Day 4: 4 new habits in 28 days - Wavering

I'm wavering this morning, and realise this is what has happened before.

In these blog posts I'm sharing what I'm doing to improve the chances of succeeding in changing 4 habits in 28 days to support the flexibility of my arthritic knees. (See the bottom of the page for an update on my daily progress.) The journey to embed these 4 new habits has so far included - finding the inspiration, vision and goal setting, setting targets, and doing things differently.

Last night the part of me that wants to consume vast amounts of white crusty bread got some evidence that the hypothesis behind one of my new habits might be flawed. Making me query whether going gluten free is the way to go.

The old habit that loves gluten products doesn't need much before it pounces on the wavering, and whispers or even shouts "let's go get a big white freshly made white loaf - NOW", "I knew it - you don't have to deprive yourself of those treats", "you accused me wrongly - apologise now" and so on.

Today the evidence is in the form of pain last night - pain that I now associate with eating the jacket potato for tea.

As a result of an elimination diet 4 years ago I originally took Gluten and Nightshades (pots, toms, peppers) out of my diet, and did see positive results on knee flexibility and pain reduction. Both are commonly listed as food groups that can aggravate arthritis.

Slowly over time my consistency of keeping these out of my diet has reduced. Anecdotally I'd noticed nightshades didn't have as much of an impact - or so I thought. Which is the reason for my wanting to embed consistently eating gluten free into my life, rather than nightshades.

Perhaps because there's nothing masking the impact of eating potato, or perhaps because I've not eaten them for a few weeks it's easier to notice, or perhaps yesterday was just a bad day. What ever the reason I believe the jacket potato yesterday caused the pain. Pain that was also accompanied by bloating and indigestion which also supports that the pots were the culprit.

The surgeon said the only answer is new knees, and pain killers in the interim. I wish to disagree, and yet realise there isn't just one magic solution. The solution can only be found through a myriad of habits - regular exercise, hydration, sports massage, wearing supportive shoes, eating healthily, exclusion of health aggravateors (sp?), and inclusion of health supporters (beetroot, ginger etc). The challenge is identifying the aggravateors and supporters.

Even if only anecdotally I know gluten free and nightshade free both support my knees. There's parts of me however that love these foods, and it's those parts that will try to coax and cajole me to pointing the finger in other directions. The fact is I'm addicted to these foods and therefore any reason, however flimsy, is used as a reason to abuse them again.

I said on day one: "No excuses, no doubts about their (the habit's) efficacy - just 28 days, and then observing the results, and adapting my plan from there."

That's what I intend to continue to do, and perhaps (what's with the perhaps Alison?) add another habit:

• I want to consistently eat nightshade free daily  

How might you be undermining your resolve to embed new habits in your life? What whispering voice of the old habit(s) do you need to silence?

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring Change - Inside and Out

Progress today:

1. I will consistently eat gluten free everyday - achieved.
2. I will do my hip mobilisation daily - achieved - yippee doing something different allowed time for doing these first thing in the morning which is much better than last thing at night.
3. I will drink 2 litres of water daily - achieved - I do find this easier when I'm working at my desk rather than out and about.
4. I will do one thing differently every day - achieved - I had a shower instead of a bath in the morning which gave me time to do my exercises above. 

Anyone with Arthritis may also want to review my Pinterest board with over 150 links on how you might be able to improve living with arthritis - including some of the common culprits in our diet that might be having a negative impact.

Hypertext links in the text above link to previous blogs written on the subject.

#28daychallenge