Baby Steps on the Road to Healthy Living -- FAT TUESDAY, Part 3

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about being lost in the wilderness when it comes to food. In part two of the FAT TUESDAY series, I blogged about having a plan, or the lack thereof. The wilderness seems to be the default place for me to be, so I haven't gotten to anything like the bottom of the emotional issue yet, but the resources are right here, inside me, and I am pressing forward.

Each day is a new canvas, waiting for me to paint. Most pictures start off going great guns, with a planned breakfast smoothie chock full of organic fruits and veggies, pure protein powder, and a healthy shake powder mix. I love the process of putting all the layers into the blender and then watching them whir into the purple/green mixture. There are no downsides to my morning smoothie. So I'm usually good until noon every day.

After writing for 20 minutes off-line this morning, the next steps have become evident to me. The first step is to eat the perimeter of the grocery store. At my store, that includes the fruits/vegetables, health food section, meats, and dairy. It also includes the bread section, which isn't typically part of what "they" mean when they say to eat the perimeter. I believe I will leave that in for now, as I tend to sproing back in reaction overmuch when my body senses denial/deprivation.

My second baby step is to keep a record of everything I eat. I won't list it all here, but anyone who wants to know anything is welcome to ask. There might even be someone who would like to be a type of accountability buddy for me, but the baby step right now is just to write it all down.

Are baby steps adequate? I've crashed and burned way too many times when making things too austere. We shall see. Thanks for witnessing my journey.

What baby step might you take today to further your goals? What can I do to support you in that?

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A Problem; A Potential Solution -- FAT TUESDAY series, Part 2

Last Tuesday, I posted about my past and present relationship with food. Today is part 2 of the FAT TUESDAY series, which is focusing on my present and future relationship with food.

There have been baby steps this week, as well as some examples of grace, generosity, and gratitude.

One of my biggest realizations came this morning as I flew from activity to activity. This is what I do with food.

I don't schedule my eating, or really do much planning. LaRosa's has made thousands of dollars from me because of my lack of meal planning. I eat when it's handy. I eat when I think of it. I eat when something sounds good. And I eat when I'm hungry. And then I get to a point where I think if I eat another thing, I'm going to explode in front-loop-colored pieces of anguish. That's when I draw a line in the sand, go on a diet, lose some weight, absolutely commit to regular exercise.

That's what I do with my schedule, too. I see so many things that look good. Volunteering, clubs, social events, meetings, lunches. And I say yes and I say yes and I say yes and I say yes. Eventually, my schedule, like my body, gets absolutely stuffed with activities and that's when I get to a point where I think if I schedule another thing, I'm going to explode in pencil-mark-covered DayTimer page pieces. That's when I tend to withdraw from multiple activities and go back to something manageable that includes rest and space.

All the activity yesterday and today has been necessary, or important, or fun, or timely. So, it's not like I'm at a casino spending 20 hours on a slot machine, or binge-watching True Detective.

Without a plan, both my schedule and my eating repeatedly get completely out of control.

Too many shiny distractions keep me overstuffed and overcommitted. Time to get friendly with a plan.

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