Sleep, Cats, and Stew

The past two days have carried with them their own challenges, stresses, and small victories.  I am still on plan.  I have been able to resist the urges to snack on off plan foods or to eat cookies.  Most of these urges are weak, and don't last very long anymore.  I used to get terrible cravings that wouldn't go away even after days which led to me binging on those foods I was craving.  I am feeling pretty good.  Two big things I have noticed is that I am drinking a ton of water.  Maybe I never realized how thirsty I was before because I drank diet soda, or maybe it's due to poor diet but whatever the reason, I seem to be thirsty all the time.  During the second week my urine was really yellow, but it's starting to become much more clear now which tells me I am finally starting to get hydrated.  I don' t set any goals for how much water to drink a day, I just drink as I am thirsty or if I feel like I want a snack in-between meals I drink water first.  I can't tell you how much I'm drinking as I don't count but I know I'm getting in at least the required 8 glasses and probably more than that, especially over the past two days. 

The other thing I have noticed over the last several days is that I am sleeping so much better at night.  For a while I thought I was developing insomnia as I couldn't fall asleep for long periods of time and I would wake up several times at night and then not be able to fall back asleep.  I'm sure that didn't help with my chronic weariness.  But the past several nights I have been able to fall asleep fairly quickly and even more remarkable I stay asleep!  (Unless one of the kids wake me up but they have been very good lately).  I haven't slept this well in as long as I can remember!  Since before Lily was born for sure.  It's been so long that sleeping through the night has become a foreign concept for me.  Falling asleep and then not waking up until the morning.... Wow!  It's amazing.  I'm feeling better when I wake up in the morning.  I am not so grumpy and sleepy and groggy.  It still takes a few minutes to fully wake up but I feel much better in the morning than before. 

Along with that my moods seem to have stabilized, I don't feel depressed for no reason, or quite as grumpy, I don't get angry as easily as I used to.  Granted it has only been 18 days and I will need to test this for a longer period of time to see if my moods have really stabilized over a long period of time but I am feeling pretty good about it right now. 

My mother in law and sister in law came over today and they were commenting on how amazing I look.  They haven't seen me since the start of my Whole 30 and it was nice to get some positive feedback.  I can feel and see that my body has changed.  My legs seem a little bit smaller, my stomach flatter, and in general I seem to be just a tad bit more compact, which is awesome.  That is more than I have been able to accomplish in the past year. 

Yesterday was a frustrating and tiring day, which may have led to my snacky and sweet cravings.  I had to put down our family cat yesterday.  She has been peeing all over the house for two years and when she peed downstairs for the second time (most of the time she pees upstairs) I said that was enough as she was expanding her peeing territory yet again, and it is getting out of hand and a bit ridiculous and it was time for it to stop.  Matt was very sad as it was his cat but he agreed.  Lily was also quite upset, but being a little kid she doesn't have much say in the matter.  This problem had been going on for two years.  We took her to the vet to get her kidneys and bladder checked, paid for a very expensive oral surgery to get her teeth removed due to a raging bacterial infection in her mouth, bought her a gigantic cat box, and even put her on anti-anxiety drugs all to no avail.  I called all the no kill shelters but no one would take her due to her age (10) and her behavior problems, not even the humane society (they would just take her for euthanization).  So I took her to the vet, the kids said goodbye and we are going to get a paw print mailed to us sometime soon.  (Me personally I'm glad the cat is gone, but I do carry the emotional burden of Matt's sorrow who loved that cat to pieces, and Lily who also loved the cat).  Lily told me today that she wants Pippin to go away and she wants ChiChi back.  I had to console Lily while she had a melt down about missing chichi.  So the emotional level around the house has been pretty high.  I did take the kids out for ice cream after we dropped off the cat as a pick me up.

It was a pretty amazing sundae.  Today was more of a down day, I played my flute, and we stayed home all day.  Matt mountain biked himself into the ground... meaning he biked until he was utterly exhausted.  He still isn't home yet.  I had a good time with family, and took the kids to the park.  I also made a beef stew.

I have never liked stew but I thought that with my change in diet I might as well give it a try.  I got four bites down before I stopped eating it.  I didn't eat anything else for dinner, I had a rather large breakfast and lunch so I wasn't that hungry anyway.  I gave half of it to my mom, and kept the other half for Matt to eat.  Mom liked it so I know it was just me and not the recipe. 

Today makes 18 days, tomorrow will be two and a half weeks through the initial whole 30 program.