Well, Advent has come and gone - Christmas season is nearly done. I am very sad that I will soon have to take down my Christmas tree and box up the outdoor nativity scene. I did finally display it outside - as it was intended - as I have been very apprehensive about putting it out on our front deck. We have a Ring now - so that helped with my decision - but also I decided that it is a beautiful way to show what we believe is the reason for Christmas - Christ. Unfortunately, no one asked why the baby Jesus was not in resident in the manger until Christmas Day - I love to explain that to non-Catholics! I love the Catholic faith including all of the traditions that have been passed down through the centuries and everything that I've learned this past year.
I have stopped making new year's resolutions as such - they are pretty pointless and rarely ever amount to anything significant. My husband and I have begun a journey to healthier living/eating but it didn't begin in January but in October. Yes, we struggled through the holiday parties (didn't attend some just to keep away from the temptations) and attended those that we simply could not pass up. We also hosted Christmas Day dinner with the family and survived! Our secret you ask? To make a plan. Think about it prior to the event and figure out what you are going to eat or not eat. Our plan usually included eating on plan all day - eating what we liked at the party - and then returning to our regular eating habits the very next day. The biggest thing to remember is to not beat yourself up over what you ate - just start fresh after and don't look back. And besides a few bouts of minor stomach distress, I can say we came through it carrying less weight than we had coming into it.
The thing that I find absolutely amazing is that I have tried many times to loss weight and lately nothing has worked (not even initially). So I was pretty depressed and not physically feeling very good at all - this was my very heaviest weight ever. This protocol/plan works (I am not going to name names here but if you are interested, just ask me) - but it is expensive. For the first phase, you eat a lot of veggies, lean meat, and their packaged food. Decent food - we have transitioned into eating lots more veggies - which I am sure has really helped. But we have stopped consuming dairy, bread, some veggies, and all fruit (these will be reintroduced at a later date). I, thankfully, get a discount on this protocol which makes it at least a reasonable weekly amount. It just makes me sad that getting healthy and eating healthy (not just on this program but in general) is more expensive than eating fast food, junk food - basically sugar and carbs. There is something wrong with this scenario.
I was raised in the era where breakfast cereals were GRRRRREAT! and white bread was the best thing since.....well, white bread. My mother worked her entire adult life and raised my brother and I alone for a few years. It was easy and convenient to use packaged foods - and while she could cook liver and onions for my brother (he loved it - I hated it), she was no Julia Childs. We were raised on sugar and carbs. It is no wonder that our bodies end up craving these so much!
So that's what I am doing - not just for the new year but for the rest of my life. I am eating healthier, losing the excess weight (and I am feeling so much better). Soon I will be able to start more strenuous exercise - I am actually looking forward to that! Right now my caloric intake is not enough to do much more than a bit of walking. Some people are blessed with an amazing metabolism - some not so much. But each person can treat their body like a temple and do the best you can for it and to it.
May God bless you and your family this beautiful time of year - and Happy 2020!
