IsHi Brooke and team,
I haven’t been following my protocol, hardly ever. I’ve been thinking about this a lot and doing models, and I think what it comes down to is that when I’m in the moment, my unintentional thought is “my priority is getting through the day over following my protocol.” I want my priority to be to get through while following my protocol! For some background I’m an MD in my residency training so I’m putting in long hours and my thoughts are “I am physically and emotionally drained, I’m in survival mode, This [non-protocol food] is going to be the only joy in my day” etc., and then I choose to eat whatever is available and/or buffer. I’m struggling to hold on to my intentional thoughts in these moments (“none of this is stressful” and “the best way to care for my body and mind is to stay on protocol” and “I am strong enough to do this without buffering”). I’m not sure I believe these thoughts with my whole heart now that I’m looking at them.

Despite all this, the thought “none of this is stressful” which I think I stole from one of Brooke’s podcasts has been a game changer for me – I am much less rattled by intense/stressful situations in the hospital. And I have lost weight even without following my protocol exactly, so I am grateful for that too!