For weeks now I’ve wanted to boast about how great I have been feeling. I guess I should have got the message out before I sprained my ankle. But really it was a blessing in disguise. Don’t get me wrong.  I have cried in self-pity and I’ve been angered by the ill-timed injury.  Why now, when my training was off to a good start for a postive new running season. I’ve laid in bed feeling sorry for myself and have been mad that the laundry has been piling up.  Also feeling guilt ridden because I still want to feed my family but standing in the kitchen is awkward and takes so long. No wife/mother has time for slowing down caused by a sore foot and definitely no time for crutches.
Now getting back to the part about feeling great before the unfortunate running incident (on vacation no less).

Hi I’m Bev and I’m a sugaraholic.  I was that person that was dependent on sugary coffee to start my day and jump-start my afternoon to get through every day of the week. I didn’t love coffee so much as I loved my Italian Sweet Cream and Stevia in the coffee. It’s a simple two cups of coffee so what’s the big deal?  I would tell myself that because I felt like I was being good in other areas of my life.   I run to keep slim and keep my addiction at bay. It has worked for many years but if I walk by candy I will buy it and keep a stash for the emotional crash I get around 2 pm. It was getting more frequent this past winter and I was in an emotional slump. Now I’m in my mid 40s, and realized that even though we are told the scale should not dictate how we view our bodies, it definitely bothered me.  That ugly number on the scale grabbed my attention when I was at an all time high since I gained 50 lbs when I was pregnant with Blaire. Back when we brought Zoe home from Ethiopia I was shortly thereafter  bedridden from locked up joints. I like to attribute that to a form of depression since the doctor didn’t have a medical explanation.  I read a book called It’s All About Food and basically the Whole 30 life was introduced to me. Scott joined me and the 30 days turned into 90 days.  We headed into the winter months and the holidays and found ourselves back to our bad eating habits. Our meals were good but snacking and overeating even the good stuff was hurting me. Scott had suggested a detox program at the gym but the packet was expensive and quite frankly I wasn’t ready. I stayed on track with a great exercise program and was doing awesome but still the pesky pounds were dragging me down – literally.
So I began a three-week detox program on April 11. It consisted of taking protein powder and fiber powder once a day and no caffeine or sugar. No gluten, meat was lean and organic and lots and lots of veggies and I was good to go. I decided to eliminate coffee altogether! A migraine hit the first day and I just had minor headaches the first week. I did it and felt very empowered. I believe I got through the three weeks successfully because;
1. My family was joining me in this endeavor.
2. I prayed a lot
3. The results that I was seeing and feeling very quickly was powering me to keep going.
I texted Scott after a couple of days in and said,’don’t let me go back to eating sugar with no control again’. Well I actually said don’t let me eat sugar EVER again but I knew I had to retrain my mind with good sugar and fueling my body rather than giving into cravings and bad habits. Now it’s a lifestyle and since I can’t exercise with a sprained ankle (going on three weeks) I know with more education and prayer and help from my family I can learn to be healthy and truly not care about the number on the scale but how I feel in clothes and in general. My whole life people have thought it’s easy for me to keep off the weight. I guess it was more like I really enjoyed keeping fit so I kept active. When I turned 30 I cried. I felt old and had two little kids. By the time I turned 40 I was happy with my accomplishments and life was good.   Turning 46 in 18 days is not going to rock my world. I’m closer to 50 than 40 and I want to embrace it. I still love food but I won’t let it control me and tea is a great alternative for my coffee addiction. I teach kids in a church program and last month’s word was perseverance and this month it was contentment. I want to practice what I preach.