Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Dear Dairy

For the first time in my life I went on vacation....and lost weight.

I have lost a total of 12 pounds so far, and felt awesome while on vacation. I brought lots of food to tide me over, and I exercised at least once, but mostly twice, a day.

Since my husband is now seeing my dedication to this way of eating, he asked me a question that I found easier to answer than it should have been.

He knows the struggle I've gone through to get in control of my eating. He's seen me start diet after diet, only to fail miserably. He's seen me jonesing for anything sugar filled, or deep fried to a point that he was scared for his life.

So, after going for a long bike ride, and following it up with some push ups and leg exercises, he asked me "What would you tell someone who didn't think they could do what you're doing?" My very immediate thought was "Do the part you love the most, first."

If you like exercising, start there. Don't start by trying to run a marathon. Walk the neighborhood, or play tennis. Go to the mall and power walk. Sweat to the oldies, or do Yoga...just move.

If you like reading, start with researching. The more you know about your body and food, the better chance you have of succeeding.

If you like food, or cooking, start there. That's where I started. I absolutely love to cook, and fortunately for me, I love most foods, so trying out new recipes was easiest for me. Once I had a few recipes under my belt that tasted great and were candida diet friendly, I had an arsenal to battle my addictions with. Instead of missing cookies, I ate cranberry macadamia cookies made with ghee and brown rice flour. Instead of missing pizza, I made my own with millet flax crust, rice cheese and a good sauce.

Once the eating started to show results, I began to have more energy, which resulted in my just walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes. Now, I'm up to 40 minutes on the treadmill, with lots of running spurts. I even bike for 30 minutes now, and on a good day I get to do both.

I will next add weight lifting in, and start toning and fine tuning.

There are lots of ways to get motivated to try a new diet or way of eating, but only you know what makes you tick. Don't follow a book or a fad diet, just read, get to know your body, and start somewhere. Starting is winning.

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