I’m on Day 7 - introduction overdue

[gethealthyjoan]

Hi Folks,

Next month I’ll turn 77 - it feels like I’ve been on & off a “diet” my whole life. All throughout, I’ve never really felt good, but that didn’t stop me from full bore working until a retired at 62. When I retired, I was over 330 lbs. After slipping from pre-diabetic to diabetic, I realized that I needed to “do something”. I was extremely depressed & actually bought a gun. I am admitting this to give you some idea of the depths of my despair almost 14 years ago. I have two beautiful daughters & a gorgeous grand daughter and the thought of hurting them helped me from carrying out any drastic action. I realized that I didn’t have the willpower to diet until I was a normal weight & felt  better. My Gynecologic suggested that I consider bariatric surgery. Once I researched that method, that’s what I did. This procedure helped save and/or extend my life. With my type “A” personality, I was determined do whatever it took to change my lifestyle. I began eating better and exercising daily, slowly at first. In about a year, I lost 1/2 of my weight, felt better & liked the way I looked. Over the years, I very slowly put on about 50 pounds. Beginning about 20 months ago, I began “dieting” - was successful loosing that weight. However, I was cycling on & off, gaining & loosing about 10 pounds. Again, I felt that I needed to do something because I didn’t want to regain my lost weight. I have been looking into anti inflammatory diets as well as the Paleo diet - sort of following an anti inflammatory diet. Neither of those approaches were satisfying for me - I still didn’t feel good & knew there I had no physical issue. One night one of my daughters told me about a program that both she & my grand daughter had started - Whole30. Even though she encouraged me to get the book, I didn’t. Instead, I went online to learn about it. Although the online site is wonderful, I didn’t really “get it”. About a week of eating/not eating foods suggested, I fixed two cups of hot chocolate sweetened w/stevia (forgot stevia was a no-no & didn’t read label on Almond Milk) and I ate some ice cream (because I was trying to get rid of it!).  On that day, I down loaded The Whole30 book to Kindle on my iPad. Once I began reading it, something clicked and I realized that I needed to begin again on Day 1 - this time understanding what foods to ear or not eat to be compliant and the reasons for the Rules. I have since down loaded “It Starts With Food” and “Day By Day” books. Today, I am on Day 7 and now realize the many reasons for “fighting my weight” all my life AND why, even tho I was “eating healthy”, I wasn’t feeling good. I love the idea of a reset to help me discern the foods that cause me problems. I believe following Whole30 will change my relationship with food - FOREVER!!! I finally have a plan that will keep me healthy AND feeling great 

 

[AmandaRG]

Hi Joan! Great job getting to day 7! Excited to hear how it goes for you.

[gethealthyjoan]

Thanks, so far   Had a dream last night that someone left a small bag of chips on the table, which I ate! Couldn’t decide if I should continue or begin again - woke up before I made the decision  I suppose that dream was an unconscious fear I have. Being mindful of what I am eating by not doing something else, is challenging for all those years of eating while watching TV, texting or otherwise distracting myself. Also had a habit of grazing that I am breaking. Reading Melissa’s book, “It All Starts With Food” has been a huge help for rational support & the “Day To Day” book, for the emotional support…

[gethealthyjoan]

Hi Moderator!

I cut & pasted my Intro not realizing my font size was way too large. Please reformat it so that the format is an appropriate size as is all the other statements.

Thanks, joan