Monday, October 13, 2014

I Feel Good!

6 weeks Paleo!! 

Well, I feel great. 

I have gotten my grocery shopping down to a science - an enjoyable one, at that. Now that I have my cabinets stocked with the spices, oils, and vinegar that I want, and I have the pans and cooking utensils I want, and I have several kinds of back-up groceries in the freezer, I am finding that it is easier to grocery shop. Now it is simply a matter of going to the store to get what I run out of, which is usually spinach and/or kale, eggs, fresh meat, etc. "Perimeter of Grocery Store" kind of stuff. While more expensive, organic fruits and vegetables are still produce, and not very hard on the grocery bill. I'm finding that when I'm not spending money on packaging and branding my grocery money turns into more/better groceries. 

I'm becoming a better cook. (slowly) Well, okay I'm just enjoying cooking now. I haven't had a horrible cooking disaster in at least a week or two. Saturday evening's salmon was edible and except for the amount of smoke in the house after I finished cooking it, I would consider it a success. Note to self: get more experience cooking salmon. Last night, I sort of followed a recipe for and successfully produced a (sweet potato) Taco Shepherd's Pie that I am eating right now and LOVING. I got the recipe from The Lucky Penny blog and YUM! It is the first thing I have made that really does taste as good as it smells! 

I feel inspired. I don't know if it is this particular Mercury Retrograde, if it is my new lifestyle (after 6 weeks I can call it a lifestyle and not a diet) or if I am experiencing a mood swing, but wow. I look at my kitchen and suddenly I see all of this space I can use differently by trashing cookbooks and old "kitchen stuff" that have just been gathering dust over the years. YEARS OF SPACE I CAN USE! That vision is seeping out to other parts of my house where I see and am inspired to re-create the space by getting rid of old things to make room for healthy space. I want to create things and fix things and organize things and move things. I want the air I breathe to be clean and smell good. I want the space I cook in to be functional and clean and pretty. The best part is that I have the energy and motivation to make these things happen. I have done more to improve my life in the past six weeks than I have in the past few years. I feel like I am waking up from hibernation.

I am healthier. I gave up caring about how much I weigh. The way I see it, if I am exercising and eating right it doesn't matter how fast I lose weight or what size my clothes are - I'm healthy. There isn't a whole heck of a lot else I can do to lose weight. This is the last frontier - I'm there. Either I'll lose weight or I won't and if I don't I'll be a medical anomaly. I refuse to step on a scale again until next week. I realize that with what I just said I should be okay with never stepping on a scale again but I'm still a girl who enjoys seeing the numbers drop, if only a little. And, my tummy pooch is getting smaller and I can see some muscle definition invading the space of the pooch. Pretty soon the pooch will lose. Ha!

So far, with the exception of my little stumbling block last post that could actually be contributed to the waning effects of "low carb flu" I'm doing and feeling great! I'm having to restrain myself from telling everyone to go Paleo - yet I understand that this is a personal journey that speaks to me right now and may not work for everyone. 

So for now, I feel good! And I hope this feeling just continues to reshape me as this is all happening at the perfect time in my life.