In January I did a 40 day sugar fast and started a low carb diet. It was time I cleaned up my eating and started improving my digestion again. Once I got pass day 4 I really started noticing a difference in my energy and some of the cravings for sugar were starting to pass. What I also noticed was things like heartburn were going away too. It looked like this had been a good decision and I thought I could stick with it.
For exactly 14 days I did stick with it. Then I had a work trip. I never realized how hard it would be to find foods I could eat while traveling. Everywhere I went there was bread, sugar added to all the dishes and even snacks were sweet or salty. Any gift shop I visited in the airport or hotel was filled with chips, candies and granola bars that didn’t align with what I needed. Food options in restaurants were laden with sugar in glazes, seasoning and more. It is little wonder we are a country of such diseases and illnesses including obesity and heart problems! It was discouraging and I was hungry.
After working all day I was really hungry and stressed out. I just wanted a hot meal and the comfort of quiet inside my hotel room. If you travel for business I know you can relate to that need after you finish a day of back-to-back meetings and non-stop conversations. For those that have not done this type of travel, please know there is very little glamorous about it though I know it can seem really high cotton living.
That evening I settled for a double cheeseburger with bacon and a side salad. I thought I would just not eat the bun. Well, I ate the bun. I ate every bit of my dinner that night and wanted more. I actually scolded myself for getting the salad instead of fries with my burger. I immediately started feeling that return of non-stop hunger and some heartburn come but I wanted more. It was like a switch turned back on and I could no longer control my body. The next day I woke up hungry too! Hungry for carbs in the form of biscuits, pastries and anything that would fill this void I was feeling in my stomach that I had always thought was hunger.
I was also feeling something else. I noticed my fingers were tight and I felt bloated. The heartburn I had been dealing with from before starting my diet changes had returned that quickly too. My mood was lower and I was extremely exhausted. The new found energy I had experienced was zapped out completely! I hadn’t noticed these things before but now it was all I could feel! While I didn’t want to scold myself for slipping in my diet I knew I had learned a valuable lesson in this experience.
When we start to change our habits even with small baby steps there is progress occurring. We may not see it or even really notice it but it’s happening. As that occurs though we may fall back on old comforts like in my case with bread and foods that fill me up after stress. It was my way of protecting, soothing and comforting myself after the stress and wanting to hide away. That was an old habit and I recognized it immediately. I also noticed immediately my body’s return of signals of distress from that situation. There was heartburn that woke me up in the night, I didn’t sleep well, I was bloated and tired. The cues were there all along!
Those first few baby steps of movement forward though are key to establishing a base we can build on. I now know I need to pack snacks for myself. I also need support when I travel because foods in airports, hotels and nearby places I will be are all filled with things that lead me back to where I don’t want to go again. I also need stress support that help me release it rather than want to curl up and hide in my hotel room eating carbs.
Two weeks later I had another business trip. This one longer and I admit I was worried but was taking preparations. In my suitcase I packed snacks like peanuts, beef jerky and low carb protein bars. I also included doTERRA Slim & Sassy softgels, TerraZyme capsules, DigestZen softgels and oils such as Melissa and Zendocrine. These specific doTERRA products and oils help with appetite, digestive support, stress and anxiety as well as detoxification. That way if I slipped I had support to recover from it and not let it result in further downward spirals. While it was not fool proof and guaranteed it at least gave me some empowerment to know I had options that I lacked last time.
My protocol during travel included these practices as support:
1 drop Melissa to my thumb and then placed in the top of my mouth for 5 seconds for anxiety, stress and rush feelings
1 Zendocrine Detoxification capsule in the morning
1 Zendocrine soft gel in the evening
1 Terrazyme 10 minutes before I eat, every time
1 Slim & Sassy soft gel for cravings, sweet tooth and false alarm hunger
To get what I use simply click here: https://doterra.me/v4ZAJWJ5
What I learned was I have to be better prepared for being surrounded by stress and food. I have to take matters in my own hands and get creative for how I support my dietary focus and health needs when I travel. It’s so easy to float back into old habits especially when traveling because we don’t have access to things we need. I also learned how much my body was telling me all the times before when I would feel bad and not understand why. The signals were there all along! When we truly listen to our body we see there is such a influx of messages telling us what it needs to feel better, build strength and improve health.
What is your body telling you? I encourage you to explore that in the Lifestyle & Wellness Questionnaire to help you find solutions that work and take those messages seriously. https://www.dragonspitapothecary.com/
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