Pain Can Be a Powerful Motivator

Last night I slept through the night for the first time since...........I honestly don't remember the last time I slept through the night.  I am a notorious insomniac and light sleeper.  Good thing Superman could sleep soundly on a freight train.  On top of that, I'm usually woken up at least once or twice by some sort of pain.  It could be my allergies causing a sinus headache, the recurrent stomach pain that has managed to evade full explanation (despite some rather unpleasant diagnostic procedures I got to enjoy while we were in Manila.  Good times.), or my back or neck hurting from being propped up on enough pillows for the whole family to sleep on in an attempt to prevent the recurrent stomach pain.  I haven't slept flat in over two years.  I actually feel inverted when I try.

Lately, the stomach pain has been my night time visitor.  Two nights ago, I woke up about 5am with the 'knife' in my stomach hurting so sharply I just wanted to curl into a ball.  Prilosec, pepto, aloe vera juice.....none of my usual rescues were working.  It was miserable.  Probably second only to the migraines.  I'm pretty certain it was because I had indulged in some things I knew I shouldn't have - grains and I just do not get along. 

This time, however, the pain was useful.
 
I've been slowly trying to transition us to the primal lifestyle (I'm working on a post about what exactly that is, but for now you can visit this page if you're curious Primal Blueprint 101.)  We'd be there already except Mad Scientist is recovering from a tooth removal, and I didn't have time to fix a bunch of soft foods that were primal before hand.  Superman and I are the furthest along, but we'd both been sneaking in a few non-primal things here and there.  (I make a mean salsa, which is inextricably tied to tortilla chips in our minds, and those darn chocolate oreos hiding in the cupboard jumped out at me, right into my mouth...really....)  Yesterday, after the stomach pain, and the sleep-deprived headache that accompanied it, I was fed up. 

I had a little milk in a small amount of coffee to ward off caffeine withdrawal turning the headache into a migraine, and that was it.  All meat and veggies and fruits the rest of the day.  Every time I was tempted to grab something bad, I remembered the stomach pain, and I was able to deflect the oreos with not-quite-ninja-like ease.  I searched Earth Clinic for natural acid reflux/GERD remedies, many of which I had used previously in Manila.  Back to the oh-so-yummy DGL (a form of licorice) chewables, coconut oil dissolved in a cup of herbal tea, L-Glutamine and digestive enzyme tablets with each meal, and aloe vera juice before bed.  Still trying to get the apple cider vinegar down before each meal.  That's one big, tart step to climb.

I can't say that the stomach pain has miraculously disappeared, or the allergies, but I SLEPT!!  No 2, 3, 4, 5am trips to the medicine cabinet for decongestant or antacids.  This is huge for me. 

I am so NOT a morning person, but when I woke up, I actually had the energy to make my boys sausage and eggs for breakfast.  I loved watching the snow fall outside as Superman and Mad Scientist discussed the servers Superman would be working on today and other computer jargon that makes no sense to me over their warm breakfasts Mommy had made them.  (I really think Superman is going along with this primal thing because he foresees more breakfasts like this in his future, instead of a cold bowl of cereal!)

You couldn't pay me to wake up feeling like I did yesterday morning, but I'm grateful that now I have a specific motivator to call to mind when temptation or laziness strikes.  More than just the vague "I want to lose weight" or "I want to feel better," "I don't want to feel like the little creature from Aliens is trying to claw at my insides again" is quite the motivator.  Now to go try to suck down that apple cider vinegar.......