Habitual Nourishment with Gusto

I do not actually like the word dieting in the way that means you deprive yourself of a food that you will inevitably eat anyway and then feel guilty for doing so.

I vote that we begin using the definition of dieting found in Merriam Webster as definition number One B:  Habitual Nourishment. 

This merely means that we form a habit around eating.  Moreover, habits are not typically filled with deprivation; habits are typically filled with things we love to do repeatedly.  

Sign me up!

A bit of truth here for you.  Six years ago, I was at a point where I had lost nearly one hundred pounds after the birth of my last child.  I was so proud of myself for my accomplishment.  It had been a hard 2 years to lose that weight but not nearly as hard as the next six years would be for me.  

You know how they tell you that you will gain weight when you go on vacation, when you are depressed, when you are happy, when you start school or when you get older?

Well, I did all but one of those over the next six years unless you count helping my kids with their homework as going to school.  

I "re" met my wife nearly six years ago after having first met her ten years earlier.  I was happy.  Exceedingly happy.  And, I put on a good ten pounds.  

Then we went on our first of what would become at least an annual vacation and I gained another ten pounds.  

By our first anniversary, I had put on a total of twenty-five.  

Over the course of our relationship, my small business went belly up and my eldest daughter left home.  Both of these were things that depressed me and I added on even more weight.

Then I started training for obstacle course races like Spartan and Warrior Dash.  

I began doing P90X and I was building muscle, toning my abs and I even recall one day when my thighs did not touch any more. 
I was five pounds away from where I had been at the start of my relationship!

Then I had a snowball of obstacles: a foot injury, the discovery of a medical condition and a car accident that stopped my training in its tracks.

Eventually I healed from both the foot injury and the car accident and I got the medical condition under control.  By this time I had lost all the muscle tone I gained in my training and instead I gained back another 30 pounds.

The ugly truth is that I am currently heavier than I have ever been without the excuse of pregnancy.

When I needed to get an entire new wardrobe because nothing in my dresser fit anymore, I knew it was time for a change.

For me, that change is both dietary and activity driven.  After reading a book called Grain Brain, I have chosen to eliminate grains from my diet.  It was a very scientific-y (that's totally a word) read and if you can either understand that or speed-read over what you don't understand, I highly recommend reading it as it was very eye-opening!

Grain Brain
The Surprising Truth About What, Carbs and Sugar

I have a Fitbit I have been using to increase my daily steps, my wife and I have purchased the on-demand version of BeachBody so I can get back to exercising again and I have re-joined a Facebook page that is only for women who train for obstacle course runs (OCR).

Going grain free is tough.  But I got this!

Plus, it does help that I have nearly three years of gluten free dieting under my belt already so really I'm just adding rice and oats to my I-no-longer-eat-that list.  

I will continue to eat some millet and corn for right now even though those are considered grains.  I'm sure I will wean those out of my diet eventually. 

But I'm not giving up my beer!  I only have it a couple of times a year, and when I do, it's totally worth it.  Of course, it's gluten "free"... still made with barley but it goes through a process that removes enough of the gluten that I have been able to tolerate it without ill effects.

Omission Pale Ale

 And lucky me, I do not have to give up wine.  It's just old squished grapes!  And those are delish!

Honestly, I drink less than a bottle of wine per month...probably less than a bottle every two months.  But, when I am really craving a glass, I am glad I will be able to have it without thinking I'm going against my goal.

Because I am of the mind that if I'm going to do this, I had better diet with gusto!