Living any eating style can be a challenge.  An exhausting.. time consuming… sometimes demoralizing… challenge.  Living with any allergy or sensitivity or eating requirement turns a simple thing as ” grabbing something on the way home” to an almost impossible task.

Last year at this time I went Sugar Free.  Yes.  OOBER low GI eating.  It worked. I felt healthier than ever, my energy was back, and I managed to shed 45 pounds.  A year later I have been quite proud of myself over my success and the fact that, until a month ago, I had only gained 2 pounds back.  Yes there were periods where the low GI was LESSSS than ideal and I would tell myself to climb back onto the wagon again but overall I did well.

Then the last month hit.  Like childbirth, the memory of how bad things can be fades!  In a matter of a few weeks ( and many bags of the lovely Ms. Vicky’s potato chips later ) I am up 5 MORE pounds.  Now that doesn’t seem like a lot but what is hitting me the hardest is the flaring of Fibro, the fatigue, and the down right depression that is settling in with every nommed on sugary goodness.

Dieting Doesn’t Work!

Amen to that.  An entire society based on the cycles of boom and bust over fad diets, misapplied information, and every changing standards for Healthy Living.  Countless meal plans, diet plans, food pyramids and eating regiments are wrapped around interpretations and marketing studies of researchers and doctors.  Each version of the story a spin off in another direction that, we all know, will change soon enough as another research grant is given out.

Am I against research and guidelines?  Hell no!  But they aren’t the whole picture and I am against the blatant creation of fads and celebrity endorsements.

Shut Up and Just Listen!

The one area that is not overly encouraged is Listening to YOUR Body.  If we close our eyes and turn off the world for a moment, we can hear what our body is telling us in volumes. It may be telling us that aspartame makes our nerves over active, it may be saying that the third cup of coffee makes our cheeks burn, it may be saying that we have sat at our desk too long.  More than likely it is telling us that we haven’t seen enough ( or any ) veggies lately and that sleep is not an option.

So 6 pounds up and a good 20 pounds from where I want to be it is time to get back on the wagon of LISTENING and RESPECTING ME!  Not the ME that likes Diet Coke and Potatoe Chips and Turkish Delight by the pound!   No the me that knows that moderation includes the sweetness of red peppers and more time with my xbox360 Kinect!

It’s time.

     I want it!  

          I can do this.

It’s for me.