I admit it.  I messed up.  There was an oatmeal raisin cookie accident and a cheddar cheese pierogi disaster today.  On top of accidental eating, I’m having a terrible time keeping track of food.  I haven’t even started really putting together a diet that I’m supposed to follow.  It’s just kind of tedious to say I ate this at about this time, much less how much I ate of that food, what the calorie intake was, the fat content, the artificial ingredients, the vitamin value, yada yada yada.  I prefer just to think of food as satisfactory or nummy.  Or of course yucky.  And then there’s the whole actual food preparation, spending the time cooking and cleaning.  Add to that the cost of decent food…  Arg.

So I have to buckle down and think rationally about food, put aside the tediousness and embrace the possibilities of eating differently and being mindful of what I eat.  I know the direction I have to go.  I still have to get into the specifics and look at balance, but in short:

1. Reduce meat intake.  I’m going to keep eating eggs.  Protein has a balancing influence if I’m feeling shaky or a little nauseous for whatever reason (usually eating something bad).
2. Increase granola-type snacks.  The trick is to stay away from peanuts and to make the granola as “pure” as possible.  No preservatives, artificial flavors, no added sugar.
3. No more Cliff bars.  They’ve been giving me a tummy ache in the afternoon.  I need to come up with something else easy for lunch/snack time at work.  Coconut/almond Kind bars have been okay, but they’re pretty expensive.
4. Increase vegetables, including plant proteins, fresh and frozen.  Will work on different stir fries.  Iceberg lettuce gives me a belly ache, and I don’t care for salads all the time.  Again, dishes have to be as “pure” as possible – fresh or frozen.  There are some very good frozen vegetable mixes that you can either microwave or stir fry.
5. No chocolate.  Yogurt for dessert.  No oatmeal raisin cookies.

I’m struggling with looking at this and just being a little bored.  I will most definitely still indulge in spaghetti when I need a little comfort food.  I will go out to eat when I want.  And I will indulge in a very occasional Talenti gelato.  It’s just reality.  Every now and then after one of THOSE days, you just gotta do it.

Again, if I can balance some of the bizarre chemical imbalances that come with fibromyalgia, maybe there will be a reduction in symptoms.  A reduction in symptoms would allow more activity. More activity would reduce symptoms.  Can I put myself into a positive cycle and break the vicious cycle that fibro is?  We’ll see.  I’ll give it a try.