Are You Making A Difference?

Sometimes, it's difficult to see if doing the right thing is actually working. Human beings really rely on shorter term results and gratifications because it's simply so difficult for our brains to understand the long term picture; there have been studies that prove it's just much more difficult for us to concentrate on the big picture than just on a portion of it.

So, is eating fewer calories really helping our bodies? Will this hopefully benefit our health and lengthen our lives? Because that's why I am here; I don't want to die. I want to see Kiddo grow up and spend more time with my loved ones. I really like food, but the best food in the world isn't worth dying for.

It's so easy to say that, though, and then think, well, one meal isn't going to kill me, right? The possibility of living a slightly shorter life seems so abstract, until one day it won't be.

So if you ever wonder if what we're doing actually works, here is one of the clearest non scale indicators that I've ever seen.

Like I said, I took the month of December "off" completely. I decided to enjoy all the holiday foods I love and not to worry about it, but just to get right back at it in January, and I've done that. Now, I know Fitbits aren't nearly as accurate as medical grade equipment, but when we're looking at trends over time, I am reasonably confident this is an accurate trend.

I know my cardiac health is generally not good, and Fitbit rates it as low for women my age, which is no surprise. Before I went off plan in December, my resting heart rate was in the low 60s. I noticed in December that it was climbing back up, and I didn't really think about it. Now I've been back following the Nutrisystem program for just one week, and look at the trend now!

Eating all that extra fat and sugar and sodium was clearly making my heart work harder, which makes me more likely to have a heart attack and die prematurely. And look how fast my body reacted to the change in diet! I think that is the clearest sign of all that I am doing the right thing. I still wish I could do more exercise, but my health currently isn't allowing that. But I can control what goes in my mouth, and I definitely want to take as much stress off my heart as I can.

So next time a Big Mac or whatever your trigger food is, is calling to you- ask yourself if it's really worth it to you.