The Spoon Theory

Today I'm not adding a recipe.  I probably should, because I've spent the last few days on the liberal diet instead of the strict with an occasional oops added in, so it would help me focus if I'd put a couple of recipes down here, but it's late and I'm tired and worn out.  I've had a few stressful days, and like most people, it's harder for me to care about what I eat when I'm stressed.  In fact, I prefer to eat poorly then as a "reward"- why do we think this way?  I don't know, but most of us do.  I've actually done marvelously compared to what I would have done even six months ago at the same level, so even without perfection, I'm pretty pleased with myself overall.  It's important to praise yourself, by the way.  If you tell yourself you're a jerk and worthless or if you tell yourself you rock, you'll believe it.  Your brain believes what you tell it, so you'd better tell it something worth listening to.

So, anyway, I ran across The Spoon Theory about 2 or 3 years ago in my studying about fibromyalgia.  It is THE best story to explain to someone who doesn't have a chronic illness what it is like for those of us who do, particularly those of us with "invisible" chronic illnesses, since we often don't look sick; many times I have felt guilty about having to use my handicapped parking tag, even though getting from the car to the door of the grocery store took a monumental effort a year ago, but because I didn't look sick, people would look at me like I was using the system.  It made me tempted to limp to placate their judgments.

The lady who wrote The Spoon Theory has lupus, but the story is pretty much the same for people with things like fibromyalgia or any other chronic illness.  In fact, a lot of us with fibro spread this story around and consider ourselves "spoonies".  I even put a spoon in a frame on my wall to remind me to slow down and listen to my body (which includes what I put into it, actually, even though that isn't the point of the story).  All of this will make more sense after you read the story:

The Spoon Theory

My spoon on the wall