Two Choices

(Unknown Author)

Yesterday my stomach was bloated and had been hurting. I blamed it on over eating at Super Bowl Sunday's dinner. Evening came and I discovered that wasn't the case. The truth was I had inadvertently eaten something I wasn't supposed to.

You are probably thinking, "So, deal with the tummy issue and all will be fine." Not exactly. This morning I woke to intense abdominal cramping and more bloating. Ouch! Granted I don't have a life threatening allergy but eating things that do not agree with me causes uncomfortableness and affects my productivity as well as my happy quotient.

It also hinders my progress of the Whole30 eating challenge I started January 1st. This will be the second restart I have had to do. Ugh!!! The initial one occurred on day 20 of the challenge. We were having a nice family Whole30 compliant meal. Various non-comppliant sauces were on the table for those who were not participating with me. Hubby and the boys were comparing the labels of which topping had the most sodium. I had just swallowed a bite of an apple slice with a tiny taste of almond butter when Patch said, "They put sugar in this also?"

I wanted to cry. He was talking about the almond butter. Sugar is an ingredient not allowed on the Whole30. I was 2/3 of the way through the challenge and I could see the end. But ingesting the sugar in the almond butter meant I needed to start over. Wanting to reap all the benefits of the program that is just what I did the next morning - day 1.

Lastnight when I was reorganizing the refrigerator I pulled out a container with a note that read, "Mom's". My salad was made with compliant ingredients and the one for the rest of the family wasn't. That one was missing, which meant I had eaten it for lunch. No wonder my tummy was screaming at me. But as bad as it is hurting I don't know what is more frustrating, that or the fact I have to restart AGAIN!!! There is science behind the reason of eliminating certain foods for 30 days. That's too detailed for me to try to explain.

I was angry with myself at the stupid mistake I had made. I really want to do the 30 days and the harder I try the more trials come up. Sure, it's not devastating, I haven't been given a life-threatening diagnosis. I'm not homeless or lacking for anything. But it's still frustrating to work so hard and get nowhere.

I decided I had two choices. 1- Restart or 2 - quit. Well, the second option isn't even a consideration. I keep a plaque in my room that I see every day titled Don't Quit . The first line "When things go wrong, as they sometimes will...." happens to all of us in some form or another and usually is much more important then just eating the wrong thing. It's the last phrase I keep in mind, "So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit, it's when things seem worse, that you must not quit."

I will make it through the Whole30. I don't know why this simple challenge as been such an effort for me. What I do know is when I complete it, I will have the satisfaction of knowing I kept a promise to myself and the perseverance to push on.

Don't Quit.