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Monday, August 5, 2013

Day 1 - Eat to Live, not Live to Eat

Breakfast:  Toasted flax seed whole wheat bread with peanut butter and a banana, 8oz of soy milk, protein with fruit
Lunch:  Lentil soup with cherries for dessert
Dinner:  left over gumbo (broth only. Ok, a few shrimp, but no sausage!) with brown rice

Whoever came up with starting diets on a Monday?  I know several weight monitoring programs say not to, but somehow it still happens.  It was the day after I went shopping for my vegan stuff so I thought it made sense.  Note to self:  hopefully there won’t be a next time because this will be it for the rest of my life, but if there is, don’t start a diet on a Monday!

 I had a frustrating day, mostly because the pain in my back and leg did not relent all day.  (As I write this, my beanpole child is running on the treadmill.  I should be inspired but, really, I’m not.)  I should explain that another big motivating factor at this precise moment in my life is the pain I am suffering.  Three weeks ago in the late night hours toiling over numerous patches that needed to be sewn on my children’s uniforms, I hurt my back.  A stupid twist at the wrong time was all it took to cause a hernia between L2 and L3 vertebrae pressing on my sciatic nerve.  The pain has been gradually getting worse, moving down my hip, butt cheek and right leg.  Now some of my leg is numb while the center is a flaming torch of pain. 

I am sure I would not have this pain if I had a strong “core”.  I always thought “core” was like the center of a Boston Crème donut.  It should be sweet and creamy, eliciting all sorts of delight.  Not so.  It should be strong so I can either not endure this pain or recover quickly. 

The pain also reminds me of the first time I had any sciatica pain.  I was eight months pregnant and the baby was pressing on the nerve.  A few months, some strong pushing and the pain went away.  The adorable 8.5lb baby boy made me forget all about it.  Til now.  At this moment, I weigh what I weighed 8 months pregnant.  If there was ever a reason to lose weight, excruciating pain not resulting in a bundle of joy is more than sufficient motivation.