The Business of LIfe in One Swig

Why is “Post” [Anything] a Bitch?

Posted by betsy in Body & Mind on Mar 3rd, 2010 | one response

“Post” anything, especially a major health accomplishment, is a bitch.

The thing about being “post”-anything, is that you tend to forget the “pre”-anything that made you do the damn thing in the first place. You get confident in the completion, but it’s a false confidence, because you’ve had blinders on to anything else.

Once those blinders are whipped off, that is when the real challenge begins.

I’ve just had a recent experience of this, and I’ve got an insight or two to share.

I spent 32 days of doing a very intense body cleanse- almost 32 days of no refined sugars, no wheat, no dairy, no strawberries, no tomatoes, no Ho-Ho’s or Twinkies or Girl Scout Cookies. I’ve meditated, drank smoothies, sweating like a Sweathog — all a part of the regimen.

After more than 1/12 of a year, I felt great. Funky rashes were gone, my Rosacea dramatically faded, vim & vigor up, fitness up, BMI down. It was completely worth the time and effort, I am glad I committed myself to do it. I even blogged about it daily, mostly to keep readers of my blog and on the Clean Detox support site , My.CleanProgram.com , up to date, and also for myself to document the process.

Day 2 of my post- Clean Detox diet, I was like a kid in a candy store.

Note to self: this is not the right attitude to have.

Oh and I had a plan prior.

Post-Clean is called “Maintenance” and I planned to use the post- cleanse to see how my body responds to sugar, wheat, dairy and the rest. One food ingredient at a time. I started small. Dark organic chocolate and red wine. Which worked out just fine. Trying one thing at a time, see how it goes, then go to the next one on my list after I gauge my body’s reaction. I was so great at this, totally in control.

Ahh the fickle friend false confidence is.

Then I had an itching for pizza. Which I really knew was probably a no-no, since it has dairy, wheat and tomatoes with each bite.That’s three ingredients, when gauging an allergy it would be tough to suss out the culprit if I had a bad reaction. But I still did it. Then dinner was some of my children’s Mac & Cheese. Oh, and throw in a couple of Girl Scout cookies for good measure.

What the HELL was I thinking?

And today I’m pay for it. I am itchy, feel bloated and ill. That’s just today, can’t wait to see the F.U. my skin will bless me with in a few days.

Post- [Insert Major Health Accomplishment] is a bitch. I’ve spent a better part of 1/12 of a year working on getting healthy, yet day two I’m eating dairy, wheat, tomatoes and toxic totally-not-of-nature peanut butter cookies. What was infuriating, it was just so easy to slip back into “pre-Cleanse” behavior. See yummy, eat yummy. I blame this in part on false confidence, I was feeling pretty damn invincible, and in part to not being “present” about the eating. The See-Eat combination doesn’t work for me. I have to slow things down, do I need the cookie or want? Wants are probably more about stress than nourishment. Again being more present would do good for me both body and mind.

It also helps that I remember why I did this in the beginning. I was:
- Drinking 8 cups of coffee a day and dragging like a sloth.
- Eating whatever struck my fancy. Never a good thing.
- Sleeping fitfully
- Out of shape
- Too tired to get back into shape
- Depressed about all the above and below.
- Tired, did I say I was tired? I was friggin’ exhausted!
- Wearing F.A. jeans. And they were getting tight.

The good news is that it was one day. Really just two meals. And I’ve had a big wake up call. BIG WAKE UP.

So back on Clean Detox, hard-core for a few days, then I try again, working down my list wheat, dairy, tomatoes (just not all at the same time.) And a very sweet “Adios” to the Girl Scout Thin Mints & Peanut Butter cookies. Treats will have to be of the dark, organic chocolate kind for now.

But I can still have red wine!

(God giveth as he taketh away, thanks for leaving the wine G!)

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