If this sounds like you, or echoes from the people around you, I want you to say, loud and proud…
YES!!
Of course I’m going to do another health reset.
I’m NOT going to give up on me or my health just because I didn’t meet my goals or failed, yet again.
Some of us have deeper struggles with food and/or alcohol (toxic and loaded with empty calories) than others. Not sure about how bad booze is for you? Check out these two posts:
We might be the friend who’s always on a diet or always trying a new program to get healthy or who’s trying to be vegan or plant-based again.
If you see yourself in any of that description, I want you to know you’re NOT alone, and more importantly, that you CAN achieve your health goals if you just do NOT give up on yourself.
Never Give Up on You
Who cares if I’m on health reset #83 or #241?
What would be more alarming, is giving up because it’s too hard, or giving up because I’m mentally exhausted from living my life with food habits in my head all the time:
- what foods I should and shouldn’t eat
- how I should and shouldn’t eat
- the time of day I should or shouldn’t eat
- in what order I should or shouldn’t eat
- the calories, fat, sugar, salt, additives, toxins I should or shouldn’t be eating
- the vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients etc. that I should or shouldn’t be eating
- how many times I should or shouldn’t chew my food
- ugh….damn exhausting
So, it’s bloody well no wonder so many of us give up altogether or give up for days, weeks or months at at ime.
I think that’s what happens with me.
I eat really well, and could frankly accept any job offering as a healthy-eating queen during that time. I feel healthier and lighter and also feel proud of myself.
Then I go off track a little, get lured in by the pleasurable and often addictive nature of the food, and veer off track a little more. I just keep going and when I do so for weeks, I have a blast.
Releasing the mental exhaustion, I feel free (freedom is my number one value) of the constraints of always monitoring my food. I enjoy feeling free to eat what I want and when I want, without guilt or worry.
I dive into processed-food land and then add lots of red wine to go with it.
It’s a free-for-all and a thrill…
…for a while.
Until my body starts to tell me it’s time for the party to end.
My joints get achy, my weight goes up, and my skin gets patchy and produces pimples. I don’t feel energetic. I feel heavy and sluggish.
Then I know I have to do something, or I’ll end up old and sick, needing multiple medications, treatments, care from others and possibly surgeries to try to combat whatever illnesses or diagnoses I receive.
Breast cancer might rear its ugly head again, or slither into another part of my body (had stage 2 in 2020).
When the food fiesta is over, and I feel off and achy, my body reminds me why I want to be healthy. Then I do something. I jump right back into eating healthy and have success! Then the cycle starts again.
I don’t want this to be my story.
But it has been my story.
Each time I do a health reset, it’s because I’m trying to change my story.
I want to permanently live a healthy lifestyle where food and/or alcohol is no longer a struggle.
Each time I do a health reset. I’m loving myself enough to not give up on me. I don’t worry if other people think here she goes again.
My health is about me and my choices over time.
My Health Resets
On Oct. 11, 2022 I began a health reset that I called phase 1 (this was hardly the first reset I’ve ever done, but it’s the most recent conscious major attempt). I called it a phase because getting healthy and losing weight happens in phases over time.
I lost 19 lbs between Oct. 11 and early January. I was feeling great.
Things started to turn sour before January though, during the holidays. I got a cold and veered off track and gained some weight back.
In both January and February, my weight went down again, and then up again. Down and up, Down and up.
This might be your story too.
Now in phase 6, I’m in another health reset I began on Feb. 27, 2023, and this one I’m documenting on TikTok (@liveyourtruelife).
On a chart taped to my bathroom mirror, I record my weight daily because it helps me see where I’m going. I also record my average daily resting heart rate from my Fitbit. The weight and heart rate data are eye opening and provide highly valuable information.
When I eat well, my weight and resting heart rate go down. My body is lighter and my heart doesn’t have to work as hard when at rest to pump blood around my body. 🙂
When I eat poorly, my weight and resting heart rate go up. My body is heavier and my heart has to work a lot harder to get that blood pumped throughout my body. 🙁
If you’re interested, at the end of this post there’s a photo of all my tracking from October 2022 through February 2023.
You’ll see that as of Feb. 27, I was down 9.2 lbs since mid October, which means I gained back almost 10 lbs of the 19 I lost between mid October and early January.
You can look at that as depressing, or you can look at it as progress.
The HOW of my Health Resets
My long-term goal is to be 90% whole-food plant-based-wfpb-(plant-based while focusing on whole foods and avoiding processed foods and added oils).
There are multiple highly respected plant-based professionals out there whose books I’ve read and/or whose valuable videos I’ve watched.
One particular person, Dr. Brooke Goldner, has a protocol that works and makes me feel good.
It is her method I’ve focused on when doing my health resets. You can read about her protocols here.
I may not follow the protocol perfectly, but on most days during this most recent health reset, I start my days with a blender full of smoothies that hyper-nourish my body and allow my body to expel the toxins, damaged material and fat it doesn’t need.
The next part of the protocol is to eat a wfpb meal for dinner. On most days, I’ve been sticking to that too. Most days.
I’m not perfect, but I’m using Dr. Goldner’s knowledge and experience to guide me along this health reset.
Before you look at my tracking charts (below), please know that I’ve had many emotional ups and downs along these health reset journeys. The struggle is real for me, as it is for many people.
The main thing is to NEVER GIVE UP on you or your health. 🙂
Here are the photos I promised (I also track my sleep score on my Fitbit, but I don’t bother discussing it on this blog because other factors, like how late I stayed up, etc. can affect sleep). You’ll need to zoom in to see the details.
I usually circle a new low weight on my charts too. I started at 188.0 on Oct. 11, 2022. 169.0 was my lowest in early January.
Thanks for sticking around. I wish you energy and good health for life.
Good luck on your own journey.
Live your true life,
1 thought on “Another Health Reset…really?”