Healthy, Positive Thinking!

ahhh... ok so i feel really good. I was so mad at myself for falling off of my wagon these past few months.. throughout the winter really. I had gained all my weight back that i lost, but now i've come to the conclusion that the past year was just the very beginning of my realization that i can be a healthy person. I have learned how to eat healthy, and learned that i CAN get out there and be active. Living in the country for so long, despite ppl thinking that you'd actually get outside more, I became so inactive cuz i drove everywhere, and didn't do a whole lot. Now i bike, walk, go to the gym, swim, and buy my own groceries. I must say too, that I am very good at buying groceries. Many people go to the grocery store and get tempted to buy all the crap. I find that my trip to the grocery store is quite therapeutic and I actually get motivated and re-motivated by buying really healthy things. (tonite was a grocery night and went great.) i've also concluded that it may be a bit more expensive to eat healthy (not sure if this is even true) but as i put away the contents of my grocery bags tonite, i thought to myself, if i have to invest a little more to ensure that i am eating healthy and preventing major diseases in my life, then im sure as hell going to do it.

I have cut out fast food since may 14th. I did slip up once as i had arbys with my friend kevin. However, I am proud of the fact that instead of completely binging after dropping kevin off (as i usually assume that because i gave in i might as well really binge,) I went back to my healthy habits.

Speaking of healthy habits, I also have to address the fact that aside from my addiction to fast food, I have adopted pretty healthy eating habits in the last year. For example: i rarely eat sandwiches. My sister once told me a long time ago about a friend of hers who lost a bunch of weight by cutting out sandwiches and limiting her carbs. I couldn't even imagine cutting out sandwhiches at that time. HOwever now, I find that sandwhichs are rarely made in this house. My milk is always skim, my bread is ALWAYS whole grain or whole wheat.

The contents of my shopping cart are always as follows:

- fresh fruit (apples, oranges, bananas, and the occaisional tropical seasonal fruit.. strawberries, cherries etc.
- fresh veggies (broccoli, lettuce, spinich, green onion, tomatoes, cucumbers)
- boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
- salmon
- canned veggies, soups, canned pineapple
- canned salmon or tuna
- skim milk
- eggs
- marble or mozza cheese ( i have pretty much cut out processed cheese)
- low-fat yogart and lots of it
- cottage cheese
- whole grain pasta
- canned tomatoes
- frozen fruit/veggies
- whole grain/whole wheat bread - i like to buy pita bread lately
- high fiber cereal (goLean cruch is my fav right now)
- today i bought almonds

This is the bulk of my grocery list and sometimes i supplement with condiments, like calorie-wise salad dressings, low fat miracle wip (today i bought fat-free)
we always use extra virgin olive oil for cooking.

if anyone has any suggestions for good snacks or anything, please leave me a note.
(not that anyone actually reads this..lol)

I am happy to report that i have pretty much cut out processed cheese, and kraft dinner, chinese pre-packaged noodle soups. So, if i can continue cutting out fast food, my diet will pretty much consist of the above. Fast food is where my downfall is, because i eat healthy at home, but when im out is when i give in to all the processed, high-glycemic index foods that are so tempting and addicting.

My blood pressure the other day at shoppers was 112/78 and 106/77 which i was ecstatic about! (last year and throughout my heavy stages my systolic has been up to 140's.

A non-scale victory (NSV) for the week: my purple scrub pants are way looser and they are now within acceptable ranges to wear to work! (the were painted on me before 2 weeks ago)
I've started writing down the foods im eating in a little food journal. Hope i can keep this up.
In order to continue supporting myself in a healthy lifestyle, i have to surround myself with healthy thinking, healthy actities, and healthy people! To contribute to this, i have gone to health websites like 3fatchicks.com and sparkpeople.com. I also have developed a habit of buying health magazines like "shape" and "fitness" and even "womens health" i find that flipping thru these mags really inspires me and sets my thinking right.


yay me! good day, and now.. a good night.

A great evening walk

So... with renewed energy i make my first blog entry in eons. I am now on day 9. I realize there have been many "day 9's" in the past but I shouldn't let that phase me, and I do realize that changing my lifestyle will forever be a daily struggle, one that i will always have failures and successes in. With that said, I feel like im doing great and I am in the same groove as i was in last summer with all my success. I have been going to the gym (I have joined spa lady and its great) and have been doing more cardio than i even did last year! Andrew gave/lent (not sure which) me his mp3 player and loaded it with good work-out tunes. I feel great when I am working out. Tonight, on top of working out AND breaking out the bike for the first time this season, Andrew and I went on a walk downtown by the golfcourse, and down by the river. It felt amazing to be outside. When I am elevating myself and doing physical things I feel like a different person. I feel like I am so much closer to being the person I want to be. We climbed a long stair case and I was out of breath, but it felt so amazing to be high up and i could see the river and all the trees below me and that feeling is indescribable. Andrew was also such a good person to go with because he really is patient with me and goes at my pace. Also, I am not afraid to admit my weaknesses to him and he doesn't judge me for them. I am so excited to encorporate evening walking in the river valley into my exercise routines for the summer. I would love to maybe go on some hikes closer to the end of the summer and maybe in the fall. I Do still get discouraged and earlier today was one of those days. I can't really describe why. I have lost 5 lbs in 8 days. that is a huge accomplishment, and Im off to a great start. But i find that when i weigh myself, even if i've lost, I am reminded of how far i have to go and also, how i've done the "lost 5 lbs" before and all the times i've failed. It is for this reason that I will try to only weigh myself every 2 weeks or even less frequent. I know that some ppl would say that weighing myself should be a weekly thing to make sure I am doing thigns right and the weight loss is working, however if i risk feeling bad about myself and falling off the wagon, i dont see it as a good thing. I should instead go by how I feel, how my clothes fit, and so on. I will rely on the confidence i gain, adn the compliments i receive from my coworkers and family/friends. Last year i received LOTS and i think i will again because i know im going to make this work.

A large element in my success is cutting out the fast food, which i have successfully done so far. Fast food is SUCH an addiction for me. I hate and love it at the same time. I want it out of my diet. Perhaps in the future It can become an occaissonal treat, but i really want to be the kind of person that has fast food extrememly infrequently. I wish that andrew could understand a bit more about my addiction to fast food. He says he understands but im not sure he really knows how when he eats fast food infront of me i really feel like crying because i want it so bad and how hard it is for me to go with him to mcdonalds and watch him eat it. I guess i shoudln't expect my lifestyle change to be everyone else's change too... but it really is like dangling cocaine infront of a recovering addict.

I am writing down what i eat and so far my diet has been really really good. Im so excited to be making dinners at home and packing lunches for work adn actaully havign good breakfasts! Im excited to get up in the morning and see how well i will do!

here's to another great start!