Day 5

Day 5
Today I learned something about myself. Today I realized that on any given day I can over eat on chips, chocolate, gold fish, chips and salsa; I can always make room for cake, pies, cobblers or ice cream. The one thing I cannot do is over eat broccoli! No way – no how – it is not possible for me to continue past full if I am eating broccoli. Which made me think – I don’t really remember a time that I have ever over eaten something healthy. You can mindless munch for just a little while on veggies – but when your body says stop there isn’t much more discussion about that. I came to this realization today during my lunch.

I had fixed me a tossed salad with chopped up turkey breast on it and salsa dressing. I had also warmed up the rest of the broccoli and cauliflower from dinner last night to eat after my salad. Well after my salad I was full but I had already heated up the veggies and I figured that if I ate it would keep me full longer . . . well 2 bites into it I could not keep going. Literally I spit the last bite back in the bowl and said I am done. Now if I another cookie – I would have managed just fine. Like I said there is always room for dessert. This to me is just one more reason why I know this way of eating is right for me.

I have done Weight Watchers – successful a couple of times – but after a while we learn to cope. We learn to manipulate our points and still not eat healthy. I have been exercising for years now. I run and lift weights. I truly would consider myself a very strong person (not a fast person mind you) but that has not caused this weight to come off and stay off either. Why ~ because I let mindless eating control my behavior. I have sat and munched past full over and over again and it never has bothered me with the salty or sugar foods. However, I can't think of any fruit, veggie or lean meat that would make me say “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.” Seriously, has anyone reading this ever said “I can’t believe I sat here and ate that whole bag of carrots; I can’t believe I ate that whole bag of apples; I can’t believe I just ate that whole baked chicken.” No, I don’t think so.

The thing that I have learned from this realization is that when I get to add those kinds of things back into my diet that I need to remember they are for the taste and enjoyment but they are not foods that should count toward my nutrition for the day. So when I want gold fish – and I WILL eat gold fish again one day – just not right now – that I need to get me a small bowl and put some in and enjoy them. However, they don’t need to be the side dish to my sandwich at lunch because they truly don’t have any nutritional value. They don’t give my body the vitamins or nutrients that it needs. I need to remember that I eat those kinds of things in life for the enjoyment of it and they need to be in moderation. When it comes to what my body was designed to run on – that would be the good fuels of life that were made nature’s way.

The same can also be said of eating to comfort. After reading all the above I can say that I have never had a bad day and went to the fridge for carrots. I have never said, “I deserve this apples” or “This turkey breast is going to make me feel better about my problems.” Why - because that is not the purpose of food. It would be absurd to think that veggie sticks or Greek yogurt or asparagus would calm you and make everything feel better. Well shouldn’t the same be said about a bag of chocolate covered almonds (yum)? Why then do we allow these kinds of foods to try and fill up our bodies when really the only thing they are feeling up is our jeans? They may feel good for a moment but they really are lying to us because they are not really serving the true purpose of food. WHOOH! Talk about Revelation! So I challenge anyone reading this today – when you are setting there eating your dinner or late night snack considers these questions.

Am I really hungry?
Am I really still hungry?
If this was another ½ cup of broccoli and cauliflower would I still try and eat it?
Am I eating this to make me feel better?
What benefit is my body really going to give me?
Or as my friend Stacey say "How will i feel about this tomorrow?"

Now please don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to sound judgemental here. I don’t mean for you to think you should take the path that I have chosen to take. I am just sharing with you my thoughts about what I have realized about myself today. Maybe you can see a little bit of your own struggles through my eyes today and isn't the easiest way to learn any lesson through someone else’s eyes.

Off my soap box now. . .

Now that you know what I have eaten for lunch – here is my meals for today:
So Far - Eggs, strawberries, salad w/ turkey breast and salsa, about 1 piece of broccoli and cauliflower, an orange, yogurt

Evening planned food - veggies and dip, grilled chicken kabobs with onions & peppers, yogurt

Planned exercise – Running in my new fly Nike running shoes picture above! Whoop Whoop!
(another addiction my husband would say I have)