My First Week of New Habits

So my first week of changing up my habits has now come and gone and I would like to give a little snippet of what I encountered.

First of all I am involved in a group chat with a bunch of awesome people who provide motivation to each other. This is not only a motivational platform but also a place of comfort and caring for one another. We have shared everything from delicious and healthy meals to crazy workouts. There have also been times of panic and grief. Yes... all this in only a week. This has made me realize that if I truly want to go down this path, I cannot do it alone and that is okay. Surrounding yourself with others who will motivate you and share their own journey with you is a great tool for success.

The next big success in the week can be attributed to the fact that Nate and I came up with a meal plan and stuck with it. I used to make excuses about how much time it would take to meal plan or even prep my lunch. Well, no more excuses. Yes... it took a while to come up with a plan we were both satisfied with, but we are not going to succeed together if we are not truly in this together. So yes, we will take the time to find a menu that we are both excited to consume.

Did I want to eat other things in between what we had planned? Yes. Did I want to eat all the "bad" things that would send me out of ketosis? Yes. Did I give in this time? Well I would be lying if I said no. On Tuesday we were back in school with our students which meant all the temptations were back such as breakfast, access to the not low-carb snacks I provide for my classroom, and the added temptation of Krispy Kremes in the office. I managed to resist all of those all the way until the end of the day at 4:00 pm. But then I started thinking about how I still had to be there two more hours for tutoring. Two more hours until I could go home to my planned dinner. Two more hours added on to the already tiring day I had. I was not happy that day about those two more hours. So what did I do? I ate 3 (three!!) fun-size packets of Skittles. Boom! Already making the excuses. But here is why I am choosing to admit it to myself and everyone. I don't want to start making all of those excuses again such as, "oh well it is only one... and then one more. I'm tired and stressed. I deserve this, I made it through the first day back!" NO! The second I consumed them I had instant regret. The small moment of happiness I got from the sweet delicious treat was immediately followed by a hate in myself for doing that. The difference this time is that I actually logged it into my food diary. Where as before I would make the other excuse, "well since it was only one I won't log it into my food diary." That is where my mistakes were made in the past. Do you know how many "oops" foods I didn't log last year? Enough to help me gain back all the weight I had lost the first time and then some. The second I start down the path of eating food that is not on the plan and start making excuses and trying to hide my mistakes is the second I lose control. This time I am in control and I am going to recognize my excuses and not use them as a means to eat poorly.

This leads me to the third advantage of the week. Logging my meals. This is tedious and yes I forget a lot, but my back up plan of taking pictures of my meal really helped me out in remembering what to log. The first time I was successful with keto, I logged faithfully. The second, third, and fourth time I failed keto, I did not log. Logging meals and snacks is a tool for accountability. If I follow my meal plan and log what I eat, I'm holding myself accountable for what goes in my body.

Finally (and probably the most annoying thing as a teacher), I can attribute much of my success to water. I have made a commitment to drink an entire gallon of water daily. This is easily achieved as I am now starting the day with a gallon container which does not need to be refilled. Shout out and thanks to my friend Rose Downing for showing me what to get and where to get it! This bottle is so much more sleek and stylish than carrying around a milk jug! I will post a link to one at the end for those interested. My downfall last semester was the fact that I am so busy during the day that I forget or do not have time to refill my smaller water bottles enough times to equate to a gallon of water. To anyone out there with a gallon a day goal, I recommend getting something that you only have to keep track of filling once a day. It has really helped me. Now, do I have to pee a lot? Yes. But I just remember that it is good and healthy if I am going to be getting rid of all my toxins in my body. My skin has looked and felt more rejuvenated, and I have stayed away from Diet Dr. Pepper and sugar free Red Bull, which I was basically drinking two a day before break. Sure, water rusts pipes (that one is for you Uncle Mark), but it is way better than what I was surviving on before.

As I close today's blog I would like to note that I have lost 7 pounds this week! I know that such a sudden "whoosh" of water weight is normal for those beginning a keto diet, so I don't expect that to be a typical result going forward but it is nice to see that I am moving in the right direction. I was also able to squeeze into some jeans on Friday which I was not able to do the whole three weeks leading up to Christmas break. I will consider that a win and keep at it for this week!

Mrs. Imparato

p.s. Here's the Amazon link to the gallon water bottle I found: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CYJW9SV