Note: These posts will start to become real time and I will post on a regular basis. I am currently 6 weeks into this process and am working on catching up. There has to be a back story to a decent character, after all :)
Day 1 was very intimidating. I didn't know what to think, I didn't know how to act, I didn't know what to do. I felt like an alien shoved into this strange environment and expected to know how to live without any adjustments; like I was supposed to just know how to exercise properly and what correct amount of calories to consume and like I should just know how to be successful at this entirely foreign concept. The first step I took was with food.
I will say there is one advantage I have and that is the food I consume, with certain exceptions. The pros: I love to cook. I've always had a passion for cooking and it would be an absolute dream to own my own restaurant. 6 months prior to this new journey, I've only been consuming about 90 - 95% whole foods. For almost a year, I've cooked dinner at home at least 5 nights per week. So, I did have that going for me. Another pro is that I don't drink pop (or "soda" for all you non-ohioans). I'm strictly a water, tea and coffee drinker. The cons: I love to cook. Give me all the butter, cheese, bacon and carbs you have and I can whip you up something that will make your mouth water and your eyes tear from happy tastebuds. So, while it is good I do cook, I had to change the direction in which I cooked...less fat, less calories, less creamy, more healthy, but still super delicious. Another con was that I didn't eat when I was supposed to. For the past 5 years or so, I never ate breakfast and very seldom ate lunch. I would get home from work and eat dinner...then mindlessly satisfy the numbed munchies at night and eat some more. Food was another comfort. When something good happened, celebrate with food! When something bad happened, binge/emotionally eat. Food started taking control. Portions got out of hand. Binging became common. I had to take back the control and use my passion for cooking as a useful tool, not a harmful weapon.
On the morning of Day 1, my first challenge was breakfast. Waking up and eating breakfast made me feel sick. Even the thought of it turned my stomach. Food in the morning felt terrible. My body didn't know what to do with this fuel that was supposed to be good for me. The first week, I started off slow with breakfast. First, a banana and some almonds. For a few more days, a protein shake or a yogurt and some fruit. By weeks 2 and 3, my body began craving the morning fuel it needed to power itself for the day, so eggs became common. Now, I don't quite feel the same without my morning breakfast of 2 eggs and 2 slices of low sodium turkey bacon (and a cup of coffee, of course). As time goes on, I am working a little harder at getting more vegetables into breakfast, too. But I have noticed a difference if I don't get that morning protein now.
Lunch was hard. It was difficult to eat during the day. But, once breakfast became a normal routine, so did lunch. If I ate breakfast, I was hungry by lunch and wanted to eat again - my body needed to refuel. Now, I'm not a fan of eating the same thing day in and day out, but I need some sort of safe routine somewhere, so lunch it was. I work Monday through Friday, thus having to pack lunches for 5 days. I found what works for me is tuna salad. On Sunday evenings, I mix together 2 cans of tuna, 1 mashed avocado, a couple tablespoons of rice vinegar and put it in a tupperware container. That tuna mix lasts me 5 days and cuts down on time and effort of trying to figure out what to make for lunch in the mornings. Every morning, I put a portion of the tuna on a multi-grain 60 calorie wrap, top it with a handful of spinach leaves and wrap it all up. I then throw a low fat Greek yogurt in my purse and some baby carrots and lunch is done. When I do this, I then know my lunch is 320 calories and I don't have to think about it again.
Dinner was not a big change. I cook dinner Sunday through Thursday evenings. Every week, I look through recipes, choose 5 meals and make a menu for dinner. That way, when I go grocery shopping, I have a plan, a list, and I don't end up getting a bunch of things I don't need. The only change I made for dinner was to look for low calorie recipes. If I find a meal that looks really delicious that I want to try, but is also really unhealthy, my new challenge is to "healthify" the recipe to lower the calories but still have it taste good.
It took some time to get the different meals right, and I'm still working on it. Every day is a new challenge. Some days, I really want a chocolate bar or some cookies. I can't deprive myself, or else that's when the binging starts, so I just find a replacement. If I have a chocolate craving, I either have to limit myself to one piece of dark chocolate, make a chocolate-esque healthier replacement, or else I try something else sweet, like strawberries (as they're coming into season) or other fresh fruit.
I'm learning what I can and can't have and, most importantly, how much I can and can't have. Sure, if I really wanted to have a box of cookies for 1,050 calories, I could....but then I would only have about 200 calories for the rest of the day. I'm learning to get into the mindset where I have to ask myself, "Is it worth it?" If I make those brownies, would it be worth it to me? How would I feel after I eat them? Chances are, I will feel terrible. I would feel guilty. I would feel disappointed in myself.
Eating out now is very rare. It used to be a regular occurrence. Instead, K and I have a "cheat" meal every 30 days. Not a total cheat DAY, just one meal. Not only does it feel like a reward to us, but it also helps the metabolism by mixing it all up. Eating out has become special now. It gives more motivation to try harder and continue on to reach that reward. I have eaten out a few times during this journey and found my taste is changing. Chain restaurants are crap (well, they always have been...but they are worse now). The food just tastes like salt, the "healthy" options are not as healthy as they make you believe they are, and they look terrible. Making dinner at home has become routine and I don't mind cooking dinner almost every night now. I really enjoy it, actually.
But then there was another factor. Exercise...
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