Recently, I’ve been going through a lot of major life changes (hence why it’s been a month since my last post). I left my job in mid-July with nothing on the horizon. Fast forward a month later, I have accepted two new super part-time positions that while less stressful, take up three of my evenings. I started making a monthly meal calendar earlier this year, and while I’ve slacked the last couple months, I know now it’s more important than ever. For those of you who don’t know, while I feed my own family, I also help feed my mom and 92-year-old grandmother every day. I know if we don’t have a sit-down meal with my grandma, chances are low she will eat dinner.
In order to shake things up to get through my both physical and mental plateau, I have gone back to my old faithful method for losing weight….low carbing. It’s not something I can live with long term, but I do well with the strict parameters and rules. Unlike counting calories and other methods, it requires a strict adherence with very little wiggle room. I know what foods I can have, and I know which foods…even just a bite…could throw my system off completely.
I will say having not done low carb in about a decade, it has gotten much easier with keto being the big craze right now. From cheese crisps to keto cookies, it’s so much easier than back in the day when pork rinds were my only way to get something crunchy and sugar-free jello for sweetness. The web is covered with low-carb recipes, which I went to last night to help form my menu for the next month.
With any eating lifestyle, planning is absolutely essential to success. The old mantra “failing to plan is planning to fail” holds totally true to this. I have no statistics for this, but I’d venture to say the reason most people are unsuccessful with following an eating program is lack of variety. When you need a snack or it’s time for dinner, if you haven’t thought through some creative ideas, you’ll fall back on what is quick and easy. For me, that’s generally lunch meat and cheese. It’s far from glamorous, and if I eat it too much, I will tire out quickly. With so many options now, eating healthy truly has never been easier. (Take this from someone who has been dieting off and on since age 9.)
The scale has started moving again, albeit slowly, and I am optimistic for success, as I have a solid plan for this month, along with plenty of high protein snacks to get through the day and through the cravings. Tonight, I turned down some amazing looking cookies and a bajillion options for chips, both of which are vices for me. There will always be more cookies, always be more chips, and just because I’m denying myself now doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy them at another time. After all, I will always be a work in progress.
A Work in Progress 