Day 33: Hanging In There

I have a confession to make...

I am an eater. I like eating. I like everything about it. I like the smell, the look, the texture and even the color of food. (Well, most of it anyway.)

Being an eater does not make me a bad person. Even the fact that I have been an over-eater does not make me a bad person. AND that is the thing that we have to keep telling ourselves...We are not BAD people. (Okay, some of us are, but that is another story for another time...LOL...Just kidding.)

When I start to think of myself as a BAD person because of my eating habits, there are several things that happen to me.

The first thing that happens to me is that I open that door for the internal critic to begin her dangerous work of degrading me. I am no longer just a BAD person because I am over-eating, I am a BAD person because of a whole plethora of reasons from not calling my mother to taking too long of a shower and wasting water.

The second thing that happens to me is that once I feel BAD enough about what a HORRIBLE person I am, I start to eat everything in sight. I justify it by thinking, "Well, I am just a fat cow anyway, so who cares if I just eat and eat?"

Wrong thinking!

For one, we all have to work on stifling that internal critic. The internal critic would like to make us think that we are HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE, NO GOOD, ROTTEN people, but we ARE NOT!

As you may notice, I have battled with the internal critic for a long time. She doesn't rear her ugly head very often anymore, because I simply do not have the time to listen to her. She mostly comes about when I am bored (which is another reason that I eat and over-eat).

Once you can tell yourself that you are a GOOD person and start believing it, you can shut that internal critic down pretty fast. This takes time, however. I mean, it is kind of like how we became overweight, it didn't come on all at one time, it took some time. Losing that weight will take some time, too.

It is the same way with the internal critic. They didn't start with the "you're a BAD person" right out of the box and it will take some time to shut her down.

As I am reading over this, I keep thinking, "Wow! I bet everyone is going to think I am hearing voices!" With hope, you all understand what I am talking about!

Exercise

I have been riding my exercise bike daily. Today I rode a little over two miles at an average speed of 15 miles per hour. I rode ten minutes at that speed and then as a cool down, I rode for a little over a minute at around 12 miles per hour.

With the wonderful, beautiful weather I am hoping to get my bicycle tuned up and ready to go for a "real" bike ride. It will be nice to be in a little better condition before I actually do that this year. Honestly, last year I did not ride my bicycle one time. I pretty much sat on my butt and did nothing.

Even if you do not have a bicycle or exercise bike, you can still get some really beneficial exercise by walking. Walking is free and it is really good for you! I have been slowly adding to my walking, but the last two days I have not walked much at all because my back hurts. I tried to walk a little the other day and it just seemed to make my back hurt worse. Having had a back surgery a few years ago, I know better than to push myself too far. I do not want to have to go through that again.

Transitions Lifestyle System

Eating healthy is not a natural thing for me. I am not accustomed to eating so many vegetables and low glycemic index foods. The glycemic index was originally designed as a guide for people with diabetes. It was found to be an important nutritional tool that now has many uses.
From the book "Easy to use Glycemic Index Food Guide": By indiciating how quickly a given food triggers a rise in blood sugar, it enables everyone—from diabetics, to individuals who want to lose weight, to people who simply want to remain healthy—to choose the foods that can help them meet their dietary and health goals...Here you'll get a crash course in carbohydrates, which is what the GI is all about..."

I have learned a lot from reading this book and learning about how different carbohydrates break down and what that means to me as a diabetic and what that means to me as a person longing to be free of a whole lot of excess pounds.

If you want to know more about the Transitions Lifestyle System, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at: karin@inhnews.com.

On a final note

Remember to hang in there. Grab a piece of cauliflower and eat it like an apple. Try new things that sound "yucky". I tried peanut butter on celery and it is delightful!

On a different final note

Have a blessed Easter. Think about the wonderous miracle that made this "holiday" special! He has risen! He has risen indeed!