Passion and the Hump

Passion and energy are a couple of buzz words that have been missing from my life lately.  I realized today as I was cleaning out the pantry, doing laundry, prepping kale for tomorrow's salad and all this after my morning walk and a trip to the grocery store, that I have boundless energy today.   Did someone slip some kind of upper in my morning omelet?  Where is all this energy coming from?

Its really no mystery.  I have been on a very low carb, low calorie quest this week.  I am no longer eating or drinking anything that has a quick turn around in carb fuel.  I have been eating a lot of green leafy vegetables like kale. I found out kale makes a great salad if you cut it in small strips (chiffonade) and massage it with a tablespoon or two of olive oil for about three minutes.  After that you can add just about anything to it to make it amazing. Lean meats and other veggies with lots of nutrients but low sugar have also been my staples for the week.  I feel so much better!  Its like the room was down to one tiny light bulb, all the others having burned out, and suddenly someone replaced about a dozen light bulbs and...BAM, I am no longer in the dark and even that's an understatement. 

When I first picked back up the mantle to get healthy I was eating pretty well but I was still having some pasta here, some potatoes there, a glass of wine here and a beer there. Little by little as time has gone by I have blogged less and eaten more... junk.  This week I have been a real stickler and resisted grains, sweets, potatoes and alcohol and I hardly ever eat processed food.  (How are you going to get any nutrients out of something that can sit on a shelf for a year or two and not go bad?  Yuck!)  I have become a processed food snob in a way.  I even turn my nose up at canned soups. Its too easy to make a good nutritious soup, I just can't eat canned soup. I'm not saying I never have any or won't in the future but processed foods are way down the list of food choices.

I just wanted to write about this today because the first few days were tough.  I was cranky and hungry and irritable.  My body was definitely shocked by the change but so was my mental state.  I read something on facebook the other day and it really hit home.  I don't have the exact words but it was something like this,

Food is the number one abused substance for treating depression.  Exercise is the number one remedy to cure depression.

I know this doesn't speak to clinical, deep depression and I know there are people out there who have problems beyond what food and exercise can help.  However, I also know from personal experience, both the rotten, awful feeling of being depressed and the wonderful, light, explosiveness of eating well for a period of time and exercising.  You just have to get "Over the Hump". A week into my healthy eating and drinking of water I am not all that hungry.  I feel satisfied.  Maybe because my blood sugar is more stable and my body has been given all the vitamins and nutrients it needs.  My mood is so good and I feel so good.  I have lost about 5 or 6 pounds already.  I know this really helps me feel hopeful and optimistic.

And the biggest payoff is I feel my passion coming back. When I sit around feeling awful I sometimes think, where is the passion I used to have for life?  Where is my get up and go attitude I used to have.  Well I think it may just be trapped in all these layers of fat. 

Bringing me to another thing I heard this week that really inspired me,

"You can never out exercise a bad diet". 

Oh the painful truth.  No matter how many miles you log, you cannot outrun a box of jelly doughnuts.  I heard that!  I can make all the excuses in the book and even believe them myself but the scale tells no lies. Moderation in eating is key.  But I don't even want one doughnut.  I don't even want to smell it.  I would rather just eat my salad and enjoy it and never think about the things I know aren't healthy.  Its a relief.  Its the monkey off my back.  I don't feel like I am depriving myself, I feel like I am loving myself.  Feeding my body loving food that makes my body feel young, energized and passionate. Again, I just have to get over the hump.  With hope and health and hope for even better health, I am battling against the things that have robbed me of my passion.

I love it.

When temptation strikes and  I feel I may cave in I keep reminding myself it takes about six weeks to form new habits.  I just got to keep trying and working toward conquering each hurdle as it comes and focusing on the prize.  Both the daily "humps" and the long term "humps" are going to come flying into focus.  I must stay the course and keep a courageous heart.

Getting me back, the real me, the passionate, energetic gal that enjoyed life is worth tackling the "hump"!   I know not to rest on the overcoming of past humps because everyday has its own new set of humps I haven't even thought of yet.  But what's a little hump when I have a life to live???  Nothing.  That's what the passionate girl says!  I love that girl, I hope I can talk her into staying.

That's All ~ Thanks Y'all!!