Sunday, September 9, 2012

The Weighting Game

Measuring what's really important.
Image by David Castillo Dominici

I know I've been really quiet over here for quite some time.  I've been a bit overwhelmed with the type of work that pays the bills, and that makes it easy to forget to do the work that's for me, like this blog.

I've been reading my way through more books about living a paleo lifestyle (I'm planning on doing reviews for Practical Paleo and Eat Like a Dinosaur since these are the two books that are making the biggest difference right now).  I've found that I'm slowly beginning to phase out dairy and getting closer to true paleo, which is something I never though that I would do.

Most importantly, we are working on making the full-family switch.  Gavin is on board, but the kids are a bit more resistant.  I'm suspecting that even after we make the full switch, we'll still be dealing with the "wheeling and dealing" nature of the kids.

I've said before that I started eating paleo because I wanted first and foremost to lose the weight.  I'm finding that I'm starting to make a slow switchover on that mindset as well.  My weight has been stubborn.  There's a bit of fluctuation but not the steady downward crawl that I was hoping for.  I'm halfway through the biggest loser competition, and I'm not halfway to the goal I set to myself.

I think that competition and that goal are my biggest enemies right now.  I'm much too focused on the numbers game, and it's the wrong thing to focus on.  Between conversations with my paleo friends on my facebook group and reading blogs like this one and listening to fantastic podcasts like Live, Love, Eat and The Paleo View, I'm finally coming to see the error of my ways.

I might not win the biggest loser competition.  Although it would be cool to win, that $150 or whatever should not be my ultimate goal.  The number on my scale should not be my ultimate goal.

My goal is finally shifting to being as healthy as I can possibly be.  As many of my new heroes have noted, I didn't put that weight on overnight, and it's simply not going to come off that way.  It will work its way down eventually, but in the meantime, I can focus on eating the right kinds of foods and taking care of my family as best I know how.

I can now see a distinct difference when I eat something that I really shouldn't.  A few nights ago, I went out to dinner with friends at a much-loved Mediterranean restaurant.  For the first time in about six weeks, I went right ahead and dug in to the naan, rice, and hummus.  Screw paleo!  I was going to enjoy myself!

By the end of the night, I felt distinctly lightheaded.  By the time I got home, I was subjecting poor Gavin to garlic-scented belches.  The next day, I felt sick to my stomach the entire day, completely bloated, and barely able to eat.  I'll spare you the remaining details of my intestinal distress.

The point is, I learned a valuable lesson about straying from my healthy eating ways.  I made myself miserable, and I made the people around me miserable.  Why should I be miserable?  Don't I deserve better than that?   It wasn't worth it.

As we continue to work on transitioning the kids, I'm looking for fun activities to get them involved and make them more interested in this switch.  It's cool to see them poring over the books, looking for fun recipes to try, and picking out the fresh produce that they want to try this week.  I've found a u-pick apple orchard.  It's a bit of a drive, but I'm thinking we can make a nice day out of it, and we'll come back with plenty of apples so we can try some dehydrated apple recipes. I'm also looking up year-round farms and farmers' markets so we can have some fun experimenting.

I'll try to do a better job of keeping up with the blog.  Doing things for me is important, and it shouldn't be on the back burner.

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