Why I Felt Like a Fraud

Week 1 has been a success with my decision to eat no added sugars, no dairy and no wheat products.  I’m not thinking of this decision as “something else that I can’t have”.  But I’m thinking of this decision as a habit change that will GIVE me more energy, clearer skin and better moods. 

Remembering all of those things that I GAIN makes the choice very simple for me.

I’ve been in a rut and started to feel like I had stalled and even taken a few steps back.  Last weekend when it all hit me, I knew that it was time to buckle down and get serious.  I was honest with myself about how I’ve been feeling.  I knew that my nutrition hasn’t been as clean as it should be.  I knew that I was eating too many treats, crackers and spoons of peanut butter.  I knew that I wasn’t getting enough sleep.  I knew that I wasn’t handling stress from work in the healthiest way.  I knew that I wasn’t taking care of myself like I should be.  

I wasn’t feeling my best.  One reason was because I’ve been letting myself eat too much sugar, dairy and gluten.  And it’s been happening since Christmas.  Eating these foods causes my energy levels to drop, my cravings to skyrocket, my skin look horrible, my mood to change and my complete wellbeing to just feel totally off!

You know when you’ve asked for a sign, then you have the sign blindside you?  That happened to me this week.  And coincidentally this sign came to me a few days after I had been truthful with myself about my own habits.  My sign came to me at work.  The sign was “S I K”.  These 3 letters, in black and white reminded me that it’s time to make some changes and honor my commitment to my health. 

Sugar causes crazy hormone changes, blood sugar swings, mood changes, craving increases, internal inflammation and skin breaks out.  Why was I eating so much sugar?

Dairy causes skin break outs and causes internal inflammation.   Why was I eating so much?
Gluten really bothers my stomach and causes internal inflammation.  Why was I letting myself eat this?

All of these foods, I knew weren’t good for me, caused horrible side effects, unhealthy internal inflammation and just made me feel horrible.  But we all know how much cravings can affect us.  We all know the vicious cycle.  

Then there’s the stress and lack of sleep.  Both cause increases in cortisol, the stress hormone.  This leads to more internal stress in our bodies, more cravings (because of effects on our hunger hormones), more inflammation and more mood changes (because of brain chemical changes).

I had actually started to feel like a fraud.  How can I be a health and fitness Coach and Mentor if I’m not even doing for myself what I know needs to be done?

Then I reminded myself that we’re all human.  We all have to balance our own health with real life.  Sometimes that balance becomes no-to-balanced.

One thing that I know for sure, we can only make changes when we, ourselves only, decide that it’s time to make the change.  Whatever the change needs to be, it’s not going to happen until we’ve completely made up our minds.   

I also know that changing one or two habits at the time is what works best for me.  This gives me time to concentrate and focus on how to create new habits that will help me continue any goal that I’m working on.  

Change one for me, eliminating dairy, wheat, added sugars for 30 days.  This commitment is to remind myself of how good I feel without these foods.  I’m one week into this commitment and I’m already seeing tremendous changes.  My energy is returning to normal, my cravings are resolving, my pants are loose, my skin is clearing, my mood is returning to normal, my abs are returning (yay!) and I’m literally feeling amazing.  Just these simple nutritional changes have made such a difference in just one week.  Seeing progress like this is definitely motivation to continue with this goal!!

NOW, I love, love, love pasta.  And I also love, love, love zucchini noodles in place of pasta.  So that trade-off is a simple way for me to not have a wheat product, but still enjoy some of my favorite foods.  This week, to inspire my efforts of no wheat products, I ordered a new cookbook and a new spiralizer.  The cookbook is full of simple recipes using spiralized vegetables.  I’ll keep you all updated about the new recipes!  I’m trying two from the cookbook this week!

This week’s meal plan will most definitely help me stay on track.  I’ll be eating clean all week because I’m eating out one night with the family and we’re having a family birthday party one night.  Anytime I know I’m going to be eating out or be tempted by treats, I make an extra effort to eat clean the entire week. 

You’ve also seen me posting this week about my newest strength program.  Think it. Believe it. Feel it. Strength Program.  We begin February 27th.  All of the details are in this blog post Click here