I truthfully don't know what kick started it. It might have been a whole summer of doing extreme exercise (possibly even more extreme than my 13 years of dance as I grew up), and my body just naturally wanted more healthy things and less sugar to fuel it. It might have been having my health examination thing for Pro Boxer's work and got sick and tired of seeing his perfectly normal and nothing even in the mild warning, and my body fat and cholesterol levels in the extreme warning. I'm not entirely certain which one it was. I'd like to say that my fascination for all things Japan also might have fueled it - sometime in my second year of taking Japanese classes, I started disliking the idea of a sweet breakfast.
Pro Boxer asked me as we started getting out of bed one day, "What do you want for breakfast?"
I responded, "Rice."
"Just rice?"
"I don't think I want just rice, but I can't think of anything else that I would want with it..."
For someone who loves cold cereal (ahem... me), that was a strange conversation to have. So it is possible that my fascination for Japanese things also might have spurred it all on. More than likely it is a combination of them all.
After getting back my results from the healthy lifestyle examination thing, it came with a booklet about how to improve your diet. And I actually read through it. O.o And tore the pages out that I needed most and put them on my fridge. Then I made a few simple starting points and wrote them on the white board on my front door:
Butter not margarine
more fruits & veggies
Instead of going through my pantry and getting rid of the things that I was avoiding, I just continued to eat them until they were gone, and then started buying things that did fit the criteria. I'm also trying to avoid processed (mainly freezer meals), but I'm not cutting them out entirely. Those chicken quesadillas that Pro Boxer gets from Sam's Club are just too tasty to never buy them again, and who doesn't love a good fish stick meal every now and again?
All that said, however, we still have margarine in the house. I wasn't sure how to change my lifestyle enough to have butter around - when it doesn't spread if left in the fridge where it is supposed to be. Instead, we moved to Smart Balance. Yes, that is a margarine name. And apparently it is good for balancing out cholesterol. (Score!) It doesn't spread nearly as well as Not-Butter, but it spreads better than butter, so I went with it.
Despite how HFCS is crossed off above, my sweet tooth isn't entirely quenched. So I have allowed myself one high sweet "serving" in one day. Once I had that rule in place, there were a few days when I didn't have any. Because I didn't want to "waste" my high sugar treat, and then by the end of the day, nothing sounded good anymore, so I didn't force myself to have anything. Oh, there is plenty around to tempt me, especially when I go to the store. However, it seems that lately I look at the candy isle and think... "Nah, I don't really want that," and the temptation isn't nearly as strong as it once was. I even have *gasp!* Halloween Oreos hiding above my sink. I haven't touched them in weeks. Blasphemous, right?
On top of the sugar rule, I have been really trying hard to drink more water. I think that one rule I fail at more than others. Depending on if we go to restaurants also makes a difference with my "one high sugar thing a day" rule, because as far as something to drink - if we are talking fast food, the only drink that sounds even remotely tasty, is Dr Pepper, and there were a few times when I went to a restaurant twice in one day, and hence - had twice the Dr Pepper. I have an app for my iPhone that once my weight is plugged in, helps me track my water intake (and reminds me every hour and half) to get the best amount of water. I've reached 100% only twice. We are trying to remedy that, but water still is... pretty nasty to me. >_<
All this has narrowed down to one thing:
I had baby carrots, toast, and water for lunch. A peach shall be my dessert once I finish this post (and it doesn't count as my high sugar serving - because it is healthy sugar ^_^). Truthfully, I couldn't handle even a half serving of the carrots without adding ranch, but hey, ranched carrots are better than no carrots - and I didn't cover them in the ranch, I had a reasonable amount. Carrots are surprisingly sweet, if you pay attention to the taste. It surprised me when my friend told me that, but then when I had one, I was surprised to taste it.
I've taken a fond liking of Grape Nuts. I gave my friend one and after she sampled it, she said, "Why do people force themselves to eat this stuff?" We've had enough confession time in this post, so why not mention this? I really like it. I add some raspberries or strawberries, or if there is a berry shortage in the house, I just use honey, and it is just as tasty. It has been my chosen breakfast for at least 2 weeks. One serving has 7 grams (se-ven grams!!) of fiber, and usually I have two servings for one breakfast.
Again, this post doubled in size (from what I envisioned in my mind) once I started typing it, but I will also mention the fact that I'm actually counting my calories. Never thought that would happen. I'm too particular about the numbers that I worry that they would be off, or I didn't measure it right, or whatever.
Well, I have another app - it's called "Lose it." It was free. There are all sorts of ways to enter foods into it. From scanning bar codes to adding your own recipes! In the exercise section, you can add housework to your exercise and it gives you an estimate of how much you might have burned! There is even an option to put trumpet playing in there, and it will tell you how many calories you burned. Crazy... To make things even more mind blown - I actually enjoy counting my calories. I've gone over my calorie count only twice since I started it. When I change my weight (because it is going down) my calorie budget goes down. Which makes sense, after I thought about it.
So yeah. This sugar loving woman is eating more healthy, and it is astonishing. I hope this in combination with kempo will help (finally!) get rid of the baby weight I accumulated from my three kids.
P.S - if you are too lazy to look up what the Japanese phrase is in the title, it essentially means, "You're lying, right?!"
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