Calorie Countin' Control Freak

Are you one of these?  You know who you are.  You count eeeeevery single calorie...air calories, hot tea calories, half a cracker shared between you and your kid calories?  Don't be ashamed.  I was once one of you, too.  When I first gained my much hated 47 pounds before my Hashi's diagnosis, I was doing EVERYTHING I could to figure out where all this weight was coming from.  I counted calories, sugar, carbs (at one point getting my carbs so low I could barely lift my arms, my less a dumbbell), fat, you name it, I counted it.  If a veered slightly from my calorie counting course, I guilted myself, and subsequently punished myself at the gym with extra spin classes.  And then (drumroll, please) I heard about Paleo from a Hashi's forum I was reading.  Life. Changing.


Here were these people, like, really smart people, advising AGAINST counting calories.  AGAINST steering clear of good fats.  AGAINST being a slave to cardio.  Advising to eat lots of good fats, to take nature walks at leisurely pace, and lift heavy things (which I already loved doing).  Whhaaaaaat?  Completely different than what I had ever done.  I was skeptical.  But, I was more miserable counting those macros than I was skeptical.  So I decided to give it a go.  Best decision ever.  Now, I will say, I still log my macros on MyFitnessPal (find me: RandiDM), but more to keep up with my sugars to balance my blood sugar (diabetes is a biggie in my family) and to make sure I'm getting ENOUGH of all those great things, like Vitamins B, A, C, carbs, and protein.  Since making the mindset switch, I no longer loathe calorie counting (because I don't really).  If I'm eating all whole, natural God-given foods, and not overdoing it on sugar and bad fats, I'll be full and satisfied before I experience a calorie/fat overage.



There is ONE time that I do not watch any of those pesky little macros, and that is when I'm sick (like this week).  My theory on this is simple.  If I'm sick, I'm going to eat and drink whatever makes me get healthier, faster, no matter what the sugar/fat/carb cost.  Now, don't read that as a FREE Bingo space to overindulge in Krispy Kreme donuts and Coca-Cola (can you tell I'm a Southern girl at heart?).  Notice I said things that make me feel healthy again.  While those delicious little pastry wonders once made me feel emotionally satiated, at no point was I ever like, "Gosh, I'm so hungry, let me eat some donuts for lunch" and felt good about my choice.  And I'm pretty sure, knowing what I know now, that my body didn't feel good about it either.  So when I say, I don't limit myself on things that will make me get back to good health, I mean, when the doctor told me today that I was severely dehydrated and needing either an IV or a large Gatorade STAT, I decided to take the Gatorade at 21g of sugar per 12 ounces.  And I've drank two.  And I don't feel guilty.  But I once would have.  And I would have stressed about it, and promised myself that as soon as I could sit my fanny on my Spin bike, I would burn off every single ounce of sugary Gatorade. But now I realize that is sick, also.  When your body needs something, and craves something when you are sick, you shouldn't have to promise to punish yourself later for addressing those needs.  I also ate lots of citrus fruits today, which also probably put me well over my daily sugar intake.  But I needed those vitamins, and that's what my body felt like eating at the time.  The best part is, I'm not worried about it.  And I'm not going to make myself "work it off" later.  I'm going to feed my body what it needs and what I feel like eating, and when this wonderful Georgia pine allergy clears out of here (thank you, Spring), I will be back on the wagon of making sure I'm getting enough of the good things, and not as many of the not-so-good things.  And I'll be back on the Train Train.

Healthy (but not today).  Happy.  Hashi's.