Paleo diet

Paleolithic-style dish: seafood stew (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve heard a lot of people talking about the Paleo diet and how good they feel after being on it for a while.  I never really knew exactly what it was, assuming it was about eating unprocessed foods like the cave people did.  But when I looked it up I realized it’s similar to the clean eating diet, except no dairy, no grains…Hey, I know I’d be better off  eating foods that are as close to their natural state as possible, giving up sugar, and of course throwing out the soda.

But…but…no dairy, no grains…does that mean (gasp) no pizza?????  Who could live without pizza?  Like, forever?  And I gotta tell you, I’m not that fond of meat…I’m just not…this may sound crazy, but it makes me feel sluggish and too full for too long.  So I just can’t see myself being able to adhere to that kind of diet for very long.

I have given up dairy milk, I started paying attention a few months ago and realized I felt kind of congested every time I drank a glass of milk.  So I thought I’d do a little home based experiment, see how it would affect me to not drink it for a few weeks.  Didn’t drink any for that time, then started drinking it again and felt the congestion again.  So I decided to give it up…I thought it would be more difficult than it was, I’ve always really, really liked milk.  But I honestly haven’t missed it…I use almond milk on my cereal and like it.

And I’ve been eating more natural foods…a lot more fruits and veggies, I’ve even baked my own bread a couple of times.  Just this morning I baked an English muffin bread and it turned out pretty good…kind of chewy with an English muffin like texture (huh, imagine that!  Maybe that’s why they called it English muffin bread…go figure!). I haven’t given up my diet Pepsi yet, but I know I’m going to have to force myself to do it…nothing good for you in any soda, so that’s on my healthy to-do list.

But I just won’t be following the Paleo diet…clean eating is more my style…or even vegetarian.  What about you?  Do you adhere to a special diet?

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No sugar???

English: Magnum (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Okay, this Naturally Slim thing is harder than I thought it would be…not the eating only when hungry or stopping when you’re comfortable…I can pretty much handle that (most of the time).  And the eating slowly thing is okay…I’m a pretty slow eater anyhow.  But the eating only one thing at a time and having to decide when you’ve had enough of that and that it’s time to move on to the next food (knowing that you can’t go back to the previous food)…that’s hard.

But the most difficult thing for me is the no sugar rule…I mean, really…not even a bite of dark chocolate…no fruit unless it’s with a meal…no flavored creamers for my tea or coffee…Wow!!  Can anyone eat like this for an extended period of time, like forever?

Today I caved…I bought a box of Magnum ice cream bars.  I guess the only good thing I can say about that is the box only has 3 bars in it.  I ate one today and savored every single bite…those things are delish.  So, okay, I know this is all about getting healthy and losing weight, but isn’t learning to incorporate treats into your diet on occasion (and not overeat) part of learning to eat normally?  Or am I just trying to justify eating an ice cream bar when I’m not supposed to be eating any sugar?

Ah well, as Ann Romney said, “Stop it!  This is hard!”

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Life’s ups and downs

English: Jump! Deutsch: Spring! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Oh my…how in the world do you manage to face the ups and downs in your life and still maintain a positive outlook and cheerful attitude?  I know it can be done, I know people who do it.  And what?  Do they face less stress than the rest of us?  Do they not have problems?  Of course that’s not it.  We all know that’s not how it is.  Everyone has stress, everyone has problems.  Some folks simply handle those things better than others.

I’ve allowed the stress at work to affect my attitude even when I get home.  I don’t want to live like that.  One of the girls I work with (I was told, by a co-worker, that I should refer to the women I work with as “girls”, otherwise they feel as old as their mothers…hmm…) asked me if I was still walking and exercising daily.  When I told her I wasn’t, she asked me why.  When I told her I wasn’t doing anything like that because I’m depressed…well…that kind of hit me.

Do I not realize by now that daily exercise is the cure for depression?  That eating a healthy diet makes me feel better about everything else in my life?  That following my passion allows me to shake off the stress from work when I leave the building?  Uh…yeah…I do realize all of those things.  So why haven’t I been doing them?  I mean, I can only blame depression for so long…then there comes a time when I have to take responsibility for myself and do what I need to do to feel better.

I’m pretty much thinking that time is now.  Time to get back to exercising.  I’ve been eating better, more fruit and veggies, less vending machine food, less fast food, taking my lunch to work.  So I feel like I’ve taken a few steps in the right direction as far as food is concerned.  Now to add a few minutes of exercise to my daily routine.  And to spend at least some time every day doing something that I enjoy…whether that be writing, dancing, music, going for a walk in the park, hitting the farmers market…whatever…there are so many choices, I just need to convince myself to do something that makes me smile.

I want to wake up looking forward to the day ahead rather than dreading it.  And there’s no time like now to start this new way of dealing with life.  I’m going for it!

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A scolding from my doctor…

A diet rich in soy and whey protein, found in products such as soy milk and low-fat yogurt, has been shown to reduce breast cancer incidence in rats. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

…okay, she’s this little bitty fairly young thing, and sitting there mildly scolding me…I tried my best not to laugh at her…and I didn’t…laugh at her, that is.  We were discussing the lab work I’d had done last week…the results were not as good as they were a year ago…no real surprise to me, I know I haven’t been eating as well as I was and I haven’t been exercising much either.

None of the results were in bad ranges (and that’s a good thing), but the numbers had edged up a bit over last year’s numbers.  So she brought up losing weight…funny thing was, before I left the house to visit with her, I’d made out a grocery list chock full of fruits and veggies, with no pizza or ice cream.  We started talking about diet and she said she brings a big salad to work every day for her lunch, very rarely eats out.  Believe me, I know that’s the way to do it.

After I left, driving to Kroger, I started thinking about what I was doing to myself with poor diet and exercise habits.  Kind of silly, isn’t it?   The last time I ate food from a fast food joint, the entire time I was eating it, I kept thinking it wasn’t even really that good.

So, my little goal for myself is to lose 10 pounds by the time I go back to see her in July…totally do-able, don’t you think?  I bought some strawberries and veggies to cut up and make my world-famous faux Subway subs (on whole wheat sub buns)…that’s going to be lunch for the next several days at work.

Back to that little old journey toward health and fitness…got to keep myself from getting sidetracked so I can feel a bit better.

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This was a veggieful day…

lots and lots of veggies...and some fruit too

Okay, you have to know that I’m working at eating healthier…at one point in my live (well, several times in my life, actually) I ate a very healthy diet…lots of fruits and veggies, hardly any processed food…then…well, I reverted back to those old junk food eating ways…

 

Now I’m setting little weekly goals to get myself back to a more nutritious diet, a healthier lifestyle.  This week’s goal is to eat at least 5 fruits/veggies each day.

 

And guess what!!  I managed to do it today…lunch was a vegetarian taco salad…tasty and good for me!! I ended the  day with 2 fruits and 4 veggies…goal met!!

 

Oh…and a little teaser here…yesterday I ordered something that I’ve been wanting for a long, long time…hmm…what could that be???

Carrots instead of chips

That may not sound like a big deal to most folks, but it was a huge step in the right direction for me.  I just decided I need to start eating healthier again…I’ve been way too lax with my diet of late…like for the past several months.  Crazy!  So tonight, for dinner, I made a grilled cheese sandwich and was walking to the pantry to get the Doritos…U turned and walked to the fridge instead.  Pulled out the carrots.  Then decided to go for strawberries and angel food cake for dessert…not totally healthy, but so much healthier than I’ve been eating.

Why is this so difficult?  I know I feel better when I eat right.  I know I feel better when I exercise.  So why do I continue to do things that I know aren’t in my best interest and that will ultimately make me unhealthy, sick, or less fit?  I guess if I could figure this out, deal with the issues, and solve the problem I’d be writing best-selling weight loss/health and fitness books, right?

But today I feel like I was able to overcome temptation and do what I know I need to do…now to tackle tomorrow!

Planning to succeed in 2012

Oh I know, we’ve all made resolutions and broken most of them within a couple of weeks.  I think most of us have the best of intentions, but we don’t plan to succeed.  I think you have to really give it some thought.  Not just throw out the same old lose weight, get organized, save money resolutions that you’ve tossed out there practically every year.  It’s not about what you wish you could change, rather it’s about what you’re so tired of in your life that changing it is less painful than staying the same.

Over the past several weeks I’ve been giving this a lot of thought.  For me, I’m just so terribly tired of not feeling good, of having no energy, of being exhausted at the end of every work day, of climbing out of bed in the morning and stumbling around because I’m in so much pain, of not wanting to go anywhere because I’m tired and because I look like I do right now. 

I remember, not so long ago, feeling happy and excited about life.  I was running and enjoying it.  I was dancing with a smile on my face.  I was eating a healthy diet and getting a good amount of exercise and my body showed its appreciation with an excess of energy, strength to get through the day, and adequate sleep.

I want to feel like that again.  In order to do that, I’ll have to make some major changes in my life.  I’ll have to do a better job of planning my diet and my exercise routine.  I’ll have to get involved in a support system that will help me over the rough spots.  I’ll have to get back to eating a healthy diet because that’s what’s best for me.  I’ll have to deal with stress through exercise rather than through food.   And I’ll have to relearn to forgo the instant gratification of fast food in order to experience the return to health in the long-term.

As I said, I’ve been mulling this over for several weeks now.  I’ve come to the realization that I’m so tired of feeling like this.  So tired that it is more difficult to continue living like this than it is to make the necessary changes to return to fitness.

I’m planning to succeed.  I’m planning to regain my healthy lifestyle and become that fit person I was not so long ago.  Can I do it?  Oh yeah!!  Watch me succeed!

 

The long and winding road to fitness, day 93

Image via Wikipedia

Ahh…a day off work, a pleasant day weather-wise.  I didn’t accomplish a lot around the house, but I did sleep in until after 6 this morning…what a treat!  I also saw my new doctor for the first time this afternoon.  I think I’m going to really like her.  I have another appointment in a couple of months for some routine tests.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had a doctor that I’ve liked…so this was a good visit…at least as good as a visit to the doctor can be.  I did go ahead and get my flu shot, decided I didn’t want to get sick again this winter.

I walked today for 30 minutes and did some range of motion exercises and stretching.  Unfortunately I ate too much today.  A little over 2000 calories…darn it! 

I’m on vacation, well…sort of.  I’m going in early in the morning because we’re being visited by our zone vice president and the zone HR person.  I mean, you can’t hope to move up in the company and not be around for those kinds of visits, vacation or not.  So my vacation will resume as soon as they leave the building…nice! Keep your fingers crossed that we have a good visit…you also can’t move up in the company if you have bad corporate visits.  So…let’s hope all of our hard work over the past few weeks pays off.

 

The long and winding road to fitness, day 92

Image via Wikipedia

Whew!!  What a day!  Chris and I went in at 4 am, I think we both left feeling like we’d finally accomplished something…for a change!

I did a little upper body strength training and range of motion exercises for my shoulder along with some stretches before I left for work this morning…crazy, I know…but it does make me feel better.  Other than that, once again it was a lot of running around at work, a lot of going up and down a ladder today, so I feel like that’s a decent workout.  Only worked 10.5 hours today…who knows how long I’ll work tomorrow tho…another truck day…woohoo!

My eating was okay.  I at least had a few more fruits and veggies today than I’ve been getting.  Those grapes were great…I’ll definitely be taking more tomorrow, totally convenient and portable!  I finished the day with just under 1600 calories, so not bad.

My daily writing on my book, well on the background for my book, is coming along swimmingly.  I feel like I’m making some progress.  Finally having the discipline to work on it every day is paying off.

Well, I’m afraid I’m going to have to go to bed rather sooner rather than later tonight. It’ll be another early day tomorrow…aren’t they all?  I hope you’ve had a peaceful, fun-filled weekend and are looking forward to the week!

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 91

Image by Jon Person via Flickr

I really, truly had fleeting thoughts about not posting tonight.  I am so exhausted, worked 12 hours and we were busy, busy, busy…so busy, in fact, that we’re going in at 4 am tomorrow…ugh!  I bet anyone who never worked in retail is surprised to find out how many hours we work and how early we go in.  There’s just always so much to do.  But I’m here writing a little before I go upstairs to soak in a hot tub and then go to bed, hopefully to sleep.

I finished the day with almost 1600 calories and the only exercise of the day was what I got in at work.  I don’t really know what else I can do on days like today, days when I’m already tired and hurting when I wake up in the morning and I know that it won’t get any easier over the course of the day.  So I guess I’ll just have to let it be, do what I can do on the days I can do it and not stress about it the rest of the time.  I need to make it through the next three months and then I can get a little rest, maybe take a little time off, and spend that time improving my fitness level so that I don’t feel like this at this time next year.

So, did you do anything fun today?  Did you have good weather?  Do any shopping?

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