I'm Trying to Like My Veggies...

Haven't joined Weight Watchers yet. But I have been exercising.
The scale said 175.8 today. That's the least it has said since I got home from the hospital- so progress is being made, though slowly! I have officially lost 5 pounds. Woohoo!
I am now trying to learn to like vegetables. I know I need to make them the main part of what I eat. Besides the fact that they'll help me maintain a healthy weight, chowing down on the veggies will also help prevent disease.
The older I get and the more people I see struggle with health issues, the more it motivates me to embrace a more healthy lifestyle. Of course there are many things out of our control, but I'd really like to not have a lot of regret in this department. I'd like to say that I took the best care of my temple that I could. That healthy lifestyle probably doesn't include mass quantities of chocolate and ice cream.
If I loved vegetables, I could eat them all the time and I wouldn't have to worry about how much. I was reading about people who eat like 9 servings of vegetables a day. They're super healthy! I can't even imagine eating 9 servings of vegetables a day. I'm not sure I can even think of 9 vegetables that I'm willing to eat.
So, I'll try to get the schedule worked out this week to join Weight Watchers like I planned and maybe they can teach me to like vegetables. Or at least I can get some recipes to help me disguise the flavor.

Still fasting...

My sugar fast is going pretty well. Last night I was kinda feeling the pain as we went to a wedding reception with mostly just desserts. Really good ones too like cheesecake and something that looked very rich and chocolatey. But then we went to Fatburger for dinner. :)
So, the sugar fast thing isn't really making me eat fewer calories necessarily. But sometimes I think it does. Mostly because I tend to eat sweet things even when I'm full. I can't really do that with nonsweet things or I just feel gross. And I'm not eating Fatburger everyday.
I was proud of myself for not eating the Mother's Day cookies today either. That would have been an easy one to justify. I gave them to my husband. I find it easier to stick with someting like this when it's for a short amount of time.
I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do once I end this fast. It has helped me realize that I don't need a treat every single day and that's good. It also has helped me be more mindful about the nutritional value of what I eat. I've been trying to make sure that the things I'm eating have some. I will probably be joining Weight Watchers with my sister this week. I think it might help me to have another way to report my progress and get support. We'll see...

You Cannot Go Back...

I had a striking realization today. As I walked along the Riverwalk trail pushing a stroller and thinking about how I used to walk along this trail eight years ago. Then, I was pushing my now nine-year-old son when I was trying to lose that baby weight. As I walked along today, it hit me: I am not the same woman that I was then.
I'm also not the same woman I was when I trained for a sprint triathlon after having baby #2 in an attempt to lose that baby weight.
And I'm really not the diet and exercise obsessed woman that got down to 137lbs. after I had my third child.
First of all, in all three of those cases, I didn't really begin to work off the baby weight until the baby was about a year old.
Second, I had a lot fewer kids and responsibilities.
Third, I knew a lot less about food, nutrition, but mostly about how to be in balance in my life.
With each other child I suffered from moderate (to occasionally severe) post-partum depression.
This time is different.
I am different.
I can't go back to who I was then. Nor would I want to.
It's time to reinvent my relationship to food and exercise. I have to do it in a more balanced way.
Actually, I think I was the closest to getting it right when I only had one child. I tried to eat a balanced diet and I walked outside every day. But mostly, I tried to follow the Spirit in helping me overcome my weakness with food.
But, as I said, I am still a different person than I was then and not everything I did then will work now.
I have decided to make this a more spiritual journey. I can't do it on my own. And weakness is given to us so that we will seek for help from God.
So, I started a sugar fast yesterday for a week. Since I'm nursing and can't do a regular fast. So I'm not eating sugar this week to help me get refocused. And I'm trying to use more vegetables in my diet.
I want to live a balanced life and eat a balanced diet. I want to feel good and feel healthy. I want to eat foods that give me strength.
I want to treat my body like the temple it is and live in integrity with what I know is right in this particular area of my life so that I can be at peace with myself.
I want my body to support me in all the things I want to do in my life.
I want to move forward and become the healthiest me ever!