What a week! I went in for Jury duty on Tuesday and was selected that afternoon. Every night I was finishing a ppt for our trivia nite that was last night. (Had actually planned on working on the ppt at work for a few hours each day but...jury duty!)
Wed, Thurs, Fri for trial. Jury deliberations started about 2:30 Fri and we had a verdict about 4:45. It was a civil case - eminent domain. Our county government was taking land someone was leasing to them on an airport property. Of course the 2 parties were MILLIONS of dollars apart.
We ended up acting as "arbitrators" and finding what we considered a happy medium between the two extremes (but many of us actually thought the land owners should have been asking for double what they really asked us for).
Okay, enough off-IP subject:
The good thing is this: 2 days the judge brought treats for the jury (donuts/cheesecake). I had IP-appropriate food with me (Quest bar, P1 lunch, refillable Brita water bottle, IP vanilla RTD poured in a bottle to use for coffee creamer). Not only did I not have the treats. I didn't WANT them. I wasn't fighting in my mind over having them or not.
This is the piece for me that I believe staying 100% OP for so long has done for me. It removed the desire & the inner negotiations (to have or not have?). Since I stuck to the sheet, there were few choices. Now, faced with them, I choose to eat in the manner that makes me feel the best (starchy carbs puff up my hands & feet
).
After being on IP so long, I wasn't even tempted. I DID choose to go out to lunch Tuesday with DH who works in the courts bldg & Wed/Fri with the jurors. Just needed a break from the confined space.
There is something to be said for making IP a way-of-life. The day they went for sushi, I ate the lunch I brought (I prefer to eat only wild-caught fish, which is difficult to find in restaurants). The other days I had salads topped with protein. Since I'm on P4, I have a little more leeway with my salads/dressings. But I also discovered the salad I had yesterday was SO flavorful, it didn't even need the dressing I'd ordered on the side. The chicken was well seasoned. It was probably one of the best restaurant salads I'd ever had.
Long story longer
: Making IP a way-of-life for many months helped me learn how to handle major changes in my routine but to stay OP. Food decisions I'm making today are still so simple. I'm not deciding whether or not to have the things that made me fat in the first place. I just don't. Even on "fun" days (which none of these were), it is becoming more like a fun meal or a fun-food-choice-items within that meal - rather than a hog-wild "world is my oyster" attitude.
At this point, my food avoidance is about keeping the inflammation under control. I notice it immediately in my hands & feet if I eat starches. I'm glad this happens. It is a not-so-gentle reminder to take it easy.