Today IS a Good Day

Things have not been going according to plan this year and yet, strangely, I feel determined and hopeful today. My unfinished business list is still there, just waiting for me to get busy on another item (the glory of having freshly painted walls has faded somewhat, time for a new challenge, one that I actually do myself this time...LOL).

My BIG goal that has taken up most of my concentration, dedication, and time, the thing that is constantly on my mind ---- getting healthy again, by eating great and exercising ---- has been hijacked partially by a very painful undiagnosed knee injury. But let me tell you about the new thing that's helping me with the healthy eating first.

My daughter came up with a very interesting calendar idea for keeping track of my (our) eating habits. You know, almost everyone who is successful in changing bad habits to good, whatever habit you want to change, has little tricks to help them form the new habit....a reward system (done that), journalling (when it comes to food I absolutely HATE having to write down every bite I put in my mouth, and I've tried it for several months, more than once, ick), joining some support group (yes, I've done that and paid good money to have complete strangers harass me AND cheer me on). For me, there is something immensely satisfying about coloring in little squares on a calendar. Don't ask me why, I have no idea, but it's working for me so far.

It's very simple (simple is always a winner with me). Using the healthy eating plan that my daughter is using for herself, basically paleo, we're using a color theme.

Green =  Eat healthy all day with no "cheats"
Yellow = Eat healthy, with just one "cheat" item that day
Red =     Eat mostly healthy, with only two "cheat" items that day
Black =  Three or more "cheat" items in a day

Naturally, we want the month to look mostly green and yellow, with only one or two red days scattered throughout -- NO black days (those are reserved for a major holiday) If we can accomplish two or three green days in a row, we allow ourselves a "cheat meal" where there might be two items at the same meal, and it's still a yellow day. NO cheat DAYS. That would be black! The thing that has helped me so much is seeing day to day how much I was cheating before and thinking that was okay, then wondering why I wasn't seeing it on the scales. I'm thrilled to report that I'm feeling much less puffy, have stopped having frequent heartburn (which helps my sleep!), and I've lost about 4 pounds --- without being able to be active at all!
I don't feel deprived (mostly), and I'm feeling like I'm accomplishing something good for myself.

I've been praying a lot about my attitude, and that the Lord would help me with my strength and determination. I prayed about my knee! I saw a doctor today --- long story short, he gave my knee a cortisone shot which has a good probability of helping to resume normal activity within a week! Yippee skippee!

Yep, feeling pretty good today.