As I write this on Sunday morning, I am feeling somewhat sluggish and slow. My brain isn’t quite functioning at lightning speed and I am tired. None of this is my normal state and is vaguely unfamiliar, like putting on someone else’s clothes. It all feels slightly off.
I wouldn’t be feeling this way if I had made better choices this weekend. It’s the first sunny weekend of the summer and all we’ve been doing is relaxing, having friends over, and having bonfire after bonfire, complete with s’mores, ice cream, Doritos, hot dogs. After three weeks of eating no sugar, no wheat and no dairy, this weekend has been a study in contrasts. And, I’m none the better for it.
Our brains are little machines. They need optimum fuel to function at their best level. I just gave my body low grade fuel and continued to expect it to function optimally. That’s simply not going to happen with the c**p I gave it this weekend. Sure, I rationalized it: “It’s the weekend. I should be having fun. Packing all my healthy food out to the lake is a PIA. It’s just a few days. What can it hurt?” And, as I sit here, lethargic and stupid, it turns out the bad eating hurt in ways I wouldn’t have predicted.
When you are your business, when you depend on you functioning perfectly all the time to make money, to feed your family and to live, even two short days not treating your body right is detrimental.
Wherever you are in your nutrition habits, strive this week to be just a little better – eat one more serving of fruit, turn down that one extra serving of ice cream and most of all, remember how what you put in your body matters. If you want that extra energy to stay up that one extra hour to fill that one extra order, fuel your body with the nutrients and foods it needs to function at its best.
On a fun note, I hung out with my nephew Toby all weekend. In fact, I’m dogsitting him now. He’s the sweetest dog on the planet and even though I’m still feeling sluggish, I’m happy just having him here to laugh at. I also started and finished an incredible book. If you are looking for a new book club book, ‘The Incredible Sadness of Lemon Cake’ (Amazon affiliate link) is incredible. I would highly recommend it.
LOL, A-M! I don’t know whether to be flattered or embarrassed. 😉
That is a perfect quote – I just know when my taste buds are happy, but I forget to listen to the rest of me. – I am totally tweeting that out as a commenter comment. =)
Felt better yesterday – I ate primarily fruits and vegetables all day yesterday and definitely got back on track.
I LOVE the Fat Flush Detox. It was a really powerful two weeks for me when I did it as well. I did a version of that for the last three weeks – ‘Clean’ by Dr. Junger – and it was similar but had more emphasis on vegetables than the Fat Flush and also had zero in the way of supplements. I didn’t lose any weight (wasn’t trying to though) on the ‘Clean’ program and I suspect it’s because it has more calories than the Fat Flush program. All clean, great nutrition calories, but still, more calories.
Made my Kefir + Mango + Flax Seed + Vitamin protein shake this morning. I am totally going to get back on track. It was a good reminder to be vigilant. I don’t want to feel sluggish again because of bad choices I made!
You’re right – for some reason, the heat acts as an appetite suppressant for me as well. Strange? And then, yes, all of a sudden, I’m ravenous!
Toby is growing up. He did a full 3.5 mile mountain hike yesterday (steep uphill, gnarly on the downhill) and only had to be carried a few times. He was a trooper! =) So cute …
I hope you love ‘The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake’. I found it so moving that I could barely put it down all weekend. I finished it in two days.
PS – Lemon water is supposedly a great thing to start your day with!
I feel like we generally eat fairly well with all the fresh veggies from our garden, but I also take in too much flour, fat, and sugar. I need to be as in-tuned to my body as you are to yours. I just know when my taste buds are happy, but I forget to listen to the rest of me. :}
Giving into our taste buds seems like a good idea at the time, but we sure pay for it later! I hope you are back to normal this morning!
Michelle in NV
Hi Ann-Marie! Yes, I too fell off the wagon, hehe. I did the Fat Flush detox 14 day program a few weeks ago (remember me?)…and uh, well i started eating the wheat, and sugar…and of course feeling sluggish almost immediately! And after about a week of this “normal” eating I have developed what feels like a cold/runny nose/allergy reaction. Wow. I have resolved to get rid of the wheat/gluten as much as I can, and refined sugar as well. I was very happy with the 2 fruit servings a day on the Fat Flush, definitely doable *grin*. You sometimes don’t realize how GOOD you feel until you’re feeling lousy, hmm. Thanks for blogging this one, helps me to stay on track.
Try it for just one week. Let’s see how your energy spirals up (or
down). Kicking the sugar habit is difficult. Stock that fresh fruit in
your fridge ….
Really enjoyed reading it! I’m sure you’ll be back on track in no time!
Your post has inspired me to try harder this week to eat healthier. My biggest downfall is sugar and I know it just isn’t good for me. Need more willpower…
Good advise. When the weather heats up, my appetite cools down and I often forget to eat at all (or just don’t want to cook in my hot apartment). When the hunger finally catches up with me (and it does in a big way), this is when I make bad food choices.
Hi, Anne-Marie! I totally know what you’re talking about. During the holidays last year, I spent that two-week stretch just before Christmas through right after New Year’s eating junk, drinking, and generally over-indulging (I did keep up with the exercise, though). At the end of those two weeks, I felt so terrible! I just wanted to drink lemon water and eat tomatoes! It got better after a few days of living right.
And it is so awesome that your book recommendation is “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake”! I just got a Kindle about an hour ago as a gift, and the first book I downloaded was that one! Been wanting to read it, and I’m so glad that it was a good read. (And Toby looks like he’s growing up! He’s super-cute.) 🙂
Way too much fun. It was delicious while it lasted! =)
Thank you for sharing. It’s good to know that you fell off the wagon too. I am with you – stopping by the market to buy a bunch of veggies and fruits and doing a lot of juice/healthy smoothies this week too. We can seize tomorrow, together! =)
You need to do that to yourself every once in a while to remind yourself why you don’t do it very often. 🙂 I hope you had fun though (sounds like it)!
I feel your pain A-M, after one too many pieces of Key Lime Pie and one more run where I just didn’t give it my all…I feel like I need a nap and a do-over. I went to the market yesterday and marched right past the Vegan Chocolate Brownies to the produce department and bought enough veggies and fruits to juice all week. I’m eschewing bread and pasta this week for zucchini and yellow squash. Sometimes it just takes enough overindulgence to disgust yourself onto the right path. Tomorrow is a new day! Seize it!