Judy's Weightloss Journey

The date on this one may look off (as if anyone looks at them that closely? ) but that's only because I'm posting Saturday's blog after midnight. It's still "Saturday" to me because I haven't yet gone to sleep to turn the day into Sunday.

I'm realizing that I'm simply not going to be able to accomplish this by merely wishing and thinking my way through it. As much as I despise tightly controlled diets, that may be the route I'll have to take. Not permanently...but to give myself a jolt, like an electric shock to the heart. About six years ago, I read a very good book called "Eat to Live." In it, the author prescribes a diet rich in fresh fruits, veggies, whole grains, and some lean meats. Which is essentially what I've been trying to "think" myself into anyhow. But my bad habits are so deeply ingrained, the addictions to certain foods so entrenched...that I'm going to have to go "cold turkey" (no food pun intended!). The program in the "Eat to Live" book starts out with a "cleansing" period where you go for six solid weeks eating purely vegan. No meats, no fish, no dairy of any kind. Fruits, veggies, beans, and whole grains (and not the over-processed kind like "Wonder Bread" which uses a label that says "Whole grain" but isn't any more whole than white bread) and some limited nuts and oils. After those six weeks, you can start gradually adding in small amounts of lean meats and some limited dairy products.

When I read that book, I set myself that challenge of making it through those six weeks. And I DID IT. I'll tell ya, the first couple weeks were HELL. Not only did I have to fight the habitual twitches toward junk, but I had to deal with the "detox" as I flushed out the excess sugars and processing chemicals in most of our food. Plus, I had to cook "real" meals for the family and then sit and watch them eat while I munched on a plate of steamed veggies or salad. (I'm seriously not very creative when it comes to vegetable meals...I'm NOT a big veggie person and not much of a cook either.) BUT...once I got over that ragged road, things got smoother and easier. I started to feel good. I had more energy. I stopped getting heartburn every night. I could get hungry without getting the shakes or feeling sick. I made it through that whole six weeks.

I don't remember how much weight I lost. I do remember it wasn't as much as I'd expected...but I was able to maintain the habits of good eating choices for months afterwards, and weight came off slow but steady over the next year or so. It wasn't always easy...and eventually I did slide fully back into the awful habits that can get their claws into me so quickly and so deeply.

Monday is my birthday. And then on the 29th of September, we'll be celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary. ...... ...... So I really don't want to start on that six week journey right away. By October 4th, all the celebrating will be over and I am making the commitment, right here in front of all of you, that I will begin that six week journey on Monday, Oct 4. In the meantime, I will continue to at least talk myself out of making some of the stupid choices I'm prone to.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.
Philippians 4:8

Gotta get to bed....good night and sweet dreams,
-- Judy