Realistic goals

My goal with this challenge in general is to reprogram my eating and excercise habits, not so much as to lose weight in 8 weeks, but to make permanent changes to my daily habits that let me lose weight for the next year and a half. And hopefully make awesome progress for the first 8 weeks.

Ok, so I'd like to say that I have been eating perfectly since Monday, but that is not the case. But, I have been doing better. My daughter (who is also in this challenge) and I have prepared healthy dinner meals 2 days this week with a plan for good food tonight! Yay for us!

I at first thought I might do the Gastric Bypass diet, meaning what do folks who have undergone Gastric Bypass eat? My sleep Dr. has suggested I get a consult for such surgery and I am currently dead set against it. I would personally prefer to try eating 2-4 OZ of food every 3-4 hours and see how I do, because that is what life would be like after the surgery. (shudder) And who knows, maybe that would help me lose weight. However, I currently live in a body that is not just yet ready for such stringent cutbacks, and losing weight really fast is not healthy and might make parts, ah, droopy!

I am considered pre-diabetic, meaning if I am not careful I will become a type 2 diabetic. So I function best when I pay attention and avoid simple sugars, stuff with lots of corn (like mexican food) and any carbs that are not whole grain.

Something I have said to others and holds very true and I need to remember for myself: "It's what you do every day that counts." So, I confess, I personally currently have a yucky daily habit of eating the hard SUGAR candies that are 3 feet from me in my coworker's cube. She keeps a steady supply for all who graze by and I am always tempted, then my bloodsugar spikes, then my pancreas goes into hyperdrive to make enough insulin to compensate, then my heart races and then my body makes too much insulin, I start to feel better, but then I am crashing and my bloodsugar is so low I feel like I might pass out, so I have to eat SOMETHING and what is there, only candy. YUUK! The cycle begins again until I feel like Sybil. So I must bring almonds and carrots and walnuts, healthy stuff to work to keep my blood sugar steady and not needing a big bad burst of sugar. I need to plan ahead better to prevent the candy monster. That is a goal!!


Below is a link to what sugar really does to us and how yucky it really is. If I just picture my triglycerides going up and my blood getting all sticky and making the insides of my arteries cell lining break down so it allows goopy cholesterol to wedge into my arteries more easily every time I eat sugar, well, then I would be imagining exactly what is happening every time I have a hard candy!!!

Another realistic goal for me is to get back to moving! I used to walk 2-3 miles every morning at about 2.5-3mph for 6 months straight after I graduated from cardiac rehab (treadmill walking with a nurse monitoring). Then I had more health problems and poof, all my walking motivation disappeared and my motivation for sleep took over. As of Wednseday, I know my heart is healthy again so, now, my goal is to never let two days go by without walking in the morning. So, I can take a day off every now and then (like once a week or so) but if I take a day off, I have to move the very next day. So today was my day off, and tomorrow I walk. This past week I walked on Friday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning - more consecutive moving than I have done since October!! Wahoo! And boy oh boy is my attitude better. Also I sleep better and I can actually feel my heart beating healthier. When I actually pay attention to what is happening to my body when I eat well and move well, it is much easier to keep doing the thing that is good for me.

Another thing is: What if Jesus were actually watching me (or you!) take every bite of food? That is convicting. Hard to think of eating a Big Mac or Junior Mints in front of Jesus. I know He said not to worry about what we eat or drink, but if you are eating right with Him, there is no reason for worry!!

Keep eating and moving in Jesus!!
Jen

The yuk of sugar:
http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/sugar.htm