Feeling better already!

Wow. Only four days on the Armour and today I'm noticing a difference. I'm still having a hard time sleeping, but today I feel the weight of depression totally lifted off of me for the first time in months! I feel happy, excited and—here's the difference—hopeful! I'm not typically a depressed person, so I think I've had lots of happiness, but it's always been muted for the past 2-3 years. Today, for the first time in absolute ages, I feel this awesome sense of hope.

The most interesting part of it is that I really hadn't noticed that I didn't feel hopeful. I knew I was a little off, but didn't think it was a big deal. Well, feeling this exhilaration and happiness makes such a big difference that I now know it was probably affecting my mood more than I knew.

Here's the kicker. I feel hopeful about losing weight. Before it almost felt overwhelming. I would go off my food plan because it really didn't seem to matter what I did. This morning, I made excellent choices because I knew it would matter. I had a high-fiber cereal with my organic milk and didn't make another choice that was tempting me and has before (toast with butter and probably lots of it).

Last night was an odd night for mealtime. My oldest stepdaughter had her State Fair, which is a display her class puts on. Each child researched a state and had a small booth that included smells, taste, feeling and sound, plus an extensive book about each state. So we got to taste a lot of flavors. So, I did taste a few things, but you had to take your time. Within a very short time, I was totally full. I had a wonderful smoked halibut spread, a pork and pineapple delicacy, a really nice blueberry crunch and some elk sausage. I didn't have more than a bite of each. It was amazing how full I was!

It gave me an idea for a dinner to cook for kids and I'm thinking I'll just make a few small dishes of items they've never had, but that are healthy, and we'll each have a bite or two before going on to the next item. Stretch it out over an hour and we'll get full faster, have a fun adventure and not break the calorie bank!