Step by Step

This morning I started week three on my food journal. Actually, it's a journal that I keep track of all sorts of stuff--what I eat and when, what my blood sugar is, when I take my meds, any exercise I happen to do, and the occasional results when I encounter a scale. Oh, yeah...calories. And how much water I drink each day.

Sounds exciting, eh?

Not so much. The blood sugar has been consistently a little on the high side. Today my thyroid meds should arrive (the doc kicked them up a notch) and I'm anxious to see if the new dosage also affects the sugar.

I suppose some of you are thinking how irritating it must be to keep a journal. And at times, it is. But I've discovered something about myself...or maybe, it's that I've admitted my faults. I'm an extremely impatient woman when it comes to the results of change. I want to see the results immediately. Right now!

Of course, that doesn't happen. Change is slow and if we keep up with it, results are slow. Nothing is instant. Keeping the journal allows me to see the small incremental changes in my life. It allows me to instantly judge the results of eating a piece of cake instead of an orange.

Very sobering. If you don't believe that, go out to eat. Then when you get home, pull up the restaurant's nutrition info and check out the calorie count for your meal. It will save you a lot of money because you won't go out for the next two or three months.

The journal also provides a way for me to control the results of my daily life. It keeps me on track. Will it make a huge difference? I don't know. I'm in week three and already impatient to see a big change.

Life is pretty much like that. We want instant results. We forget that all change is accomplished step by step.

anny