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Join me on my adventures as I try to live a healthier, more relaxed and more spiritual life. In this blog, I narrate my attempts my to do this using healthy recipes, talk about growing my own vegetables, and how I alleviate stress through quilting and positive affirmations. I also talk about those people around me (my family and friends) who make me the person I am.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Blueberries on my Sandwich (aka...My New Way of Life)

For the last several years, I've been in the midst of a downward spiral when it came to my health.  Since college, I've gained quite a bit of weight.  It seemed as though no matter what I tried, I couldn't reverse the trend.  (Well, except for when I was pregnant with my son....I lost thirty pounds during the course of my pregnancy, then gained some back during the third trimester; I gained the rest back and more after I gave birth to him). 

Diets have never worked for me.  Previous attempts at losing weight left me feeling starved and depressed.  I was resigned to the idea that I may never feel like a normal human being again.  My dream is to one day walk into a store, any store (not just a "fat-friendly" one), be able to pick something up off the rack and fit into it perfectly.  I had started to accept the idea that this would always be nothing more than a dream.

Until today.  Today I am celebrating the tenth day of the start of a new way of life.  Ten days ago I began to teach myself how to eat properly.  Instead of merely trying to cut portion sizes, I'm really trying to create a proper balance of carbohydrates, proteins and fats at each meal.  I've also begun taking notice of just how much sodium I've been taking into my body.  Salt, once my friend, has been banned from my table. 

In the beginning, I was unsure as to how I would feel about this project.  I've discovered that this time, for some reason, it's been a lot easier than I originally imagined.  This is because I'm not just paring down portion sizes and cutting out fatty foods;  I've started being a bit more creative with my diet.  For one thing, I read about using blueberries in a peanut butter sandwich to replace jelly.  My first thought was that this would be a bit disgusting.  After trying it, I admit, I'm hooked.  Simple little things like this make such a huge difference.  It's amazing to me.

On top of reforming the way it is I eat food, I've also started going to the gym.  My thinking here was that I'm paying for use of the university facilities each semester.  I might as well get something for it.  So each morning I wake up, head off to be at the gym at 7, and work out for about 45 minutes.  Because of this, I'm noticing changes already.  Since I began, I've lost 4 pounds.  My energy level is already picking up, and there is a lightness to my mood that wasn't there before. 

I know it sounds a little silly, but I walked into the grocery store yesterday and noticed a bit more pep in my step.  Having just weighed myself before going to the store, I saw my four pound weight loss.  I was so excited about it, I walked around the store feeling like I had just lost a hundred pounds.  I felt like the most beautiful woman in the place, all because of four measly pounds.  How silly is that?

1 comment:

  1. You are doing wonderful. I need to try the blueberries in PB sandwich. I don't know if you have heard of putting bananas in your PB sandwich, also. Some people really like that to.

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