1 week down!

After I pushed publish on the last post, I almost deleted it right away.  It was so personal and real, which I usually don’t publish on the blog.  Luckily Joseph convinced me to keep it up.  It has helped in so many ways!

I am amazed at the support that has poured out from all of you.  Little did I know I had dozens of friends suffering from the same problem!  I received lots of encouragement and help from a lot of you.  Thank you!

This week actually went really well.  There were several times I almost caved, but then I thought of all of you guys and how I couldn’t bear to tell you all that I failed, so it helped me get through.  Yay!  1.5 weeks down, just 50.5 more to go, haha. 

Many people suggested finding something to replace my sugar foods with.  I’d like to give a shout out to trident gum for getting me through most of the hard times.  I also used the 85% Lindt dark chocolate.  Turns out it only has a few grams of sugar, and it’s fourth on the ingredient list, so it fits the criteria!  It’s super rich, so I only can eat a piece of two before I don’t want anymore, so it’s great!

Throughout this week I’ve been thinking about why some times in my life are so much harder than others when it comes to eating well.  I’ve found a pattern.  Each time I’ve had a difficult time with eating, especially sugar, has been a time when I have been unable to exercise due to, pregnancy, injury, or some other circumstance.  I usually use exercise as a means to cope with stress and difficult emotions.  When I’m upset or need to think or am down, I use exercise to stabilize again.  When I am unable to exercise, I have to find other means to cope, and unfortunately I have turned to bad eating habits.  It’s a downward spiral of not exercising, eating badly, then feeling bad about eating badly, and not having another way to cope with everything.  That’s exactly what happened this last pregnancy.  I’ll be honest; I was in a real rut.  I did badly at coping with everything thrown at me.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but I do now that those feelings have all disappeared.  I was an emotional and physical mess!  Thank goodness I can start exercising again at the end of this week.  It won’t be an easy task, though.  It turns out three months of bed rest and a C-section can really make a person out of shape, haha.  I am just excited to get back out there again!

If you’re wondering haven’t noticed much of a physical difference yet, but I know from experience that it will take about a month to see much of a noticeable difference.  I have noticed an emotional difference, however.  When I’m more disciplined in my eating, I’m more disciplined in every aspect of my life: I have more patience as a mother, I am better at remembering those things I should be doing each day, I’m a better wife, I get more done, etc..  It’s a great pattern!  I’m glad to make this permanent difference in my life. 

Thanks for all your support everyone! And thanks for not judging or making me feel inferior for my weaknesses. You all rock!