One Foot In Front of the Other

[hblyne]

Hi Rebels, I'm back after falling off the wagon. Got to admit it was the latest post on the blog landing in my inbox that brought me back.

 

I've been having a shit time. My marriage ended in September and life since has been just so, so hard. I'm now a single mum of two, had a deadline to meet and the launch of my new book. So life threw some other priorities at me and my long-standing habit of eating crap for comfort reared its head. 

 

But I guess these are all excuses.

 

I am sick of failing, I'm sick of "trying" and not levelling up my life. I tell myself I've been making my best effort, but that's not really true, especially with regards to my diet. I can get into a decent workout rhythm easily enough, but never change my diet so don't get anywhere. I eat way too many carbs, my major weaknesses are for fresh white bread and chicken burgers and fries! I don't like many vegetables and have very little time to cook from scratch, add in fussy kids who eat way too like me for my liking, and it's just so much easier to give us all something that I can be relatively certain we'll all eat.

 

But it can't go on like this! I deserve better and so do my kids. How can I expect them to eat vegetables if I don't set the example?

 

I need some guidance in making changes. I need to work out why I keep stalling. What is it that I am trying that isn't working? My pattern seems to be: I tell myself I need to change, I say I need to at least reduce, if not eliminate bread, cakes, biscuits etc. But I very rarely act on any of this. I keep buying that stuff and eating it. What an I do to make myself act on my intentions?

 

Any and all constructive help very much welcome.

[childofscorn]

*huge hugs* First of all, I'm SO sorry for all the crap you're going through.  I can't tell you that it will get any easier, but I hope that time and distance will make the pain more bearable.  If you ever want to vent about it, feel free to join us in webchat any time! we're always happy to lend a sympathetic ear and have lots of hugs!

I've got a couple of suggestions for veggies that may help you ease them into your diet and your kids' diets.  First of all, I'd recommend starting with the microwave steamable veggies.  You can get them with or without various sauces (butter sauce, cheese sauce, etc.) and I've found with my nieces and nephews that kids in general are more open to eating anything if it's got cheese on it. Now, is it as healthy as veggies without cheese?  probably not.  but is it healthier than the empty calories from junk food?  Totes. 

So, grab a couple different ones of these, until you find at least a couple that you can stand.  Now for yourself, portion some out, and tell yourself that you can eat whatever after, but you've got to eat the veggies first!  That way, you can't use "too full" as an excuse not to eat them.  You can also do the same thing with your kids, except if they're CRAZY picky, maybe tell them that they have to take at least 2 (or 3, or 4) bites.  That will give both of you some negotiating room so that you can get them to eat SOME veggies, but so that the kids also feel like they've won a victory by not having to eat ALL of it. 

If you do this long enough, and try enough different veggies, you'll eventually find something that you don't hate, and are willing to eat more of.  Little changes like this can add up to big differences if you keep at it!  Hope this helps, and check out the chatroom or the recipe board if you need more ideas

[hblyne]

Thanks for the support and suggestions.

 

We're a dairy free family, so can't do cheese and the plain pre-packaged veggies are unbearably bland lol! 

[Guzzi]

Wow, that sucks. So sorry to hear you've been through such an awful time. *big hugs*

Sometimes, no matter how much we might want the results of change, we're just not in the right frame of mind to see it through so it just doesn't happen.

Do you have anyone around you irl that wants some of the same things you do? Could you team up to support one another and be accountable for making the change happen?

It *might* help.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hblyne]

Hi Guzzi, thanks for checking in.

 

I do need some IRL support, I need to find it! I struggle to find time to get on NF often really, but I should prioritise it and gather my tribe.

 

In really rather good news, I've been free of toxic fizzy drinks for almost 2 weeks, which is stellar for me. I've lost 2lbs over Christmas, probably in no small part down to new drinking habits! Off to go post in the no soda support thread now