Much better except.....

I have 2 full days of SB Phase 1 eating under my belt (no pun intended though I can feel the difference under my waistband already) and until about and hour ago was feeling increasingly better.  I got up and went to my 7 am meeting and while there my stomach began churning and rumbling, sending me on 2 trips to the ladies' room.  Then I started feeling nauseous, so I bolted for home and am now couch bound feeling pretty lousy.  I know there are stomach bugs going around, but I have no idea if this is a bug or if it's related to the drastic change in my eating in the last 2 days.

Drastic is an understatement.  I've been eating great low carb food, using SB recipes I'd never tried before.  I've also had more nuts than I ever have, and I'm thinking that could be part of my stomach woes.  I'd never used any of the SB recipes before - opting for simple selections of the low carb variety like plain chicken, plain meat, plain fish, plain everything.  The recipes have been GREAT, and I'll share what I've tried later in the week if the spirit moves me.  Maybe take pics too.  I see that I can truly enjoy a low carb lifestyle...my family's been loving the few recipes I've made.

No sugar at all.  Very low refined carbohydrate products.  By yesterday morning a lot of brain fog had already lifted.  It's amazing how sugar affects me.  My activity level was a little better.  On day 1 I was pretty austere with what I ate - sticking to the amounts recommended on the plan.  Yesterday though, I felt munchier so did have more low fat cheese and nuts than the plan suggests.  But I kept the extra snacks no-low-carb and so didn't set up the whole craving for more because of the insulin response.

Monday morning I weighed 216.8.  This morning I was 212.  Obviously that's not all fat I lost, but whatever it was feels better gone.  I've been up at least 4 times during the night to pee the last 2 nights!  I was in such a pattern of horrible eating that too much sodium was part of the picture - literally rendering me puffy all over.  I think carb and sugar toxicity can contribute to water retention, plus I've been on low dose steroids for a major sinus infection.  I'm almost off of it and that will also help.  If you've read me for awhile you may recall a couple other times I was on Prednisone that really played with my body, mind and spirit.  I've kept it quiet this time to decrease the amount of whining I inflict on my dear readers.

I'm hoping this queasiness subsides and I can get a walk in today.  A friend and I tried yesterday, but there were still a lot of icy spots on streets and sidewalks along with a big wind that made it miserable to be out.  I know getting out in the air and moving a bit will also help my body move towards better balance after the abuse I've heaped on it for the last weeks.

So - that's it for today.  Just an update.  Until this stomach ick hit this morning, I was feeling so much better already and optimistic about low carbing.  Almost euphoric... but already fast forwarding to worrying about how it won't stay this easy once I get a few days down the road, drop the extra over the top pounds and "forget" the horror of how bad I've been feeling.   I need to strive to keep that horror of the climbing weight and the physical effects at the forefront of my mind so I DON'T forget.

I want this (Monday morning at the scale and the mirror) to be my bottom with food addiction and I pray that it is.  But bottoms have trap doors - I see it in AA all the time.  When I had a relapse very early in sobriety, I said to a gal at a meeting, "maybe I haven't hit bottom yet", to which she replied, "You can get off the elevator at any level and claim that as your bottom."  I'm off of it for now and don't want to start the downward spiral again.

So the quote for the day that I heard from my brother in law:

"You hit bottom when you stop digging."  I'm throwing in the shovel.