Just an Author Trying to Get Healthy in a Fast Food World

I survived Thanksgiving - did you?  I started my day out as normal, coffee and half a bagel. I drank as much of my water as I could during the day. I filled my plate like I always do, a little of everything, until my plate had no more room. BUT - I don't know if it was my mindset or my unsettled stomach due to the stress of the last two days, but I left like 85% of the food on my plate! (I did eat a large serving of stuffing though!) I indulged in a dessert or two, but didn't over do it this year. I'm going to say it was the stress, because I just wasn't feeling myself, but can you blame me? I didn't go home so stuffed that I wanted to pop, and for me that is a win. Thanksgiving 2 is today, and I think I can keep pace with yesterday, even skipping some of the carbs I ate yesterday. Having my dad there would make it so much easier, but I don't know if that is going to happen yet or not. Still waiting on word about that. I stepped on the scale yeste...

I decided on Sunday that just because this Thursday was Thanksgiving didn't mean I needed to eat terrible ALL WEEK. (and Mr. G mentioned more than once that he wanted to go off carbs, and I pay attention to requests - mostly) So Sunday I didn't snack, and I made a low-carb dinner (lots of peppers, onions, and mushrooms). Monday I stuck to my healthy eating, watched my calories, drank my water, and had my shake for lunch, and made chili for dinner. Tuesday, same as Monday, and low-carb dinner (lots of peppers and onions). Wednesday I weighed in (because I wasn't too sure what tonight's plans were yet) and I dropped 1.5 lbs in less than a week - WIN! And I felt GOOD this week. I missed that feeling (since I've been failing at food choices lately). I have to remember that I'm doing this for ME (and since I am the chef and the grocery shopper in the house, everyone else will follow what I do). Yes, I will eat what I want over the holiday, but I need to remem...

I just won today.... Let me explain. Since Sunday, I've been making meals that are on a Low-Carb page on Pinterest . Sunday's was pretty good, but tonight's was very good. My teenager not only ate it, but wanted more (I only made one piece for each of us - trying to control portion size in this house) so he went looking for dessert. I suggested apples or bananas....he walked away with an APPLE! I WIN the day! lol... Here's what I made today: https://pin.it/obz5kannmst242 Fajita Chicken Casserole And here's what I made on Sunday: https://pin.it/6kh2qs5zep7hc6 Philly CheeseSteak Bowl Mr. G mentioned he wanted to cut carbs from his diet, SO... I'm cooking some low-carb meals! And I realize this week is Thanksgiving, but I've been good since Sunday, I just hope it shows on the scale Thursday morning before I FEAST, lol...

It's one of those days that I'm struggling to make good choices. It's cold, my hormones have me cold one minute and hot the next, and I'm feeling lazy (but bored - isn't that weird?) Feeling to icky to move and get some exercise, so the couch is my haven today. Yesterday I started off fine, until lunch. I ate ham instead of my shake. Sodium-filled, albeit delicious ham. And I know in my head that drinking my shake may not be what I "want" but I will "feel" better if I do. Today is a new day. What mattes is the choices I make at the next meal. Right? I want to work all day and order out dinner, not making time to cook and clean it up. But you can't order good food around here, only pizza (or Chinese, which we rarely do). I don't use all those food delivery things, or I guess I could get something different, but still not what I want. I've been posting for a while now that I wish we had a local deli where you could stop in and g...

Today I faltered, and it wasn't worth a single calorie...Lesson learned. PMSing, I am hungry all day, and I was craving appetizers. So, I stopped while doing errands, and bought 3 different ones from Applebees to eat with our simple dinner of leftovers. WELL...after they sat for a few hours, reheated, they were all BLAH. And worse, I felt like I was eating nothing but junk :( I did better off when I didn't have a car and just dealt with "wanting" the junk food, but not getting it, lol. Next time I'll suffer through the craving, haha. But seriously. I'll remember how gross I felt tonight! FIGHT THE CRAVINGS...trust me, you'll feel so much better! (oh, and I took a few bites of each, threw the rest away, and just drank my water!)

I'll fess up... I haven't been to the gym in over a month. I had some things going on where the last thing I felt like doing was exercising. And with school starting, I never figured it into my daily routine. I need to do that. But, I haven't gained any of my weight back, in fact, I lost a few more pounds. That is where "learning how to eat" comes in. Some people probably think it sounds like a lot of talk, but when I heard it, I took it to heart. I had no idea how to eat. I moved out of my parents house and in with my husband. I finally was making my own decisions and rules, and that included fast food. SO. MUCH. FAST. FOOD. (it happens, right?) And all these years later, we had a taste for not so healthy food. Once I started paying attention to what I was eating, I was shocked at how many calories we ate in a single day! Here's where re-learning how to eat comes in. Once you see what you are eating, you can adjust, make better choices, and eat smaller...