I fell off the wagon and it hurt!

Well it’s almost 6 months since I had my fall and I had been doing very well with my recovery.

During my couch healing time I learned about juicing, started juicing many different kinds and enjoying most of them.  I am sure this helped my healing come along plus the minimum 1 hour of physio for each day.

Overall I was eating well, and the main pain I had in my body was my knee as it healed.

Then August hit and we had 2 big shows, with the 4 days in-between shows “off”.  Really it was time spend unpacking, then repacking up new displays for the medieval show. We were busy and this was a real test for my knee, as it involved 7 days of standing all day.

During this time, we let good eating and exercise habits go to the wayside and started to slide, and what a slippery slope we hit.  WE FELL OFF THE WAGON!

Right back to old habits, including a few Egg McMuffins & hash browns from McDonald’s for the occasional breakfast, and a few helping of homemade eggs benny… when normally we are having a fresh smoothie for breakfast and no fat until noon.

Oh did I mention we had a certificate for the Keg?  Crème brulee is a must if you are going to do it, do it good!  Then the nights having nachos… and my MOST FAVOURITE of them all, Hagen Dazs ice-cream, OMG, that is heaven on a spoon.

Did not affect me too much while we had our 10 days of shows, but the pattern continued afterward, about a week now, and let me tell you how I feel.

My lower back is so stiff I can hardly bend over!  I felt like I aged 20 years almost overnight.  I truly felt as if I had fallen of an actual wagon, even my tailbone hurt!

My knee is aching like it has not ached before. 

My moods have changed, I found that I was very irritable and could snap at any given moment.

My brain is playing old tapes of injustice etc. that I know is just a waste of time thinking about, but yet my brain is just recycling the old crap.

Brain fog.

I feel fat.

I feel ugly.

I had no motivation and lacked energy.en do food preparation.

I want to nap in the afternoon and go to bed early. 

So now what? 

 I have a choice, I can continue on this unhealthy path that is affecting me physically, emotionally, mentally and eating up my motivation, and for what?  Food that is like poison in my body.  A few moments of pleasure with long suffering consequences.

OR

I can take action to change it. 

I choose action, with Darren at my side, as in 2 days we are starting our liver cleanse, a 9 day strict cleanse with healthy fruits and veggies.  It’s from Anthony William, the Medical Medium.

We have done this cleanse 4 times now, with about 3-4 months in between, and notice the pain and all the things I mentioned above, just go away.  This then motivates us to get back on track after the 9 days, as we don’t want to go back to that feeling again, pre-cleanse, and we certainly don't want to feel like we have fallen off the wagon again and get hurt.

Falling off the healthy path wagon was that reminder of why we typically eat a healthy diet, it’s about so much more than “how you look”, it truly is about “how you feel” that is the motivation now.  Of course looking better is an added benefit and can also be just as motivating.

I remember a saying from years ago when I went to Weight Watches and it goes like this:  

So true, and feeling “thin” or at least "thinner" feels way better without the excess weight that leads to aches and pains as we age, which is way beyond appearance reasons, although that's a nice benefit as well.

Of course everyone is on their own eating path and gets to research and find what is good and nutritious for them. If you have not eaten well in some time, I will suggest it might be worth giving a try as you may be surprised that one day you just don’t notice the pain anymore, it's just gone.

As I age, no pain means feeling good and enables me to do the things I want to do in a day.  I also know that exercise is key in staying flexible and feeling good. 

So where does one begin? 

Baby steps. 

First learn about what good eating or exercise habits you can bring into your life, and most importantly learn why that is good for you. I find that when we know why something is good or not good for us, it helps keep us on track because we understand what is happening inside our bodies.

It’s much easier to eat healthy and exercise when you have the knowledge, and secondly the awareness to start to notice the subtle changes, as they are subtle and may take time, so be patient.  This is why knowledge helps as it gives us the hope we need to stick to it, until such time as we notice some results.  That in itself is motivating.

Be gentle with yourself, and be patient. It took a while to get where you are, it will take a while to get to where you want to be.

Get a support network.  I think that is why Weight Watchers have been around for years, as people need to plug into that support team where others are going through what they are. It could be a family member or a friend, someone who has your best interests in mind to remind you and be supportive along the way.   If you can have someone join you, even better!