Almost didn't blog

I figured I had a very valid excuse for not blogging this week. Me and ten thousand other mothers across Canada have shed a few tears, as they've helped their first-born daughters move out and go off to University. One mother I spoke to this week summed it up - "It's like I'm cutting off a part of me". She found herself tearing up after taking her daughter to Shopper's Drug Mart to get all the essentials she would need from there. I said, 'But at least you've got 3 more; I've only got one daughter left at home'. She retorted, 'But mine's going to VANCOUVER!, at least your daughter is still in the same province'.

And so the painful adjustment begins. In order to avoid plunging into despair and ceaseless worry, i turn my attention to kung fu.

I must say the Silent River Kung Fu Diet tracking challenge was an excellent exercise. I'm assuming that everyone else that did this excercise was truthful with their entries. I certainly wasn't. There are a number of chocolate bars that I was not willing to admit having consumed, especially on days where I had also eaten 2 Tim Horton cookies. The mere fact that these ommissions occured in my public journal taught me a couple of things.

First, I am not willing to admit certain others what I am willing to admit to myself. Previous to participating in this challenge, I had no idea this was the case. I wonder what is going on. At Weightwatchers I'm quite comfortable standing up and telling everyone that I had too much of this and that. Perhaps it is the fact that I am amongst like-minded individuals, who also struggle with sweet tooth, or whatever. Whereas, the UBBT challenge involved individuals who may or may not share similar struggles in the food arena.

The second thing I learned, was that my window of sweet-food-eating is from 3 to 6 pm in the evening. This is also the time when I feel like I could do with a nap. I'm a creature of habit - breakfast, snacks and lunch are pretty routine. And so is the 3pm to 6 pm weakness in my diet. It stands to reason, then, that some sort of change in my routine at that time is what is needed to bypass the cravings for sweet food. From recent readings on wholistic health, I've learned that an earlier bed-time of no later than 10pm might actually be the key. With a little more sleep, I might find that the 3 to 6 pm low in my energy level will be less pronounced, and this might take the edge of my desire for something sweet to eat.

Well then, its past 11pm. I guess I should get to bed.

Claire Finnamore
Student Member: Silent River Kung Fu