Step One: Food Journal

Hi,

The first thing I noticed this morning upon rising is that I seem to have gotten swallowed up in trying to "change me" again.

The Lord put it on my heart to remember that He is the one who changes me if any changing needs to be done and when I am trusting Him, all I need is Him!! All I want is Him!! I don't want to forget that. When I place my burden on the Lord, it is then in Good Hands. I need only to be a good steward of what He has given me. One of the things He has given me is my body, so while I cannot exchange it for a body that is freckle free and thin and young, and athletic and strong, I can feed my body what it needs right now and learn -- or attempt to learn -- some new habits that will, hopefully, keep me on track for the rest of my life.

Practicing a new habit is like the cast on the little calf's broken leg which supports him until he does not need the cast any more and his leg is healed. It is not easy to walk in a new cast on a broken leg. You have to be patient and allow the broken part to heal over time. So practice and patience are very useful when installing a new habit and who cares how long it takes?

For me the new habit is keeping a journal of what I eat. I started doing that today and since it is day one it is rather awkward for me, but not unreasonably so. I don't have to worry as in times past that a doctor is going to look at it, shake her finger at me, and say, "Shame on you." The journal is not going to even be read by any one else if I don't share it with them.

The purpose of the journal, as I have learned in the book "Potatoes Not Prozac" by Kathleen DesMaisons, is to provide a record for me to begin to be aware of how different foods affect me both physically and emotionally so that I can use that record as my own personal guide to my own better health and happiness. I will be creating my own personal program based on what I see in the record. (Rather scientific, don't you think?)

I checked out the comments that some others have made (at another blog) about the book and program and was a little discouraged to hear that a couple of people did not put much "store" in the plan because it allowed more carbohydrates than it took for them to lose weight. So I was pleasantly surprised to find out that those people must not have really read the whole book and paid attention because I have found the small sections on weight loss and exercise to be just the right size for me.

I loved her advise for exercise: Just start. If it is hard to start and you need to begin with 20 minutes of exercise then go out in the morning and walk out for five minutes and then walk back. If you do it again in the evening, walk out for five minutes and walk back, you will have exercised for 20 minutes. Sounds pretty easy to me -- you just have to do it.

She also says that once you start exercising, you will desire to do more on your own -- or you won't. If you don't, then do it anyway and be patient. Over time if you keep at it you will really enjoy the beta-endorphine shot that exercise gives you along with the good feelings and you will, most likely, eventually exercise more. I love that there are no "exercise chains."

Kathleen says if you want to lose weight you need to slide farther over to the right side of her carbohydrate chart, drop out the "brown things" (whole grains and fruit) and take up eating more "green things" which is vegetables of all colors (she calls them "green things" for the convenience). So eating more vegetables allows a person to lose weight. Perhaps the people who complained about the "too many carbs" did not notice what was really being said.

Eating more vegetables is just exactly what I've been doing already. I've been being better this week with my eating (no carb carvings and no situations where I was tempted) and I am again within two pounds of my maximum weight loss since I started this blog. I had gained about half of the 20 pounds back but have since lost 8 pounds again. I feel a little embarrassed about the weight gain but I think that is just a habit of mine, too. I am not perfect -- that's why I am reading her book, I want better control.

Once I finish reading the book I will go back to step one and make real sure I get it right and then move on to each successive step. That will probably be what I blog about, too, my practicing to get it right.

The other day I saw a video clip of a guy on YouTube who was learning to juggle. He filmed himself from day one and every day until he could keep three balls in the air at one time for a short period of time. It only took him six days to perfect his talent and look like a juggler. I guess it will take a similar amount of time for me to begin to juggle my journal and my food and my observations. He did not become a professional juggler in that amount of time, but he did become a juggler. There are more things that he would need to master in order to take it up as a profession. There will be other things I need to learn also, but this is where I am starting: Step 1. Food Journal.

I don't have to worry about dropping a ball. I can just pick it up again and start over -- just like the juggler did. "Practice makes perfect." Picking up and starting again has been my philosophy all along and I am where I am because of it -- still on the road. I prepare a large salad in the morning and eat on it a couple of times throughout the day. In between I eat sunflower seeds, almonds, and the occasional spoonful of peanut butter (no sugar). But I eat when my body says, "I'm hungry."

Part of the new program is to make sure I eat three times a day at regular intervals. Through writing the journal I should be able to determine the best times for me. I do not live on the regular schedule that most working people do. Since I became unemployed and soon to be retired, I began staying up late and getting up late, so my first meal is around 11 a.m. I'll find out from the journal when my three meals should be and begin to stick to a "schedule."

I really admire my cousin Julianna who has gotten her weight down by using Weight Watchers and exercise. She hit a plateau recently but did a self exam and got back in the saddle again. She was so pleased recently when she did not have to shop at the big clothing store, but found a couple of nice dresses at a regular store. It was fun to listen to her sharing about her adventure in down sizing and finding a dress in a size 10 that fit her! I applaud her success and hope she gets to where she wants to be.

You'd think I would want to do the same thing she did, but that is not my plan. I have a history of dieting and exercising that, in the end, got me no where because I always gained it all back. I did not change my habits. Since then, I've learned to believe in eating whole foods, not manufactured or processed foods, and I am more concerned that what I eat is healthy and organic and does not make me gain weight. I am trying to learn how to manage my cravings and stay on the road to weight loss and healing of my prediabetic state. So my progress is slow, and sometimes does not look like progress, but I am still on the road and it will not be over until it is over.

One of the things I discovered today as I read is that there really is no "once and for all".... That was discouraging. But it was discouraging because it was not the right goal in the first place. There is no "once and for all" with doing the dishes, or cleaning the house -- it just keeps needing to be cleaned every day. And there is no "once and for all" with eating. You have to eat every day, several times a day, so the sugar sensitive person, which is what I am, has to learn to manage the food intake for optimum performance. I think the book is heading in the right direction for me and I will eventually get the right habits ingrained in me so that I will manage my health almost as second nature. I look forward to it becoming my habit -- my life style.

Weight loss is not my goal. My goal is to everyday eat in such a way that I create health with each and every bite I put in my mouth. That is the habit set I am trying to upgrade and learn to manage. I want something permanent that will not disappear at some point. I am so glad I don't have to make me into a thin person. All I have to pay attention to is my own daily obedience to what I actually believe in... the other results will show up on their own, when they do.

Moving right along.

--Marcia