Confessions of a Serial Wagon-Jumper page 8

[namelesswonder]

Nice to hear from you again. Good luck with your day off! Shifting the mindset of diet to health was the kicker for me too. I never really needed to lose weight, but now my health is really dependent on me sticking to this way of eating.

[Primal Primate]

Hang in there! I also fall off the wagon from time to time and like you find one little cheat leads to another and then a day and then a week and wow look at all the weight that gets put back on! Is there any way to keep the foods you shouldn't be eating out of sight and not as a temptation in your office or on the desk? Seems like you are tempting fate a little too much. I found when I got rid of the temptations it made the PB lifestyle so much easier to follow.

[badgergirl]

I'm so glad you're back - I've been scouring the boards for you, but couldn't remember the name of your journal. Well done on turning things around. I'm cheering you and the wife on.

[bellajgw]

Thanks all!

Since I work in a large office filled with students we ALWAYS have food around. There's just no getting around it. I made a decision a while back that I wouldn't go out of my way to push temptations away from me as there will NEVER be a world where I'm not surrounded by temptations. I'm a food addict. I will always have a problem with food. The trick now, for me, is to find a way to handle that, find ways to deal with the temptations. So far, that seems to be having a plan ahead of time. Like right now...all I wanted to do this morning was go to Dunks and get 2 croissants and a big coffee with cream and sugar. Instead, knowing it's just stress about our huge meeting tonight, I had made the plan that if I was feeling really stressed this morning I would allow myself either a little cheese on my omelet or would have homefries with it. Knowing that I could have that little piece of "naughty" without it really being bad I was able to walk right by the Dunks and not stop. The crux of that decision is that I can't get my omelet until 8am, which is almost 40 minutes after I pass the Dunks. I have that time to get my head together, think things through, and really think about whether I really even want or need that cheese or potato any more before getting my breakfast. I'm leaning towards no, but then again I wonder if I do not allow myself my little acceptable "cheat" this morning will I have the will power to stay away from the other foods tonight? Science has proven that will power is not a recycling, unending thing. People don't have LOADS of will power. If I use up my will power this morning I wonder if I will have it tonight when I need it.

Its the little things like this that I've notice helps. I have a lot of weight to lose...over 100 pounds...and its not going to happen overnight. I have to change the way I do EVERYTHING. I have to change my response to stress, I have to change my way of thinking about food, the way I make choices, how I plan things out, and even what I learn. I listen to podcasts and audiobooks a lot. Lately I've been listening to a lot about will power, changing your mindset, making lasting changes in your life, and loads on the role conventional food problems affect our bodies. I'm hopeful that the more I know the easier it will be for me to stick with it.

Thank you all for the encouragement!!! It means the world to me!

Now, off I go to get breakfast!

[bellajgw]

Ah, October, how well I remember you and my amazing diet resolve.

This was before my strange, unexpected bouts of nausea, the exhaustion, and the need to keep my diet as bland and as simple to digest as possible. I spent a month being nauseous for no apparent reason, so I spent that month nibbling toast, slurping jello, and sipping gingerale. I did all this, gained about 10 pounds, and then found out that the nausea was NOT in my stomach but in my HEAD! I have a tumor sitting on my pituitary gland and it's causing my lady hormones to go out of whack. This is causing me to have all the symptoms of a first trimester pregnant lady with none of the baby benefits.

Once I knew the reason for the nausea I jumped back on the bandwagon and am now back down to a reasonable, yet still way too high, weight. 259. It's getting easier and easier every day to stick with it, and I'm branching out in my recipes. I've given up trying to help my wife make better decisions as it just gets me upset and then she gets pissed at me.

So, it's been a month since we discovered the tumor, I've had a multitude of tests done to judge my overall health, and it turns out (surprise to my doctors) that I'm incredibly healthy despite being over 100 pounds overweight. My doc is completely surprised that, with my diet, I'm quite healthy. My sugars and cholesterol are all well within good limits. My heart is in great shape, no blockages, valves in good condition.

This past Friday I began my tumor shrinking meds and while they are making me a bit tired yet unable to get to sleep well they are NOT making me violently nauseous, so I'm pretty happy about it.

So I'm still working Paleo/Primal, still loving the way I feel when I'm doing it, and hoping that this time there will be no wagon-jumping.

[namelesswonder]

Glad you're doing fairly well aside from the tumor! Welcome back aboard!

[bellajgw]

I really do need to journal more. There is so much I want to keep track of, yet never seem to find time to get online.

It's been almost a month of tumor-shrinking drugs and my usual 6 hours of sleep has become 4 hours thanks to the insomnia that accompanies the drug. I know it's the drug because nothing else is different. I've also read that in SOME cases it does cause insomnia. My doc doesn't believe it's drug related. Well, isn't that helpful?

Saw a very nice Osteopathic/Naturapath last week and he's got a whole host of ideas as how to "fix" me. That means another barrage of blood work. This time it's for rheumatoid markers, food allergies, and various other items. He wants me on some natural meds but I'm waiting for my specialist to give the thumbs up that they won't affect my pituitary gland. Also, I'm cutting back on caffeine...never thought I'd manage it but I'm down to 2 cups of regular coffee a day!

Reading a very well written book called Perfect Health Diet by the Jaminet's. It's really quite good. We've been working on adding a little IF into our plan and it's nice to see that they recommend it as well. Once I finish it the book already has a list of people who want to borrow. Popular little bugger.

Haven't lost any real weight, mostly because I had gained a little. Too many sneaks, too many calories, not really paying attention to what I was doing, oh, and the flu. We really buckled down now and I've lost 2.5 of the pounds I've gained back but am still nowhere near where I was hoping I'd be at this time. We agreed to work with friends of ours on our diets, as they had finally agreed to going lower carb/non-processed. They, however, want to do a new program called Primal Burn which involves a lot more tracking, work, and a day OFF the diet. It's essentially Day 1 you can eat whatever (just don't go crazy), then IF for 12 hours into Day 2. Day 2 is under 100 g carbs, as is Day 3 and 4. Day 5 is under 150 g carbs, then cycle down again until you reach Day 1 again. It's not too bad. Just started and I've lost 2 pounds so we'll see how it goes. My taste buds are looking forward to Day 1, my brain is saying don't go crazy...and that's our goal, to not go crazy on the free day.

More on my plan to get healthier? Well, beginning last week we no longer watch television Monday through Thursday. We allow ourselves a couple hours on Friday night and on weekends, but no more. This was in an attempt to get rid of the wasted time, to cut back on electricity, and to help calm down the brain before bed. It was easier than expected, as I'm a TV FANATIC! I have found it interesting that I end up reading a book most nights (these days the PHD) and my wife plays games on her computer, manages finances, etc.

We also go to bed at 8pm, asleep (in a perfect world) by 9pm. As we get up at 5am, this allows us 8 hours of sleep (again, in a perfect world). This is not as easy. Sure, it's easy to get INTO bed at 8pm, it's easy to turn the lights out at 9pm, but it's a completely different matter to actually be asleep anytime close to 9pm (see my note above about insomnia).

We are also working on getting cleaning done around the apartment during the week. Cleaning up after dinners, putting laundry away, doing little things so that when we really clean on the weekends it's not an all day thing. So far this week has been tough as things went a bit wonky (thanks to my car breaking down) but I think we're almost back on track.

It's a lot to do all at once, but I'm aiming for 80% compliance and so far we're hitting the marks. It will be interesting to see how it goes over the next week or so.

[namelesswonder]

If you don't mind sharing, what are those natural meds the naturopath wants you on? I have taken supplements for various things so I'm just curious what other people (might) use for whatever issues. Some of those might be good to help with the sleep. I could make some suggestions, but I'm not sure what might affect your pituitary gland.

[Khaleesi]

Great blog, hope to see more of your progress.

[bellajgw]

Nameless - It's something called Inflammatone. Loads of enzymes and some natural herbs I'm familiar with. I just want to be certain that it won't mess with my hormones, as I don't need any of that help right now. Oh, and he also wants me on a probiotic, which I'm fine with. He gave me, at exorbitant prices, a gluten-free probiotic. I'll be researching cheaper brands later. There is no way I'm paying $30 a month for a probiotic and another $30 for another natural med....I can't afford those kind of prices. The Inflammatone is for my aching joints, the probiotic is a bit more obvious.

Thanks Khaleesi...I hope to get to writing more as I go!