The Gift

Though the following is a re-post from my Weight Watcher's blog, I felt it was words that anyone seeking to better their life by making smarter health conconscoius decision's could understand:

The Gift

I believe that the road to success in this journey goes beyond staying OP! It is about your attitude! Above or below your points is just a guideline, the journey is in self-worth and acceptance of each day as a unique gift. 

Recently, I have been getting down on myself just because I could not refuse that scoop of ice cream, or because I could have gone to bed instead of down to the kitchen. But just the other day as I looked disappointedly at my swollen, distended belly, and noted the extra 4lbs on the scale, it hit me like a ton of bricks. There are other things going on that are out of my control. First of all, I am human and I have wants, needs, cravings, and weaknesses -- and quite frankly, I am allowed because the last time I checked, I was not perfect in any sense of the word. But also, I cannot control everything. I am a female, and I had forgotten that by God's plan, I must ovulate, hence I will crave, I will cramp, and I will fill up with water like a child's balloon on a hot summer's day. And that is something I definitely cannot control. 

So, yes, I do have a goal, but the points are a guideline to adhere to help us understand portions and to help get to our goals. But they are not the measure of overall success. So while I had become a slave to them and was horribly upset if I had broken my "master's" rules, I should have been concentrating on controlling the call of the wild (or how much chocolate I ate) and not beating myself up as if it is the end of the world. Simply being here at WW to concentrate on my health is far more important than not meeting a goal or deadline. Yes, we are on a journey, but no road is flat, they are filled with hills and valleys. So sit back and enjoy the ride, each day is a gift -- Treasure yourself!

Gluten Be Gone!

A couple of posts ago, I complained about my incessant and embarrassing bloating and a dear friend tried to talk me into taking the Gluten Free Challenge by going Gluten free for a week. Now, while I thought it was not  far-fetched concept, this french baguette and olive tapenade loving woman had no desire to give up one of the few passions I still had left in life. But then Spring break happened. I flew and I munched and I blew...up that is. One night my own husband threw his arm around me in the spoon position and awoke thirty minutes later saying that "we" need to get back into the gym, and then nodded back off. I couldn't believe it, he felt it in his sleep! 


So I contacted Dr. Peg and she promptly sent me a "do not touch" list and then volunteered to take me grocery shopping. I don't know if it is because she is an angel, or if misery loves company and she was glad to have a friend suffer with her. At any rate, she was a godsend. She made me realize that there is life after Gluten Free. There are crackers, breads and pastas that are not only allowable, they are supposedly pretty good. That was my biggest fear to say the least. I had visions of me chomping into bread that was hard enough to yank my teeth out. I figured that it would mean I would opt for going bread-less, or maybe even accepting the bloat over the diet. But I bought the bread and bagels and crackers. I began reading my labels. And I prepared to start my challenge.


Well, this was day one of my attempt, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. First of all i started my day with the over-priced little loaf of Gluten Free bread that she claimed was pretty good. And Dr. Peg was right on the money. It was really good -- extremely light and had a crisp crust. By the end of the day i was psyched.  The number one most obvious thing I have noticed at the end of the day is the fact that I have not bloated at all. In fact my weight this morning was 161.2 and I just got off of the scale this evening at 161.8. That in itself is remarkable. I will admit, even though I am not bloated, I am still experiencing a lot of gas. I had one bowl of gluten free Chex in 2% Lactose Free milk and I was still burping with in 15 minutes of finishing it. I will have to keep watching to see what foods elicit this response. That being said, I am ready for day two. Bring it on!