  Normally when I do this program, by day 8 (today), I am completely fine, in to the program, and not fighting to stay away from the pantry.  Days 1-today have been rough.  Not snacking, not nibbling the kids' food (which is my BIGGEST food challenge)... it's all been very tough to battle.  Part of the reason for the battle, I think, is that I am home for the summer.  I usually do the UR during the school year when I am busy and running from pillar to post.  Now that it's summer, I am home ALL THE TIME.  Sometimes I feel like the pantry is calling my name.  And, frankly, other than a bag of chocolate chips for baking (sure, that's what I tell myself), there is really nothing unhealthy in there.  The problem is none of it is on the 21 day program.

For this second week, I will focus on keeping all of us busy, staying outside when possible, doing more yoga and more walking, and reminding myself why I'm doing this.  I will also focus on what I DID accomplish during week 1:

1) Going to a MLB tailgate and NOT drinking anything but water & eating my pre-prepped salad and fruit;
2) Not quitting all together;
3) Drawing strength from the last time I did the UR in February when our dog died very suddenly. I keep telling myself if I can do it during that time of my life, I can keeping doing it now.
4) Keeping this blog to stay accountable;
5) Following the program as it is written;
6) Not complaining about it.  When people say, "Oh this must be SO HARD!" I reply, "No, it's all good. It's only 21 days, and I have BIG goals."  I am staying positive.

#40 is 14 days away!  Holy crap.  Where did the first 40 go? The idea of this birthday brings tears to my eyes, not because I am going to be 40, but because I seriously cannot believe this much time has passed in my life.  I look back and feel like my 13th birthday was just the other day.  Crazy.  Scary.

Onward and upward!