Cause and Effect

It amazes me how I continue to learn things about food and about myself!  You grow up learning about protein, carbs, sugars, etc. and what they do to your body, but knowing and understanding are two very different things! 

I've only recently begun to truly understand how carbs, protein, and sugars work on my body.  Before, I would just eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it and never really paid much attention to how my body was feeling.  I didn't stop to consider why I was hungry when I'd only eaten an hour before or why I couldn't sleep when I ate a bowl of ice cream before bed.

When you start paying more attention to what you put into your body and when you put it there, you really start to understand the feelings that your body is sending you.  A few weeks ago, I had an apple, about 1/2 cup of grapes, and 1/2 cup of cantaloupe for breakfast.  I was full, satisfied, and content after I finished eating, but only about an hour later, I was STARVING.  I sat there feeling a little baffled as to why I was so hungry when it hadn't been all that long since I'd eaten.  I started to realize that maybe it was because I'd only eaten fruit and hadn't eaten anything with carbs/protein to sustain me.  I went to the mini-convenient store up the stairs from my office and bought a low-point granola bar with lots of protein.  And you know what??  I stayed satisfied until it was lunch time!  It was a true "a ha" moment for me and I've started making sure that protein is in my breakfast every day...usually in the form of the same granola bar or greek yogurt.

Now, that is a positive example of something I've learned.  But, sometimes we make boo-boos and learn things the hard way.  This weekend I had to take some students on a trip to the hills of West Virginia - about a 6 1/2 hour drive.  We stopped for lunch around 1, but by the time we got to the school, got registered, dropped off our belongings in the hotel rooms, etc., we didn't have enough time to get dinner before the conference opened.  Then, we had to sit through the opening ceremonies, attend the socials, and weren't going to be free to leave the school for the evening until around 9:00pm.  So, the "socials" ended up being "dinner" and consisted of fruit, cheese and crackers, cookies, and brownies.  Not the healthiest choices, but I needed SOME sustenance.  And then I laid in bed that night and despite how much my brain wanted to turn off and go to sleep, my body was all sugared up and not ready to go down without a fight. I laid there so sleepy and cursing myself for eating those cookies.  Thankfully, my brain eventually won out and it didn't take too long to fall asleep. But, I will most certainly think about that the next time...

Initial weight: 257.2
Week 57: +1.6
Total weight loss: -57
Current weight:  200.2
I hate seeing that number again, but to be perfectly honest, after the week that I had, it should have been much higher, so I will take these numbers and be happy about it.  It'll go back down next week.