17/45-Consumption

Do you consider what all you consume? When we consume water, that adds up, hopefully to about a gallon a day, which is great. Over time, that consumption is positive. We can apply the same tactics with exercise, a daily quota is a great thing, producing terrific results over time. What about when we remove things from our lives, does that add up to positive results too? You betcha!

After being sick for so long in December/January, and not being able to eat for a week, then resuming eating, my body decided it was time to do a big purge of items so that I could eliminate an over abundance of heartburn/bloat/nausea. I started with the main culprits, coffee and alcohol. I put the wine aside and noticed without wine I had slightly less hearburn, at some point I may add it back in, just to test my body. The older I get, the less it seems my body wants to consume alcohol, which I reckon is a good problem.

Eliminating coffee is usually not hard for me, I substitute a coffee a day for pop/Coke the first two days, then no caffeine after. I don’t like pop very much, so it is easier to do away with that, but I still need to wean from coffee, so this is my method. I am genuinely surprised every time I quit coffee, as I have WAAAY more energy, am less sluggy in the mornings and throughout the day, and my overall mood is drastically improved. I like the taste of coffee, and no, decaf is NOT the same. I will pick the rewards over the quick jumpstart every day from now on.

Next is red sauce/tomato based products. I love pizza and this is my kryptonite. I get a burning in my lower abdomen with red sauce, so I know it contributes to leaky gut syndrome for me, which I used to have IBS and I solved that with diet and stress level changes too. So, I am declaring no more red sauce, as I am sure this is currently part of the heartburn too.

As I have started my elimination, I will be looking to cut breads/yeasts too. These main 4 things really are just the worst for me, yet like a fool, I go back once I am feeling better…or in this case, my body went in to survival mode from not eating during illness. Someone suggested that my illness would jump start a diet with weight loss…uh no, I didn’t choose that problem and therefore I knew my body would rebound hard, so I settled in to let it cycle through. Thanks for your opinion though.

You see where this is for me today…

I am also going to limit my social media interactions too. I am on the fence about what that will entail, but I do know that my consumption of social media doesn’t always add to my life, so I need to ask myself how to go about that.

What I did for me today was:

• Said no to coffee again(one week down!)
• Consciously choosing to eliminate dietary items for optimal gut health
• Picked my body over social obligations

What I did for others:

• Donated a ticket for another to use for yoga
• Send information to provide calm in the storm

As you can see, life is ebbing and flowing. We can either get swept away with the tide, or we can be a solid landing for ourselves and others, but it starts with us, within us. I have about 30 more days of 45 to go, and so far, it is going swimmingly. 😉