Have you ever had to give up all the “normal” things in your life? When your paradigm shifts and there is a new normal it is REALLY difficult to feel right with the world. Everything changes. Your routines don’t work anymore. Normal activities that were effortless are now impossible. And food. How do you get excited to fix healthy food for yourself(or your family) when you aren’t hungry or it hurts to be in the kitchen for very long. It is really hard to find your way back from that season of life. That's where I've been for several years but 2017 is going to be a year of new BEGINNINGS for me.
Are you there too? Read on my friend. Today is all about a healthy eating reboot.
Our families healthy eating journey
In 2013 I had reached the rock bottom. I had tried to follow all “the current” diets and exercise routines. That helpless feeling kept creaming up on me. No matter what I tried it seemed that I couldn't loose the extra weight I'd acquired. Somewhere on the internet I read about the Trim Healthy Mama book. I couldn't wait for the physical book so I bought the Kindle version. Once it was in my hands I devoured it in a weekend. If you have seen it then you will know how impressive it is to read it that fast. It was BIG book. But I couldn’t put it down.
What I read made SENSE. My body couldn't process the high glycemic carbs so it was storing them. Everywhere. Ugh. What my cells were screaming for was high quality fats to help me feel full so I wouldn't go searching for the junky carbs right after a meal.
All my life I had suffered from blood sugar ups and downs and it was a terrible feeling. I would stand in the kitchen stuffing my face with whatever I could to get my hands on to get that shaky feeling to go away. Plus after trying and failing to give up soda dozens of times I knew I was addicted. So I vowed to try THM for 3 months and see what happened. It couldn't be worse than where I was at that moment.
My sad healthy family tree
As a child I had watched my parents eat tons of processed foods and then our family lived through my father having a massive heart attack before 50. As a parent, I realized that I didn’t want to feed my family that way. My mom, aunts and sister had battled with their weight through their whole lives and I was headed down that same road. But I knew something had to change!
At first, it was mind blowing to pair foods and give up sugar. I won’t lie—it was tough and I had headaches from the sugar withdrawal. But after several weeks I found that I had more energy and didn’t crave the M&Ms and Pepsi that I had been living on(craving every moment of the day) anymore. Plus what I was eating was REAL food and that was a concept that was very near and dear to my heart.
I know it sounds like another fad diet. But honestly it’s not and I think this is how I will eat for a VERY long time(won’t say forever but I could see it happening) The changes to our diet really helped my family meet the challenges that we were about to face.
Life challenges
My mom, who was a diabetic, lived with us for a while and she had to watch her carbs. THM does an awesome job of focusing on low glycemic carbs and healthy fats to help you feel full! It made managing mom's blood sugars so much easier! Then a few years later when my daughter Elizabeth was diagnosed with Celiac disease and we were already (for the most part) eating gluten free because the THM eating plan doesn't use much wheat!
When my mom developed pancreatic cancer and I spent MANY days and nights away from home during her fight and if I had been eating the “old” way I honestly don't think I would have survived. My blood sugar stayed stable despite the incredible stress of my daily life. I didn’t eat perfectly every day but I was able to stay on plan for the most part. Somewhere along the way I found out that I could make my own peanut butter cups and life was immediately more AWESOME! Yeah I’m a pb addict!
Sadly I had a few more life changes coming my way. I had two major surgeries in the past 2 years and the desire to cook just was GONE. This was my breaking point and it took away my burning desire to eat healthy. My family did an awesome job of trying to make meals and keep things healthy but when mom is totally down and out it is SO hard.
Something has switched in the past few weeks and I feel that old desire to feed my family in a healthy way plus take care of my own body by shedding those pounds that have piled up again from my inactivity after surgery. I
Time for a healthy eating reboot
Its time to begin again. The feeling of no endurance, no energy and my habit of sitting WAY too much when added to cheating on the THM plan has made this mama cranky and unhealthy. No change comes without a plan so I'm challenging myself infew areas to get out of this rut I seem to be living in.
Reboot Challenge
1. MOVE more. I got a Vivofit for Christmas and it is helping me to be aware of my movement during the day. Everyone says 10,000 steps is a good goal? I’m working on 5000 on non exercise days and 9000 for days I am able to go for a walk or do Ttap.
2. Menu plan. Flying by the seat of your pants makes it easy to not be prepared to fix a healthy meal. It also makes it hard to buy the right ingredients if you don’t know what you need. So I’m planning our meals again. If you don’t have a menu plan to print off then you can use THIS 2 week planner page. Right now I’m getting suppers planned and if I can I will plan breakfast too. Lunch is often leftovers or a salad.
3. Cook real meals. This seems simple but I’ve really gotten out of the habit. It’s easy to say let’s have cereal, maccaroni or cook a frozen pizza. My kids love it but I know it is not the healthiest choice we could make. My 14 year old son is learning to cook and I’m pulling him in to help more as I strive to cook every single night unless we have plenty of leftovers. Next week I hope to start putting up photos on Instagram of my meals for accountability. After a few weeks of getting the challenge started I find need that accountability! It’s good to minimize falling off the THM wagon. Follow me on IG!!! AND better yet join me in my #rebootTHMchallenge Just use the hashtag so I can see what you are up to! Pictures of food here.
4. Make things ahead. Usually snacks(don’t forget about the PB cups!) and THM drinks because I usually need to grab these in a hurry. Making muffins, French toast or pancakes ahead for breakfast makes things MUCH easier in the morning and my husband who leaves before I get up can grab breakfast for the road.
We are in the second week of 2017 I’m finally finding my feet in the kitchen after several years of feeling lost and out of control. It is a VERY good feeling. I know there will be set backs but this reboot is moving in the right direction.
Have you lost your way too? I’d love for you to join me in this journey to healthy eating! Leave a comment below or hop over to the Day to Day Facebook page and to comment or message me about the challenges you are facing as a mom with eating healthy!
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