Mdc21's Journal, 21 June 2018

Yes you can!! I can relate to everything you wrote. 

When I started tracking my food, I was horrified. My portion sizes, the empty calories... no wonder I felt like crap. Tracking helps make you aware of what needs to change. It was very tempting to force myself to stop eating my favorite foods all at once and just eat salad, but past experience has taught me that changing too much too soon is a sure fire way for me to fail. I just started swapping one thing at a time. When I got into the new habit of drinking water with a slice of lemon or orange instead of sweet tea, I swapped out the chips with almonds (more calories, but nutrient dense). Then, instead of candy or a cookie, I'd have a piece of fruit. The key for me was to make the changes slowly because I'm naturally resistant to change even when I know a change has to be made. I've been tracking for a year now (on a different site), and it's amazing the difference in my food choices between then and now.  

This is a great place to here from other people and their journey. First step is always the hardest.  

Train the brain! On this go-round of the weight loss merry-go-round I have singled out sugar (I previously knocked out salt, but it's creeping back in again). I suffer from inflammation and sugar kills me. However, I was eating so much stuff with it that also bothered me (wheat and dairy) that I couldn't figure out what the culprit was. Logging each bite of food really helps! If I start to feel like crap I can look at my diary and go, "Oh, well, I ate a third of a baguette and I haven't had bread in two weeks. Bingo." It affects me that much! I had no idea because I was anesthetized with bad food choices. I want to be clear that a lot of what I was eating wasn't "bad" food, but it didn't work for my body in the amounts I was eating or sometimes just at all. Our bodies change and I didn't catch on to that. Keeping the journal has helped show me where I was erring. That little pie graph at the bottom of the food diary is super helpful to me. Seeing "carbs" skew to 60% and looking over where those carbs came from helped me add more protein. I truly thought I was a good balanced eater, but I was really blind. 

So true, SoCalPam! With osteoarthritis, I have learned that inflammation is my enemy. So, like you I have systematically removed, sugar, wheat, and milk. No one told me to do this but it’s my choice to try and remove as many food irritants as possible. My Doctor chooses to suggest anti-inflammatory rx but I choose to treat the inflammation via diet. Sure, I break the rules now and then (hence the pretzels last night-wheat) but over time I have seen a slow improvement in my blood work. And more importantly, I feel physically better. I can’t reverse the damage that has been done over my lifetime, but I sure as heck try to stop the progression. So, one foot in front of the other, I plod along. 🤗❤️🙏