A Strong Foundation

In the vlog I posted yesterday, Susan spoke about how she had laid down a foundation of not breaking her bright lines, so that it's easier to meet the challenges presented by holiday food. That it didn't happen overnight, it took her years. The idea of waiting years for this to feel natural at first was a little disconcerting. But today I was thinking that I already have a pretty good foundation.

Years of eating for nutrition, of eliminating processed foods in favour of whole foods, of choosing whole grains and never buying anything with the word hydrogenated on the label. I remember when I stopped using artificial sweeteners, and became aware of how sustainable a food was. Of picking produce that was local and didn't leave a huge carbon footprint on the way to the store. So lots of good building material in my existing foundation.

I think it's because of this foundation that it has been easy these past two months to not eat any fast food. And I have been in the drive thru at Mickey D's for a morning coffee on a few occasions recently including this morning. And while I did think momentarily of how easy it would be to grab a sausage biscuit, I didn't. Because not getting it was much more satisfying than the momentary pleasure of indulging may have been. Here it is almost bed time and I am still enjoying the fact that I said no to the biscuit and ate my Bright Line breakfast instead.

Remembering today that I do have a strong foundation already, and won't have to wait years to build one, is comforting. Of course new walls are going up over that base, and I'm not saying there won't be hard work involved, but today I feel confident.

I had a really nice compliment at work today, just someone noticing that I'm changing, but it reminded me that I am making progress, and that there are more ways to measure success than a number on a scale.

(b)  turkey breakfast sausage, triscuits, banana
(l)  turkey soup, sweet potato (instead of fruit...)
(d)  homemade chili full of green & poblano peppers, tomatoes and zucchini

I had picked up a box of cornbread mix, and A made muffins for the rest of the family to go with dinner while I threw together the chili in the instant pot.  Dinner was delicious, and there are a couple of servings left over.

Another night of feeling hungry, and it's only two and a half hours since we ate. But I am holding on to all of the positive thoughts, and remembering my new dreams. To have less pain, to stop snoring and sleep better, to get off of my medications for Thyroid and Blood Pressure. Old people meds. Yuck.  So while my tummy is grumbling, I have no desire to eat. Instead I have the desire to feel better, dress better, and  move better.

I am getting better. I will beat this disease.