Health Reset
I had the unfortunate pleasure of having my girly yearly appointment on Dec 23. I don’t know about you but I dread that appointment for weeks leading up to it. Since we moved, I called to make an appointment with a new doctor assuming it would take at least a month to get an appointment—plenty of time to lose weight before standing on the scale in the moment of shame. However, to my surprise they had an opening in less than a week. (Clearly not enough time to lose any pounds especially during the holidays).
For years, I have tried to teach myself that how I eat and what I weigh is more about health and freedom, but there is a voice inside my head constantly trying to convince me otherwise. Over the course of the last year, I knew I had allowed myself to consume more of what wasn't best and my jeans fitting tighter was the evidence--and by tighter, I mean cutting off my circulation and therefore causing me to be angry/grumpy/deathly while wearing them. The scale that day at the doctor’s office confirmed that I had gained about 7-10 pounds over the last year. Call it the Freshman Fifteen. Thankfully, I was prayed up before that appointment so knowing that fact didn’t send me into complete and utter disarray. Instead it served as a motivation.
I’ve learned that how we view and treat our body is all about moderation. Really, that has been the lesson for me about life in general. I know I’m not fat or overweight but I do know when moderation is lacking in my life or diet. I always think of the scripture that says, “All things are lawful for me but not all things are beneficial…” (1 Corinthians 6:12) I am free to eat or drink whatever I want, but is it beneficial for me in this moment or stage or circumstance. Moderation is the answer to the question about whether or not it is beneficial to me. When my clothes aren't fitting well, then the freedom of eating or drinking what I want when I want is no longer beneficial to me. Make sense?
So with the new year, I am taking time to reset my body. It’s time to choose some moderation. I will follow my chiropractor’s Advanced Plan diet which is basically grain free, sugar free, processed food free. I also signed up for the 100 Days of Real Food challenge to remove processed food from your diet. Every 10 days, she posts a new challenge and at the end of 100 days, you will be process food free. Sounds manageable. Check out her site if you want to sign up.
My goal is to simply fit better in my clothes and more specially to drop those 7-10 pounds. My first goal is to weigh 5 pounds less when I go back to my doctor at the end of the month for a follow up appointment. I don't have a scale in my house so its the next time to weigh in.
I don't want to be obsessed with my appearance but I also don't want to live in the other extreme. Moderation has always been the key for me. I remember hearing Beth Moore talk about body image once, and she talked about the idea of finding your freedom size. Where can you live moderately and freely without the extreme of obsession or the extreme of neglect? I know where that is for me. Where is it for you? Part of that is letting go to unrealistic expectations. Let me tell you that I had the expectation of weighing at or less than I did on my wedding day. Ladies, it is unrealistic for me because in order to be that (and it is possible), I have to be obsessed--watching everything I eat and not allowing myself to enjoy different foods or drinks. To be that, I had to take my own food when we ate out as a family. Seriously? Who wants to do that? I am NOT even a good cook. One of my greatest joys is having other people, who are clearly good at it, cook for me. Let's find our freedom point together.
- I have an Advanced Plan diet board on Pinterest if you want to check it out.
- Be sure to follow along my meal plans for foods that we try (I promise to always be real and talk about the fails too). Here is this week's.
- The book I'm following from my Chiropractor is called "Maximized Living Nutrition Plans" by Dr. B.J. Hardick, Kimberly Roberto and Dr. Ben Lerner
- Here are a couple of other great resources if you want food ideas: here and here
I mentioned earlier this week how I adjusted my kids diet fully in order to boost their immune system so January is turning out to be a reset month for us all. Along with the diet, I am adding in burst training. This is a great way to stimulate fat burning hormones. You guys, it is just 5 minutes a day. My chiropractor wrote an article about it here and there is also the video that I follow in that post.
I will keep you posted with my health reset. I will NOT, however, post pictures of myself so that you can see progress. I honestly hate those kind of pictures because it causes me to be more obsessed. I'm sure other people can handle it better than me but just know you will not see a picture of my flab or rock hard abs. You're welcome.
