"Cheap, Fast, and Easy" always means Trouble

I have a theory:
I think I was detoxing... or going through withdrawal. Both have similar effects... but I've looked back on my past week of horrible...ness, and that's what it seems like. (I apologize if the following details seem a bit to take in)

I got myself in a healthier lifestyle... but not as healthy as it could have been. I was still eating dinner at 9pm or later. I wasn't eating breakfast, and I certainly wasn't consuming 3 meals a day. I haven't consumed 3 meals a day for a long time. Then I went camping, and I had cookies. And my body missed them, and my body craved them, and my body talked me into eating more. And my willpower sucks, and I missed cookies, too, so I gave in. And I gave in. And I gave in. And I ate cookies and chips and starches until I just could eat any more.. and then I had pizza on the way home and I got home and I ate unhealthier and unhealthier for an entire week. Grease, fat, salt, sugar, white carbs, they were all like a drug and my body gave me one command regarding them: feed me, fill me, kill the hunger. And I did. And then I realized, oh crap, I need to weigh in. And I did. And I was disappointed, and I pulled a full 180 and went right back to healthy food.

Your body does a funny thing when you start denying what it's been gorging on for a week. It rebels. It fights back. It screams and it yells and desires and it is denied and it becomes furious. It begins to get revenge. Every morning, I was on the verge of throwing up. Every day I was tired and had no energy. And every. single. minute. I was hungry. And I denied my body food when it was hungry, because I was angry that it was rebelling. And it rebelled because it was angry that I was denying it food. Vicious. Circle.

Monday, I awoke with a stronger than ever need to throw up, and a knee the size of a grapefruit. I was tired, even though I had gotten 8 hours of sleep. I had no energy. I don't remember what I ate, but I know I did. Not lunch, but definitely breakfast. And I had dinner. I remember that. I ate a brownie because the next day was going to be the beginning of no sweets month, and I wanted to splurge a tiny bit before I had to swear them off for a month. I went to bed feeling, despite my knee, pretty good.

Tuesday I woke up, still with the urge to vomit, but less than the day before. I got ready, and went to work. I ate breakfast - apple cinnamon oatmeal - and I was full and I felt good. I was on my feet all day, forcing my feet to have energy I didn't have. I had lunch. Again, I was full and I felt good. I was tired, but I was full, and I had eaten 2 meals. Dinner was a given - I was finally going to eat 3 meals. I bought 2 books and then went grocery shopping and bought some stuff to cook with. I was gonna make a power food rich, ab friendly dinner, and I was going to make it early and I was gonna go to bed early.

1 of those things happened. When I got home, my head was pounding like crazy. I took an Aleve and lied down, thinking I'd rest a bit until the medication kicked in. It never did, however, and the headache grew steadily stronger. I got a warm damp wash clothe and laid in on my head, something usually worked with headaches. The headache grew stronger, however, and my body turned cold. I bundled up in my Mexico blanket, no longer able to get out of bed, and waited for the cold to go away. I checked my head, no fever. Then I started to shake... violent shiver-like shakes. And I was cold. And my head hurt. And eventually, I'm pretty sure I passed out.

I woke up at 4 am, with the headache still lingering, so I took some more Aleve and hung out until about 6:30, when I decided I would no longer be getting back to sleep and decided to get ready for work. I sat in the shower, let the water massage my head a bit, and when I got out I realized the need to vomit was extremely minimal. And I was well rested. And my headache was beginning to disintegrate. I got to work and had more energy than I've had all week. I ate breakfast again, and I was full and I felt good. And I played with the kids and I finished my book (the best thing to come out of all of this - I've been reading like CRAZY). I had lunch and I was full and I felt good. I got home, took a short nap, cleaned the kitchen, and made dinner out of my new cookbook. And I ate, and I am full, and I feel good.

And I'm beginning to get more encouraged. And part of that, I owe to the cook book I bought. It comes with an accompanying ab work out book... fairly pricey but so far VERY worth it. And, I've learned three things today alone:

1. Denying your body food when it's hungry only teaches your body to store fat.
   This may be common knowledge for most people, but I didn't know it. I was always told that not eating at all would make you gain weight before it made you lose it, but I was not informed that not eating when your stomach told you you were hungry made the body store fat, for fear it was going to starve. It then saves the fat, just in case the hunger strike continues... because diets ask you to eat less, you know the hunger strike isn't going to continue, but your body doesn't, and it continues to store fat. 3 meals a day, here I come. (The goal is actually 6 a day, but I need to take baby steps. I've greatly increased my protein intake, and I'm full a lot... lol)
2. I don't enjoy cooking with peanut oil.
   I've never cooked with peanut oil till today, and honestly, I hope I don't have to do it too often in the future. It stinks when you cook it, and I don't like the taste it adds to the food. I'm not a huge fan of peanuts (though I'll eat peanut butter till I'm blue in the face - LOVE THAT STUFF!), and it just made the chicken taste really peanutty. Bleck.
   
3. I love the smell of olive oil.
   I do. How delicious does olive oil smell when being heated? The answer is VERY delicious. It was strange... I decided to prep tomorrow's dinner so the chicken didn't go bad, and had to cook it in olive oil. It was the most pleasant experience I've had in a long time. Just the simple smell of warmed Olive Oil. It was so nice. It took me back to when I was a child, when my dad made fried chicken. He used to make it a lot, and I loved the smell of the oil right as he put the chicken in... that's what the olive oil smelled like. I'm not sure what it was about it, but it made me... happy. Sounds so lame, but it's just one of those rare things that get taken for granted. The smell of olive oil. Childhood memories. It was nice.

This new cookbook is nice, too. I think it'll be easier to eat when I have recipes for food right in front of me. When I don't have to count calories on the ingredients, because it's laid out in front of me. I just make one of the recipes and I'm good as gold. It's also teaching me a lot. My favorite part was when it compared losing lbs to war. "An army marches on it's stomach. To win the battle against your belly, you have to control your food." It also breaks down everything in fun ways, while telling you why you shouldn't eat certain things and what foods typically have them hidden in them. and it subscribes to the five whites. Which is.. bomb, to say the least.

So... today marks the first day of 3 meals I've had in a long time. It also marks the first time in a long time I've eaten dinner before 9 pm. I ate at 6... which is pretty awesome. I think I'll go to bed at 9 tonight. :)

It's my hope that, with eating better and earlier, and going to bed earlier, my morning can start earlier, and I'll have an easier time getting used to this whole new thing I've got going. My body likes routine, I've learned that. And once I've got something set in stone, it'll be easier for me to follow it. So here's to new beginnings, and good results... hopefully.

I think my problem was, I went into this battle unprepared and outnumbered. There was more junk food floating around then there was healthy food, and I was trying to not consume any junk. It pushed me to deny myself food, causing my body to store fat, and ultimately doing more damage than good. But, on the morning of the third day, I looked to the sun and my back up was there. :)

ROHIRRIM! TO THE KING!