Ok so I TOTALLY feel inadequate to write this post because I am about to reveal to all of you how little I know about healthy food/eating. BUT I am having SO much fun learning and experimenting with everything that I can't help but share. This part of my journey has been hard and challenging, but I have loved it because it has given me a topic to focus on and think about OTHER than the mundane tasks of life like cleaning and laundry (oh and that I am STILL pregnant). I am still so far from where I eventually want to be food wise but I have taken a few baby steps that have really helped me feel healthier and lose some inches.
In the past I have been terrible at diets. I love to eat a lot of food and I never could stick to anything that forced me to feel like I was hungry all the time. So for my journey I started researching healthy food on the Internet and of course looking up the word of wisdom in the Bible and Book of Mormon. I finally found the solution to my problem that worked with my personality and lifestyle. I honestly don't remember exactly how I came up with my game plan/goal, but I remember feeling pretty scared for a few weeks before I started because I wanted to try it, yet it was so different than what I was used to eating/cooking that I didn't know if I could actually do it.
But guess what... I am doing it (or at least working on it) and I am seeing some results as mentioned in my previous post. I realized that to reach my healthy weight I needed to eat healthy food that my body needed, and guess what... I didn't have to starve anymore! :) I also learned in my research that healthy foods do not include anything that says low fat, fat free, or sugar free. Some other basic things that I learned were that fats are good (the right ones), if I ate protein my body would feel satisfied longer and I would not have to eat as much, and even though I get to eat more than my other diets allowed in the past I still needed to listen to my body and STOP eating once I felt satisfied not stuffed.
So here is the simple/basic version of my food goal... cut out all processed foods and only eat the natural ones. Sometimes this approach to food is called "clean eating". Instead of eating lots of processed man made foods loaded with chemicals and things my body doesn't need I am trying to focus on eating fruits, veggies, meats, dairy, grains and other natural foods/spices that people have been eating and growing for thousands of years. Basically if the ingredients list on a food includes some weird thing that I don't recognize I won't eat it because it probably isn't very good for my body. (how is that for an elementary school answer)
So how am I doing so far? Pretty well, but I still "mess up" daily. At the beginning of my journey I thought that I would just search and find all the healthy/natural alternatives to all the bad stuff and substitute those things in. Then I wouldn't really have to change all the meals that we were already eating, just change the ingredients (if that makes sense). But I soon realized that some things just don't really have a "clean" substitute because they are things that our bodies just don't need to be eating at all.
So what things have I cut out/changed already?
These are foods that I no longer eat:
-Cream of (fill in the blank) This was the first thing I cut out. No more creamy casseroles for us. Surprisingly I don't miss it at ALL and the thought of eating it kind of makes me sick now.
-Cream cheese
-Sour Cream
-White flour
-White Sugar
-Frozen prepared foods (frozen burritos, pizzas, etc.)
-Crackers
-Chips
-Soda pop
-Store bought bread items (unless it is from the bakery and I only get it when I am feeling lazy)
-Cereal (except I do sneak some corn Chexs every now and then)
-Anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup
-Vegetable oil (still working on cutting out Canola Oil and switching it for coconut oil and olive oil)
Before I started this journey I cooked with A LOT of processed foods so unfortunately I had to do quite a bit of changing to reach my goal. I basically do not cook any of the dinner meals that I used to (remember how I had created a two month menu with grocery lists a few months ago? Well we maybe only eat one or two of those meals today. All of the other meals involved processed foods and I had to cut them out.) and I also changed most of our breakfast and lunch menus.
So what do we eat now?
Breakfast:
Lots of eggs, turkey bacon and oatmeal for breakfast. I have a few muffin and oatmeal dishes that I like to throw in occasionally and for special breakfasts we have whole wheat waffles and real maple syrup.
Lunch:
Some sandwiches (without the processed deli meats and peanut butter with only peanuts in it), Salads (haven't given up my salad dressing yet, just use less at this point), and leftovers from dinner. Lunch is the hardest meal for me because McKay usually takes the leftovers and I get tired of coming up with things. Sadly I still miss my Mac and Cheese that used to be a staple at our house. But this week I started doing smoothies at lunch time and they have been a fun change for the normal.
Dinner:
Basically a new meal every night since I haven't gathered tons of ideas yet. But I LOVE experimenting so it has been fun. When we have meat we focus on lean meats like chicken and turkey. Someday we will try fish (McKay wants to, but I am not really a fish lover so we will see). This is the meal that I really focus on getting the veggies in and so we will usually have at least two different ones with each meal. Pinterest has been a lifesaver with dinners and I have found LOTS of delicious "clean" meals on there.
Snacks:
As mentioned previously I have chosen to eat lots of small meals throughout the day instead of three big ones. Since I am pregnant I have been eating about 6 meals a day and plan to cut it back to 4 meals a day after the pregnancy. I have found this to be best for me and my situation so that I don't eat too much. Before changing my diet and trying to listen to my body more I honestly believe that the "full" feeling/signal that our body sends us when we are full was not working with me. I had ignored it too much and so it stopped sending it. Happily I have slowed down and focused on not eating too much and the signal has returned. :) Some of the snacks that I eat are plain yogurt with berries and honey, string cheese, toast, fruit (we each lots of bananas around here), egg sandwich, and cucumbers.
What do we drink?
Water and milk (good thing we love them both so much) Soda has never been a temptation so that wasn't hard. I try and drink between 8-12 glasses of water a day and then basically spend the rest of my day in the bathroom. lol Good thing I am right by one most of the day :)
How do I motivate myself to stay on track:
So even though I feel better and have more energy when I eat this way, I am still often tempted to go back and eat the way that I used to because it is easy and tastes good in the moment. Luckily there are a few things that I have helped me focus and stay (mostly) on track.
-Tell people about my goal. Hence why I am sharing it with all of you. :) It is very motivating for me if I have people who are expecting me to stay on track. McKay especially has helped encourage me to keep going and supports me with each step. Never once has he complained about the *strange* food that we were eating. (probably mostly because his dad is more of a health nut than I am so he is used to it)
-Remove temptations from my house. I will talk about desserts in a minute, but basically I don't allow the junk food to stick around my house very long so when a craving hits I can't just go to the pantry and eat some chips. There is nothing there for me to eat.
-Enjoy the results. Yep I congratulate myself on every little success that I have even if it is just a pat on the back.
-Have realistic expectations. Don't expect to loose all the weight in one month. The slower it comes off the slower it will go back on. This has been a big one for me. I truly did not believe I would see ANY changes in how I felt or looked until after I was pregnant. So actually being able to see a difference (even if it is so small that no one else can see it) has really given me motivation to keep going.
-Know WHY you are eating this way. I have learned that I am not just eating this way because I want to lose weight , but because it is better for us. I have learned more about the chemicals and preservatives in the junk food and I don't WANT to be eating that stuff.
-Make it a life style change. It has taken me 6+ months to purge my pantry and get rid of most of the junk. That is a LONG time! But it is now a part of us. I am not stressed that I will give up these changes tomorrow or next month. We might have some bad weeks here and there where we order a pizza or eat some white pasta but we will get back on track quickly because these changes are our new normal.
Desserts:
This is one category that I haven't touched at all. I haven't tried to make "healthy" ones or change what I was already doing. We just eat the same things that we always have. But I have changed my mind set on them. Before changing the normal food we eat I had this mind set that in order to be a good wife/mother I NEEDED to have treats/desserts for my family to enjoy on a regular basis. I would try and keep things around the house and available for McKay to eat. Well guess who usually ate them...me (McKay isn't a very good dessert eater). So I stopped making them and now we NEVER have dessert around unless I am taking it to a party or a neighbors house. I will enjoy the treats while we are at the event, but once we get home I am coming up with all sorts of creative ways to get them OUT of my house. They are WAY too much of a temptation for me.
My food goals for the future:
To keep from boring you I will just give quick bullet points of things that I am still working on
-Switch from Canola oil to Coconut oil
-Avoid processed baby foods with baby boy
-Get Adalyn off of her addiction to nutragrain bars. :)
-Buy more organic things such as organic meats
-Make our own tortillas (excited to buy a tortilla press someday)
-Make my own pasta sauce and salad dressings
-Buy spelt and other grains and experiment making things with them
-Cut out brown sugar (I still use it in/on my oatmeal because I love it)
Well we have now reached the end of my VERY long story. Telling it has probably helped me more than any of you, but thanks for reading anyways. I am excited to see what the future holds and continue to learn more about health and nutrition. Sorry there aren't too many facts or details included in my story. I am no expert, just wanted to share a few things that have worked for me. Since this is obviously a topic that I enjoy discussing feel free to tell me your successes, finds, ideas or ask questions. I always love learning new things. :) Hope you are all having a great day!
