Food

I've always had a weird relationship with food. I love food. I love to smell it, cook it, eat it, read about it, talk about it, watch it being cooked and so forth. I love tasting fresh strawberries, ice cream, the perfect burger, creamy brie. I love planning what I'm going to eat for special occasions. I love thinking about where we're going to go out and what I want to try on the menu. What I'm not good at with food is stopping. I've never been able to stop eating. It's like my brain doesn't know when my stomach is full, until often times I feel sick. 

I've gotten better lately though. I've changed what I eat, how I eat, and when I eat. I'm not promising this is going to last forever, but for now I feel like I'm doing pretty good. 

I'm not the best meal planner ever, but I've been working on it. Rather than plan exactly what I'm eating each night for sure, I plan 5 meals for the week and then cook them based on how I feel that night. Probably more work in the end, but I like being able to say I don't feel like fish tonight. Today I want pork roast, etc. Breakfast and lunch have definitely been a big change though! I do plan those because I tend to not be especially hungry at breakfast but I do know I need to eat. So, I make myself eat something! I try to have fruit, vegetables, healthy grains and proteins. Some days they are all in one in a smoothie :) Others I do a veggie omelet with turkey bacon and fruit. Lunch has been mainly salad, with other days having leftovers. My stomach can't handle salads every day so leftovers are king for me!

I've also given up diet soda. Which at first was SO hard. I missed it. But, the other day after a particularly bad stomach day I bought a tiny ginger ale because some days that's the only thing that can settle it. And it burned so bad going down that I ended up not drinking it! Finding something new to calm my stomach those days is going to be interesting :) I'm thinking maybe ginger candies. I used to find them at Trader Joe's but since we don't have one I'm not sure where to go! Maybe Fresh Market will have them.....

Anyway, a little off topic. But, the point is in the last few months a lot has changed! I still go out with friends occasionally. I still eat things that aren't the best. But, I'm trying really hard to live by the 80/20 rule. And not having the 80 be bad food and 20 be good for you food :) Which is so much easier, right? 

I've also really re-dedicated myself to my workout routine. I do pretty much the same thing every week. Boring to some I'm sure but I crave stability and schedules so it makes me happy! My week looks like this:

Monday - rest day

Tuesday - morning class

Wednesday - morning class

Thursday - morning class

Friday - gym usually 30 min cardio and then 30 min weights

Saturday - zumba

Sunday - gym usually 30 min cardio and then 30 min weights

This is seriously the most active I've EVER been. I've never been a 6 day a week gym person. But, now I get twitchy if I don't go and sweat some. Which is weird. Some days it's like I'm a new person. Which I like, but others it's just weird. I don't know how to explain it otherwise!

Basically, I'm feeling good. Both about what I eat and how active I am. It's nice seeing the scale go down (slower than I would like!) as well :) Hopefully this is something I can keep up for the long haul!