Steps to a healthier you

That right my inter-peeps. I've gone healthy.

I know...I'll give you a second to let the shock wear off.

Last week I started my Nutritional Science class and the first assignment involved the use of a food diary. {YIKES} I then had to weigh my food choices against the recommended servings from MyPyramid, which is the latest version of the Food Pyramid. You can go to MyPyramid Tracker and do the same if you'd like to check it out.

Turns out, though I thought I ate fairly good {not counting the splurges on baked goods} I found that the majority of the food I eat is basically empty calories. Lots and lots of calories...with absolutely no nutritional value.

So, I did some research {because I had to for the assignment} and found out which were the better foods and did all my grocery shopping based on that list. It took me FOR-E-VER to do my shopping this last time. Reading labels and comparing labels is rather time consuming. And this time I wasn't just quickly scanning the fat content like I normally did before. I was looking for the iron and calcium and vitamins and fiber that the food contained. I also had to check the ingredient list to make sure that foods saying they were multigrain, or whole wheat actually contained substantial amounts of those items. You'd be surprised at how many foods claiming to be better are really the exact same as the original.

Anyway...I have been eating this way for almost two weeks now. And let me tell you....I eat A LOT of food. I had no idea I could eat this much food and still stay within my limits. Turns out fruits and vegetables really are good for you. Crazy! :0)

Three cups of milk per day

Two cups of fruit per day

Three cups of vegetables per day

5.5 ounces of meats or beans per day

6 ounces of grains per day

See? Lots of food! I thought I had to be hungry to lose weight. I have already lost a pound, and honestly, I wasn't really even trying. I was just eating, and learning to eat while I did it. I can now say that I get a full days supply of all of the essential vitamins and minerals required each day....simply by eating. And not over-eating....just eating GOOD. I have never gone over my calorie recommendations, nor the fat recommendations. In fact, I'm usually on the low side...but I'm full. I am full...my tummy is happy.

And that makes me happy.

So, go check out the website. Fill out your food diary and see what you are getting out of your daily food intake. Are you healthy?

Dogs and Weight Loss

Just a few random ramblings here....

It is getting WARM outside! I am thrilled! The kids are playing outside and having a blast, the sun is shining through the windows warming the house up so that I feel like I need to turn on the air conditioner!, and I am getting the "itch". I am ready to get digging in the dirt. I'm so excited to be able to plant some tomatoes and cucumbers. Hopefully the dirt over here is better than at our last house. Nothing EVER grew there. We tried two years in a row and it all died or got eaten up by bugs {and yes, we did spray, but the bugs prevailed}. Keep your fingers crossed for the new garden over here.

My dilemma is what to do with the flower beds I want to put in the backyard. Dumb 5 month old puppy will destroy anything I plant. Toby is a Golden Retriever, so even though I say puppy, please do not picture in your mind a cute little puppy. He is ginormous already. I mean...look at that paw! And SO heavy....Anyway...though I have it all pictured out in my mind, I don't want to risk having him destroy all of my hard work. I'm feeling resigned to leaving it as is until he's better trained. But it makes me so sad because I had so many plans. It was going to be so pretty along my fenceline. Sigh....I'll just have to stick with getting the front of the house pretty. The previous owners kind of let it go.......

Moving on....I have started a "new" health plan. I'm a FOREVER dieter. I'm always on a diet. The problem is, I'm always cheating on my diet. I love food. Well, it's more like one of those love/hate relationships. I love it, but hate how it looks on my hips. You understand....Well, I've been in denial for a while now. I've been trying to tell myself that I'm not too bad, but my pants are telling me different. So frustrating. My scale has been off about 6 or 7 pounds for a LONG time now. I tried to tell myself that the scales at the doctor's offices were ALL wrong. ALL of them. I've been weighed on about three of them. They all stay pretty consistent with the unhappy numbers....but I refused to believe that was my true weight. Then, one unfortunate afternoon, I was at my mom's house and had to use her curling iron to finish getting ready for that evening and noticed her fancy new Weight Watchers scale. I stepped on....I was crushed. Her scale was like the doctor's scale. What is truly pathetic....I still tried to just ignore it. Blissfully ignorant! My weight wasn't so bad....and I continued looking at the lower number on my scale.

Problem occurred when I started looking at some more recent pictures of myself. Now, I'm not saying that I'm fat. I don't think that I am. But, I am flubby. No muscle...I could flex my arm muscles all I wanted and nothing would happen. :0) And my cute pants that fit last year, are super tight. So, I broke down. I went and bought a new scale. The number that looks back at me is not a happy number. So, I've been exercising my fanny off for two weeks now. I'm feeling better, but the number hasn't changed...I complain to hubby and then my smart aleck hubby says...well, maybe it's all of the Swiss Rolls and Laffy Taffy you've been eating. What? How dare he? .....yeah. It's totally true. I have the worst sweet tooth. It's bad. I love cakes, especially cupcakes with frosting, and I love purple and green laffy taffy. May my teeth rot forever....So....yesterday I buckled down. I'm going back to how I lost the baby weight. I use sparkpeople.com. It's basically just a nutrition and fitness tracking website. It helps you to count your calories and stick to your weight loss goals. You are held ACCOUNTABLE for everything you eat. I did great yesterday...let's see how long I can make this work....

Because...now, on top of that last 5 pounds that I was "dieting" to lose before..I've got that new 6 or 7 pounds of denial weight to lose. 12 pounds people....Wish me luck!

Enough already!

So, I've decided I'm just going to let myself go until after Christmas. So much good food, so little time. I can't control myself any longer! I've tried to be good. If I knew naughty food was on the menu at the place I was going...I would eat super light all day long. But honestly...it's getting old.

So, I asked Jaysen if he'd still love me if I let myself go....he assured me that as long as I wasn't TOO big....he'd be ok. (doesn't that make you feel warm and fuzzy? sheesh!) He realized I was slightly joking, so he being such a witty one, bantered back. It's what I love about him! I can't help it!

I'm going for it! I'll let you know how it goes. Sure, I'll be upset after the fact. But don't we all start our New Years diets soon anyway? I'll Tae Bo my way back into shape. ;0)