Good Eatin'

A common subject I've been encounter lately with people is "weight loss." I suppose it is generally a common subject and always has been, especially amongst woman--I find that most woman typically want to weigh less than they actually do. Lately, I've been running into the subject a lot more than normal...friends, family, even with strangers at the grocery store. There are people everywhere working on losing a few extra unwanted pounds.

So I wanted to share my journey over the last year, because I am one of them I was one of them.

I weighed the most I ever had just before getting pregnant. I was not overweight, but I was about 10lbs heavier than my "normal" weigh-in, and of course any extra body fat is never welcomed. And I could be wrong, but I don't think any woman will say she enjoys seeing the scale go up every month at her doctors visit...even if she is falling madly in love with the baby inside her belly. Seeing numbers on the scale that you've never seen before, regardless of the circumstance, can be depressing.

Obviously pregnancy is not the time to work on losing weigh, so after birthing a tiny little 6lb 10oz. baby (then why did I gain nearly 7x that much?) I was ready to do something about it.

I came to a realization that I didn't want to just lose extra pounds. It wasn't just an issue about the number figure of weight I wanted to lose. I wanted to lead a healthier lifestyle, to actually change the way I was living in the whole world of food and exercise. I didn't just want to work my butt off to lose weight and then go right back into my old habits... I wanted to be healthy, inside and out. I wanted to have energy. I wanted to feel good about myself.

I feel like generally I've always been a fairly healthy eater. I've always been conscious about what I consume, my vegetable intake, my fruit intake, I've always reached for the whole grains and etc. etc. But I've also always really liked my sweets. I still do, I admit it. I like chocolate. A lot.

I started realizing that eating healthy is more than just eating healthy foods. It's eating a balance of different kinds of healthy foods and watching your portions. If I feed my body mostly grainy food all day, mixed with a little protein here or there and possibly throw in a couple of fruits...all healthy, all good choices individually...I'm hungry all day and my sugar craving is constant. Or if I eat nothing but veggies all day long...I am hungry and unsatisfied. But if I eat a balance of protein, grains, good fats, vegetables and fruit from the start of the day onward I am more satisfied and have less (if any) sugar cravings, I have more energy, am more happy and have an easier time making healthy choices all day long.

Throwing in exercise on top of that only helps. Tremendously. Exercising makes you feel happier, it makes you feel more confident and it gives you a drive to make healthy decisions. I truly believe weight loss is a result of healthy diet and exercise, they go hand-in-hand. Sure, you can lose a little weight just by walking a couple miles everyday--and you can lose some just by eating healthy for awhile, but you really see the results when you combine the two together.

And the best part: it becomes habit. It becomes normal. And you feel great.

I don't want to step on any toes, but I'm not a big believer in diets. Only because diets generally don't give your body what it actually needs, are used only for a specific amount of time to achieve a result and then when they're done you're left hanging and you go back into your old routine. I believe in just changing your eating habits--healthy foods and portion control is all you need, mixed with exercise. And WATER. Water is vital.

Not only does eating healthy make you lose weight, but you feel better. You feel so much better. If I go a day without eating a single vegetable, I feel it. If I snack all day on sugary foods my body freaks out and I feel tired, crabby and lazy all day.

I'm not saying that I have a perfect healthy lifestyle, because I don't. Far from it. I can always improve. Improve in my exercise routine and improve in my decisions. I admit there are weeks I lack in the eating department, and I have an incredible love for chocolate. I can practice more self-control when I go out and there is dessert involved, and after supper is the worst time when I get a sugar craving and I'm tempted to indulge when I'm not really hungry.

Sidenote: I'm not saying that it's bad to partake in a little of that sugary goodness every now and then, because it's not. And I don't feel guilty about it about when I do. I'm not going to pass up a nice little chat with friends over a cup of coffee and cookies, or dessert and wine at a friends house. And lets just face it...goodies can sometimes make an occasion just that much sweeter. :)

It's all in moderation.

But back to point:

It has been a little over a year since I started being more conscious of my eating habits and since I started actively exercising. I lost a total of 55 pounds since Vienna was born, I am fifteen pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight and I've officially reached the goal that I set out to reach...which was to make those healthy decisions a lifestyle.

One of my first changes was that I stopped keeping sweets in my house. If they're not there, they don't tempt me. I have a bag of dove chocolates in my cupboard for every now and then when I need a chocolate fix, and that's about it. When I have company over I'll buy things and of course make dessert every now and then, but on a normal day we don't have junk food in our house. Unless you want to classify popcorn and graham crackers as junk food, which you could I guess...they're probably the most unhealthy thing in my cupboard. We typically snack on fresh vegetables, fruit, whole-grain or rye crackers, nuts, cheese, almond butter, peanut butter, granola and yogurt. I eat a green smoothie nearly everyday in place of a meal (usually breakfast), and make sure I get a sufficient amount of protein at every meal. Lunches often times consist of leftovers, salads, or sometimes just some veggies and a plain old peanut butter sandwich because I just really, really, like pb&j. For suppers I always serve of form of protein, vegetable(s) and some sort of grain--I'm not talented in the creative cooking department so I like to follow recipes and try new things. I try to stay away from boxed, canned or frozen foods and I always try to buy fresh produce, whole foods, and natural or organic when possible and according to our budget.

I like food. A lot. I eat probably 5-6 times a day--three meals and at least two snacks. I eat when I'm hungry and try not to overindulge. I get crabby when I don't eat--just ask my husband. My body does not function well on no or little food so I really try to make it a point to give it what it needs. And I drink water all day long. All the time. I rarely, if ever, have anything but water to drink (and a cup of coffee several times a week).

It has become habit for me, which is what I wanted. I really enjoy eating healthy, I enjoy feeding my family healthy food. I want to feel good after I eat, not sick. I want the food I put into my body to help it, not destroy it.

Food is a necessity. And it's such an enjoyable thing, after all, we were blessed with taste buds. And the more healthy you eat the more you enjoy those foods and the less you want the other junk. Many might reply with something like: "But eating healthy doesn't taste good." But I'm here to tell you that it really does. Honestly. It tastes good.

And it feels good.

And it gives good results all around.