Week 3 Perseverance is Key

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There are so many things in life that require faithfulness and diligence. We feed, clothe, and love our children, work hard at our careers, and maintain our dwellings and vehicles; we do these things all of the time. We do these faithfully, not just because we should, but also because there is reward. We get to see our children healthy and thriving, our reputations as employees or business owners is good, and we have well kept places/vehicles to live and drive in.

Perseverance has been at the forefront of my mind during Week 3. I’ve had cravings, felt extremely fat, been in situations that triggered my desire to binge, and overall just wanted my progress to speed up. I often reminded myself that I’m in this for the long haul; it’s not a sprint.

Good things are often hard to do. I’ve given birth 10 times and it was hard, but my children are such a reward. Building our business was hard, but seeing happy clients and knowing that we’re helping them and providing for family is so satisfying. It’s okay that this lifestyle change is hard. This is a good thing. I’m healing my body, gaining energy and strength, and doing what I should have done a long time ago – being faithful to the care nurture of my body.

One day I will be stronger, my prediabetes will be gone, and my liver will be healthy. It’s a one day at a time process. I will be the success stories that I read about.

So here is to a week of faithfulness; a week of persevering in the face of all of my challenges!

The Good: Skinny ankles are a wonderful thing. I’ve never had beautiful legs, but since going off carbs, my normally swollen tree trunks have shrunken down to twigs (well, at least comparatively😕). These days I am guilty of gazing admiringly at my skinny ankles (oh, the things I get excited about🥳).

I’ve also gotten in quite a bit of intermittent fasting. It’s definitely getting easier and I know that my liver is loving me for it. Fasting is fabulous if you have a fatty liver. It gives your body a chance to use that fat in your liver, make you more insulin sensitive (yay, for reversing prediabetes/diabetes), and in turn helps balance your hormones. Obesity is a hormone problem. Obesity is caused by an imbalance of insulin and glucagon. I encourage you to do some investigating on this subject. There are several articles online and it’s also discussed in The Case for Keto by Gary Taubes.

The Bad: Sometimes despite your best efforts you’re forced to break the low-carb rules. This week I had my first colonoscopy. Ah, the stories I’ve been told. It’s enough to make one hide in horror (it really wasn’t all that bad).

The bathroom and I got to be great friends and I got caught up on NCIS. (Too many details?🙄) I got in a great forced 39 hour fast and overall I wasn’t upset about the situation. Except for one thing – the disgusting bowl prep drink. I was forced to drink an excessively sweet drink that almost made me puke and gave me a splitting headache. It was sweetened with sucralose, so technically it shouldn’t kick me out of ketosis, but after that headache I know my body didn’t appreciate it. What a way to ruin a 39 hour fast, right?!

When I got my report, the after procedure comments made me burst out laughing. Number 5 listed, in an oh, so dignifying way: Because air was put into your colon during the procedure, expelling large amounts of air from your rectum is normal🤭. This mom of 5 boys had such a case of the giggles.

Tuesday I ended a 20 hour fast and was just going to have a 4 hour eating window before starting my fast for the colonoscopy. I decided to eat an extra helping at dinner and finished it off with an amazing Keto Chocolate Ganache (Confession – I licked the bowl, it was so good😋). Everything tasted so good, but let me tell you, I shouldn’t have taken that extra helping. Once the food finally settled I felt overfull for the first time in 3 weeks. It. Was. Awful. I can’t believe I felt that way for years and just kept doing it.

The Ugly: When life hits you like a ton of bricks it’s easy to want to give up. I would be lying if I said that I handled the last year well. March 16, 2020 everything fell apart when we were put in lockdown because of Covid. This week was the 1 year anniversary and, boy, has it been a week. Lots of good things happened, but my mental battle was more like a steamroller laying me out flat. I ranted several times about being fat and never being thin. How I was tired of looking old and ugly; I want to look young and fit. How my health problems were defeating me. I want to walk and dance and flippin clean my house without being in pain. (Thank God for an understanding and encouraging husband!) How the laundry just never ends (why do children come with so many clothes?!)
So I read some success stories, I reminded myself that the scripture says to press on and run the race well. I tried to find joy in the fact that my belly is deflating slowly and that it’s going to take time; that in two weeks my exercises will be easier. I feel so much lighter. When I was eating the Standard American Diet I felt so weighted down.

Life doesn’t stop. It doesn’t give you a break to just focus on your health. I know that this will take time, but sometimes it feels hopeless. So I laid in bed and prayed for strength to continue on in this journey.

The cravings come when I want to give up. Darn it, just give me a bag of chips and a delicious sandwich. Let me eat my daughter’s birthday cake. Let me lose myself in the “forbidden fruit” of carbs. But my desire to live life well forces me to keep going. To do the hard things – have self-control, heal myself so I can love and care for my family better, so I can live life without feeling sick and weighted down.

I know that I’m not the only one out there who struggles daily. The Bible says to renew our minds. It’s so important to renew our minds with the truth in every area of our lives. This has been a week of preaching to myself. Hold on to the truth – Persevere!!

Food Review: I tried some new products this week. It’s always exciting to try a yummy looking treat that’s also low-carb. The Zevia was a bit too sweet for me, but I’m totally open to trying a different flavor. The Two Good yogurt was pretty good, still a bit too sweet, but overall I would try it again. Lily’s Milk Chocolate Baking Chips have changed my life! They taste so much like “real chocolate chip” and I’m looking forward to experimenting with them. They could also be really dangerous for me, since I am trying to change my taste, so I’ll have to use that darned self-control again. Creo Chocolate isn’t something new for me, but it’s a favorite treat of mine. My dear friends started Creo Chocolate several years ago in Portland, Or (https://creochocolate.com/). Though they have amazing chocolate with sugar, they came out with a bar that is Keto friendly and fulfills my chocolate needs. Their 100% bar meets all Keto criteria and is amazing while sipping a bit of heavy cream. Keto desserts can be varied and fun!