Bronchitis, and musings from a former health nut

Yep, Bronchitis. My poor darling boy has this dreadfully nasty contagion! It has been a wretched three days, with yesterday being the worst, and today mildly better. And horrors of horrors, I am starting to get it! I wish it would have missed my son and come straight to me! However this experience has revealed something to me, I am so glad I am still nursing. My son is 10months old, at around the six month mark, I wanted to quit, I was being pressured by family to quit, and I just didn't know how long I could hang on for. I haven't had an easy go with nursing either of my sons. However, I held out and stuck with it, and now I am so thankful that God gave me the determination to continue, and at a time like this, when I look at my son and see he is so uncomfortable when those coughs wrack his tiny body, I am so thankful that I can comfort him.

I was at The Cottage on the Hill today, and she mentioned the drug like effects of sugar. All of a sudden I flashed back a few years and remembered how different I was. In my teens (not that those years are so very far behind me!) I was a health fanatic, I was absolutely driven to be as healthy as I could be, I had a strict diet full of the healthiest foods I could get my hands on. I ate spinach salad topped with chicken breast, for breakfast. every other morning. The other days I ate oatmeal. Sure I allowed myself junk food once in a while (had a weakness for pizza rolls), but in moderation. I did not count calories, I thought that was unhealthy. My mantra was "eat as healthfully as you can, food is food, it is only meant for fuel." So with that in mind I ate good amounts of healthy food to give me the energy I needed to exercise. I had self discipline. I worked out once or twice a day for about 30 minutes each time. I was the picture of health. I read all the fitness Magazines I could get my hands on, I didn't care about being skinny, I simply wanted to be fit and toned. I was motivated. I was exactly what I wanted to be.

Now fast forward a few years, in my 20's. I am a wife, I have had two children. I eat junk. My self discipline has, for the most part, vanished. I get into stages of motivation, where I tell myself I will eat healthier and exercise everyday, ha, it only will last for a week at most. I go in spurts. I used to hate the taste of candy, now I crave it. I am slowly trying to wean myself, and think maybe quitting cold turkey is the answer. It isn't about the weight, I am 115, pre-baby weight. It is about being healthy. I was much more healthy at 16 than I am now, and usually the opposite is true! I need to be more healthy for my children and my husband....and myself!

The real kicker here is the addiction. I am literally ADDICTED to food. Junk food that is. I crave it! Fast food (something I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole before!), take out, frozen stuff from the supermarket, candy! Do I really believe I have a problem? no. I do however think that the ingredients in many processed foods have an addictive quality. I will slowly be weaning myself off of these products, I know it will be hard. It is far easier to grab a pop-tart than bake some chicken and throw it on top of a spinach salad for breakfast!

So for the next few weeks I will be chronicling my adventures with fitness, not weight loss. It is important to me not to focus on the weight, that simply isn't what matters. I won't take away from losing weight, it is hard. But I believe it becomes harder when you only focus on the pounds you are trying to lose and not the lifestyle. If you maintain a healthy lifestyle you WILL lose weight. okay I'm done going on a tangent.

Have a deliciously delightful day!

Here is an article debating sugar addiction.