Bending the Universe To MY Will...

My son and I joke all the time about how the universe always seems to bend to his will. Just this morning we were remembering the time when he left his college backpack at the main bus terminal late one night. He naturally panicked when he finally got home because he just knew no one would return the $2000 Mac laptop, $300 iPhone, $200 iPod, or other assorted items totaling almost $5000. We even raced back to the spot at nearly midnight just in case the gods were smiling upon him but of course no backpack was waiting there for us. But there was one thing we DID forget about...

My son's uncanny ability to bend the Universe to his will.

Proof you say? The next day my son gets a phone call from his bank. Of all the various "criminal" types that might have been lurking around a late night bus station and could have picked up that back pack, my son got lucky. A little, old couple stumbled upon the bag, discovered my son's bank statement tucked inside (along with all the electronics, loose money, and other items), and HAND DELIVERED IT BACK TO THE BANK for safe keeping. My son went over to his bank between college classes the next day and recovered everything like nothing had ever happened.

That is just one example of the many, many instances where the luck of the universe seems to always bend in his favor. I've encouraged him countless times to play the lottery but smart man that he is, he always refuses to gamble. Except for that one time on his 21st birthday when he decided to buy ONE lottery ticket...and WON!

I was thinking of him this morning when I stepped on the scales to do my weekly weigh in. I'm enjoying my journey on getting healthier but when I titled this blog, CLAWING MY WAY BACK TO A HEALTHIER ME, I didn't realize there would be days when it would be such a true statement. The scales was NOT my friend today...showing a 2.4 pound gain...even after my diligent tracking of every morsel I put in my mouth. I am on the Weight Watchers Online Program and I'm loving the challenge of using daily and weekly Smart Points. I've been on the program since April 3rd and I'm down 25 pounds so far. That is, until this morning when those numbers went back up a wee bit.

Who knows why the Universe likes to play with me so much...like the fact I'm ALLERGIC to allergy medicine or the fact I have a very rare blood disorder that kinda makes me ALLERGIC to most of the food grown in the world. I know losing weight is going to be a struggle sometimes and sometimes those numbers on the scales are going to bobble up and down but just once I would love to have a touch of my son's astronomical luck and have the Universe bend to MY will. 

Just once...

A Step In The Right Direction

 

I woke up this morning and realized I'm one week into my new life. The changes I've put into place will hopefully lead to a healthier me. Stepping on the scales I discovered I'm down a whopping FIVE POUNDS from this time last week!

Am I thrilled with those numbers? Of course I am. Realistically I know most of that is probably water loss and I can't expect those kind of results every week. But it's a step in the right direction.

 

To be perfectly honest, it's not the numbers on the scale I worry about. I've adjusted the food I eat and I've increased my physical activity level. Simple mathematics tells me the numbers will go down. What I worry more about is how to change my mindset which helped get me in this predicament in the first place.

I could be wrong, but I believe most people become overweight for three reasons:

1) Emotional eating...the main monkey on my back. I will have to retrain my brain to look at certain situations in a different manner so once I get the extra weight off, I won't end up allowing negative thoughts sending those numbers back up again

2) Medical conditions...unfortunately I have a couple of those as well. It's a struggle sometimes to select one healthy option that doesn't trigger an unwanted dietary reaction but I'm slowly figuring things out.

3) Pure laziness...sometimes I'm guilty of this. Rushing in the morning so I won't be late for work or at the end of the day being too tired to go home and cook supper, it's easier (and the lazy way out) to grab fast food. I've now stocked my pantry with easy to make meals and carry a piece of fruit to eat on my drive home.

Do you know of any other reason people gain weight? Do one or more of these reasons hold YOU back from creating a healthier version of yourself? WE all can do this! All it's going to take is to begin with one step in the right direction...

LOW CARB RECIPE:

Veggie Cheese Bake (6 servings)

4 medium crookneck squash

4 medium zucchini

1 large orange bell pepper

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

4 oz Kraft fat free Mexican shredded cheese mix

10 slices fat free American cheese

Garlic powder, black pepper, and salt-free seasoning to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Spray rectangular baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Layer slices of crookneck squash on the bottom of the pan. Layer slices of orange bell pepper on top of squash. Layer slices of zucchini on top of bell pepper. Add seasoning and chicken broth. Cover with aluminum foil and bake covered for 45 minutes or until vegetable are thoroughly cooked. Drain excess chicken broth to be used later for another recipe and sprinkle shredded cheese over top of vegetables. Layer slices of American cheese over shredded cheese and place uncovered pan back in the oven for another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Allow vegetable to sit for 5-10 minutes in order to create a cheese sauce. Yields: 6 servings.

Each serving has 179 calories, 4 g fat, 2.5 saturated fat, 853 mg sodium, 776 mg potassium, 19 g carbs, 4.5 g fiber, 11 g sugars, 17.5 g protein.

***I have more low carb recipes listed on my Pinterest boarrd at https://www.pinterest.com/donasdays/low-carb-goodies/ or check out my Clawing My Way Back To A Healthier Me board on Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/donasdays/clawing-my-way-back-to-a-healthier-me/***

"SPARK"-ING MY INTEREST...

  

Now that my world seems to have settled into a cautious wait and see mode, I can get back to checking out what is available online to help me with my goal of becoming healthier in 2015. A few years ago I came across a little website called Spark People. There was many things I liked about it then and still liking it now...

FREE CONTENT

All parts of the website are still free! That certainly makes it affordable for everyone. All you have to do is go to their website at www.sparkpeople.com and sign up for a free account to have full access to all their weight loss tools.

PERSONALIZED PLANS

We aren't cookie cutter people in a cookie cutter world. Our lives can be hectic, our eating schedules sometimes random and not everyone's perfect food plan is carrot sticks and yogurt. Spark People offers flexibility so you can create your own customized meal plans to incorporate changes that are doable if you want to create a healthier lifestyle.

PERSONALIZED FITNESS

Not everyone wants to drop and do fifty pushups. Others, like myself, might be dealing with specific health issues that make exercising a special challenge. Spark People offers hundreds of different options to get moving...from ways to track your workouts to actual videos showing how to do the moves.

AWESOME ARTICLES

I imagine no matter what my question might be regarding starting a new, healthier lifestyle, I would be able to find an article at www.sparkpeople.com to help me stay on track. I'm not the first person to have lost my way to the food table and unfortunately I probably won't be the last. But at least for the brave ones who have decided to change their lives for the better, there is a huge treasure trove of information at their fingertips and again, it's all FREE!

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Humans are not robots. We aren't wired to go through life alone and that includes fighting to create a healthier lifestyle for ourselves. Spark People has a wide range of community support groups you can join. Have special dietary needs? There's a group for that! Over 50 female? There's a group for that! Working the swing shift and trying not to eat all your meals on the go? There's probably even a group for that! 

A part of me is a deeply private spirit. But my extra weight I've gained over the years didn't happen while I sat on my tush on some deserted island somewhere. It happened in the middle of living my life among a sea of people. So why not reach out to some of those people who are struggling just like me and let's encourage each other to get over those hurdles together? That way, when we reach the finish line together, there will be someone to do the happy dance with...

 

DERAILING MY SUGAR FIX...

So, in my last post I said I think I might have a way to derail my sugar fix. I have other medical issues to consider and they all impact my eating habits. Remember those little steps I said I needed to take?

Little step number one:

Identify the problem. The problem is that I probably have consumed enough sugar over the years to sludge up my bloodstream to just short of concrete. THAT'S a terrifying thought. But I believe it's never too late to turn around and head in a healthier direction.

Little step number two:

Start searching for information that will help me reach that goal of breaking that sugar cycle. The first article I stumbled across is one from Dr. Mark Hyman's blog.

I started reading and thought to myself...this guy makes sense to me. He might just be talking smack, but it's smack I like. Here is a link to the article I read:

http://drhyman.com/blog/2014/03/06/top-10-big-ideas-detox-sugar/

He also wrote a book called the 10 Day Detox Diet.

I can buy this book and fully commit to taking charge of my life. But I'm scared. When it comes to losing weight I've dealt with so many medical issues which complicate the weight loss that I'm also afraid to even hope this will help me.

Little step number three:

Decide on a course of action.

Oh, should I take this little step? Will it be what I'm looking for??

What would YOU do?



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