My friend's story. I'm so proud of her I had to share.

What my friend did is so impressive. I think the HARDEST part of eating right is doing so when the chips are down, when our life gets crazy, when the routine is off, and when we are exposed to lots of bad options and few good ones. Here is how it is done, folks:

I have spent a considerable amount of time in hospitals. I have one daughter with an ongoing kidney condition and another who has dabbled in serious illness a time or two. These hospital stays were always terrible for the children and draining on me. Since few services are provided for the parents of pediatric parents, it was often necessary to forage for meals and fend for my own needs. The easiest thing to do was to eat quick snack foods from vending machines, drink sugared, caffeinated sodas available to parents and constantly sit by the bedside of my sick child to insure not a need went unanswered by the overworked nursing staff. I always felt awful and packed on the pounds when a child was hospitalized, without exception.

This last time, I was determined to break the pattern of weariness and weight gain as my daughter had to be hospitalized for a few days for a surgical infection. I began my “new routine” by declining the soft drinks offered on the floor. At first opportunity, I ran down to the snack bar and bought a variety of flavored waters to keep stashed in the hospital room. Instead of falling to the temptation of a greasy burger from the grill, I opted for a bag of whole grain pretzels to tide me over until the hospital cafeteria opened and I could scout healthier choices there. In the cafeteria I found a wonderful yogurt bar with a variety of berries and granola toppings, so instead of the traditional greasy spoon fare, I bought 2 cups of yogurt and berries and asked for foil to cover them. I ate one for breakfast and asked the nurses to keep the other in the floor refrigerator so I could have it later. I also asked family to bring us fresh fruit, apples and oranges that I kept in the room and could have when I needed a quick snack. When dinnertime rolled around, I requested a double serving of veggies and asked for the entrée to be served without high calorie gravy and sauces.

My food choices weren’t the only change. When things were quiet and my child occupied, I would tell the nurses I was stepping out for a minute and would ask if they would keep an eye on my child when I was gone. They were always happy to oblige. I would go to the stairwell walk down the steps and climb back up to stretch my legs and get my heart pumping. It only took a few minutes and I would feel so much better when I would return to my daughter’s bedside. I also took the steps whenever I needed to go anywhere in the hospital. These little steps added up and I felt a sense of accomplishment that I was finding opportunities to take care of myself while taking care of my sick child.

When my daughter was well enough to go home, I found that my transition into regular life and routine was easier than it had been before. Although I was tired, I was not exhausted and bloated from the experience. I felt pretty great!

A pep talk for a friend.

My friend is on a message board with me. On that board, we discuss this stuff, among other things. When she first started "The diet according to Kris," she asked the following.

Friend: .....how do I fix this? I find that I eat to get full whenever I eat. If I eat, I can't just stop at a taste of something at night. So I may eat a (I'm SO SO SO embarrassed to share this) a bowl of ice cream, not full and want salt, so I find something salty... chips? crackers? cheese. Then I'm not full so I eat a slice of white toast or two. So, I want to eat something at my night snack that will make me feel full, but I know I've got to decide to be satisfied, not full.

Kris: Sweetie, it is about making a commitment. I am JUST like you. When AF (slang for our monthly visitor, Aunt Flo) was here last week I did just the kind of thing you are talking about. Don't be embarassed. That is why you need to be CONSCIOUS of what you are eating. That is the whole goal of rules #1 and 2. You have to decide, when you wake up in the morning, to eat like a civilized human being (I say this to myself, I'm not trying to be demeaning).

Take an index card and write: 8:30, 11:00, 1:30, 4:00, 6:30, and 8:00 on it, (or whatever times you've decided to eat. Never more than 3 hours between). Eat only at those times, period. But, at those times, eat well. Pairing a carb and a protein really is satisfying, it is. You won't be stuffed, but you can chug two glasses of water and say, "I get to eat again at x:00." If you really feel unsatisfied, eat a little more, but eat something healthy.

This morning I ate 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese with 2 canned pears on it. I wasn't satisfied. I'd had a crappy morning with my oldest child and I wanted to make pancakes and eat 10 of them. I took a shower and then went out and looked at the can of pears. They are 50 calories per serving. 3.5 servings in the can. I ate the rest of the can. They are pears packed in fruit juice. Those pears did not break my sugar rule. They are healthy, high in fiber, and relatively low in calories. I then drank my 2 glasses of water. I no longer wanted to eat everything in sight, nor did I want to eat 10 pancakes. I was sane enough, at that point, to say, "I get to eat again at 11:00."

I promise you that if you eat good food often, you will be less likely to binge in the evening. My guess is that in the business of being a mom, you really don't eat that much all day, or if you do, it isn't that healthy. Then, in the evening, your body relaxes and you eat most of your calories then. I do it too, when I'm not conscious of my eating. This used to happen to me every Sunday. I'd get everyone out the door and in the car for church and I'd think, "crap, I didn't eat." Then, when I got home 3 hours later, I'd eat 3 meals worth of food, mostly crap, because I was starving.

Stupid eating comes from long stretches of NOT eating, or not eating carbs and protein together. I could give you countless examples. The morning I rush out, grabbing just a piece of toast is the morning I grab the donut off the table in the teacher's lounge. The night I eat meat and veggies but no carbs is then night I eat a bowl of ice cream. When I eat my 5 meals, and include the foods listed on the "Let's Get Started" part of the blog, I don't do dumb stuff.