Taking Control

The last few weeks have been crazy.

I started Weight Watchers a while back.  At first, I was so happy to be eating things that were normally "off limits" for me.  I was free from guilt, and I was feeling great.

Until I wasn't.

I have been "doing" Weight Watchers, but not really.

I have been really paying attention to what I eat, but I haven't been very good about tracking what I eat.  I have made lots of changes to what I eat, and what my family eats, however, I have not been a poster child for Weight Watchers.

Here's the thing.  I love that I can eat whatever I want, as long as I count it.  I love the challenge of fitting in all my points and finding ways to lower points of the food that I eat.  I love that even my kids have been trying new things, and that the food they eat is healthier.

But here's the problem.

I have rheumatoid arthritis.  I have to take a shot every week, and medication every day, just so I can move.  For a while, I have been doing great.  The amount of pain I have has been significantly lower.  I am not in constant pain all the time.  But lately, I have been.  My fingers have become inflamed and hurt, my feet have been constantly hurting and I limp a lot.  My elbows have hurt so bad at times, I could hardly sleep.

Augh.  I hate it.  But I know that what I eat has an impact on my joint pain.  When I was doing Take Shape For Life, I was eating less carbs, less sugar, more protein, more veggies.  I felt good then because of what I was eating.  I know this.  I also know that since I was eating a lot of their meals, I was eating a lot of soy.  When I did eat something off plan, it would mess up my weight loss, but it wouldn't cause me a ton of pain either.

Now, I am doing Weight Watchers (kind of), and eating more carbs.  I am making better choices than I have in the past, but my eating habits have changed again.  Is it a coincidence?  I think not.

Going back on TSFL is just not in the picture right now.   It is expensive, and our budget can not handle it.  Plus, I was questioning the amount of soy in their products and wondering how that was affecting me.  Staying on Weight Watchers is still something I can do, I just need to do it.

So here I am again, at a fork in the road.  What do I do?

I started researching diet/nutrition and how food affects people with RA.  I have heard of elimination diets before (I was on one with TSFL), except my main focus was always on losing weight, not seeing how different foods affects my body.  That's when I found The Whole30.  I have seen it on social media before, and have heard of people doing the program.  Honestly, I didn't pay too much attention to it.  I figured it was something like Atkins or that crazy Paelo diet and just ignored it.  But as I switched over to Weight Watchers, and I was seeing how my RA was flaring up more and more, I decided to learn more about it.

Last Friday, I bought the book.  I read it mostly cover to cover.  There were some very interesting points in the book.  First of all, if you don't know what The Whole 30 is, it is a program that you do for 30 days.  You eliminate dairy, all sugar, all legumes, all grain, all alcohol for the entire 30 days.  No cheating at all.  After 30 days, you can start to re-introduce those things to see if you are sensitive to those items cause inflammation. Since I was first diagnosed with RA, so many people asked me if certain foods cause flare-ups.  I could never tell you yes or no, because I didn't want to give up cheese and grains.  After doing my research, here are some points I noticed:

1.  They give tough love.  One of their sayings is that drinking your coffee black is not hard.  Battling cancer is hard.  Birthing a baby is hard.  Drinking coffee without cream is not hard.  I know that there is a little voice in my head that will whine to me about wanting _________.  Telling me I have worked so hard, I deserve ____________.  They recognize that and basically tell you to tell it to be quiet.

2.  They give a guideline about what to expect from Day 1 to Day 30.  They actually talk about days you will will to punch someone in the face.  Days you will be cranky and tired.  They don't sugar coat it and focus on just the good times.  You have an idea of what to expect beyond the saying: the first three days are the hardest.  Once you get past those, it gets so much better.  Well, they do say that, but they also talk about times a few weeks in where you are most likely to feel good, and bad.  I like that honesty.

3.  One of the rules is to not weigh or measure yourself at all.  You can before you begin and after, but not during.  I am one of those people who will weigh myself a number of times throughout the day, and if it goes down, I want to celebrate.  If it goes up, I want to drown my sorrows with ice cream.  Putting my scale in the garage will be a freeing experience!

4.  Cheese.  Oh cheese.  You will be the most difficult to give up.  I love cheese.  That makes me sad, but I know I will see you again!

5.  Sugar is in everything.  Really.....everything.  Check the labels of the food you get.  If it has a label, it probably has sugar in it.  OK...maybe not everything, but a lot of the things I eat!

There is so much I discovered while doing my research, but my hands are starting to hurt and I am running out of time to write.  I have not begun the plan yet.  Instead I am planning.  I am eating the few things that are not on the program that my family will not eat (some yogurt, wraps, diet soda, etc.)  I have been looking at ways to do meal prep for the week.  When I have done it in the past, I would prep for a few days, but then I would fall apart.

I am really looking forward to doing this.  I know it is going to be hard, but not impossible.  I can do this for 30 days.  I really feel like I am taking control of my life.  I have a plan that will help me learn more about me.  More about my body.  My health.

My birthday is coming up at the end of the month.  I have been telling my family for months that we will be going to P.F. Changs for my birthday dinner.  I think we are going to go sooner, maybe this week, so that I can start sooner.  I am not going to give up my one chance to go there for dinner (my family are not big fans of P.F. Changs, so in order to get them to go, it has to be for a reason.....like my birthday).  Then on my actual birthday, I can know that I did not have to give it up!

So for now, I am planning meals, organizing my pantry and kitchen, and getting my family to go to P.F. Changs.  Once that is done, I will start!  I'll get back with the official start date, but I am thinking it will be Saturday!

Have a great week!