Comparison Trap

One of the biggest issues that I still struggle with is the comparison trap. The scenario always plays out the same. I’m feeling good about what I’m eating. I’ve been to the gym pretty regularly, maybe just walking for 30 minutes but I’m still going and I feel great! And then something happens. I eat lunch with a friend and I order what I’m really craving, a Rueben sandwich with sweet potatoes fries. Because I've been eating healthy most of the time, I feel good about my order because it’s what I really want and I know I’ll be completely satisfied.

However, after I place my order and wait oh so patiently for my greasy fries to arrive, my friend orders a salad with no cheese and dressing on the side. Now, my attitude completely changes! Instead of being excited for my food and confident that I’m making the right choice for me, I’m second guessing and feeling guilty. Am I unhealthy because I didn’t order a salad? Should I have asked for no cheese on my sandwich? Should I have skipped the fries?

There are days when a salad will absolutely fill me up and satisfy me. I’m actually eating one as I type this. My salad is delicious. It has lots of leafy greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, and big piece of breaded chicken. Today, I wanted a salad and I know adding a piece of breaded chicken would make the salad AMAZING! And you know what? It doesn’t make the salad “bad” and I don't feel the least bit guiltly about the breaded chicken.

We get too caught up in “bad” and “good” food choices. And that bad versus good mentality really kicks in for me sometimes when I’m with others and I feel like I’ve made a “bad” choice and they’ve made a “good” choice. This is where confidence plays a role. You have to learn to know yourself and what food is right for you. If you order a salad because you feel like you should or because you’re eating with your super healthy friend and you don’t want her to judge you, then you’re doing it for the wrong reason and you’ll just end up miserable and probably eat more later that day to make up for it.

There is nothing wrong with ordering a sandwich with fries. What would life be like without a burger here and there?? Plus, just because you order a burger with fries doesn’t mean to have to eat every last bite. Pay attention to your hunger. Eat until you are no longer hungry, but not stuffed, and take the rest home! Now you get to the enjoy the burger twice!

The lesson that I’m still learning is that I know myself better than anyone else. I know what food I like and what food makes me feel good. I still hold myself accountable and try to make mostly healthy choices  with what I eat. I try to get as many vegetables as I possibly can each day. I eat at least two servings of fruit every day. I eat whole grain bread and pasta instead of white bread or pasta. However,  I know that when what I really really really really want is a piece of cheesecake or an order of wings, that’s okay. I will eat it and I will enjoy it. It doesn’t make me weak and it isn’t going to make me “fat” and it isn’t a “bad” choice. It’s all part of eating moderately and learning not to beat yourself up. Eating healthy doesn’t have to mean eating bland food. As long as you are mindful, eat mostly healthy foods when you can, and learn to listen to your body, you are on the right path. 

So enjoy your indulgences and don't worry about what anyone else is eating. Have confidence that you are making the right choice for YOU!

Water, please!

Forming good habits is one the best things you can do for your health. Why? Because when you do something out of habit, it's second nature. You don't have to think about it. You don't have to stress or fret. You just do it! Eating healthy shouldn't be stressful and if you can create good habits, then it won't be!

An example is ordering a glass of water at a restaurant. This is a habit of mine. I rarely order a soda. And it's not because I don't like soda or that it wouldn't taste good, it's because I just don't do it! When the waitress comes to take my drink order, "I'll take a water" comes out of my mouth before I even have time to think about it. That's how i know it's a habit. I don't think, I just say "water, please!"

Giving up sugary drinks for water is not an easy switch to make at first. It can be really hard! Especially for those of use who have a pretty serious soda habit. I used to drink Diet Coke daily. At least two cans if not more. I know that doesn't sound too bad, but it does add up AND it was a habit! I don't even know if I actually wanted the Diet Coke. I was just so used to drinking it that I didn't think about it. I made it a point to stop at the vending machine at work on my way to lunch and grab a can of soda (a can only costs a quarter at my office - how could I not get it! It's practically free!) Then, I would come home from work, open a can of soda. Go out to eat, order a soda. Before you know it, habit formed.

And if you're thinking "Well, it's diet soda, not regular soda, so there is really no harm in drinking it". There is a ton of research on how bad diet soda is for your health. It may not have the calories due to the artificial sweeteners, but those same calorie-free sweeteners can trick your brain into craving sweeter foods. Also, you may end up eating more because you think you can. If your soda has no calories, then you can have a third slice of pizza, right??

That's the blessing and the curse of habits. They are wonderful when you've established good ones, but they can be detrimental when you've formed bad ones. A daily soda habit was one of mine. And I won't lie - it took me a pretty long time to give that up. I had to take baby steps. I started by giving up the second can in the evening. I still let myself have the can at lunch. Then after a couple of months with no soda at night, I thought "why not try not to refrain from soda on weekdays". I still let myself have a can on weekends. However, during the week, I'd keep a full bottle of water with me at all times.

After not drinking soda during the week for awhile, I kind of started to forget about soda altogether. I realized that I stopped wanting it. When we'd go to the grocery store, I stopped buying it. If I did get a craving, I'd pick up a single 20 oz bottle at the store - not a 2 liter or a 12 pack of cans. I know myself and if I buy a 2 liter, I will feel obligated to drink the whole thing, even if I don't want it. I know that a 2 liter can be cheaper than a 20 oz bottle (which is insane!) but it's worth paying the extra money for your health!

I've now kicked my soda habit for about 5 years. Do I still drink soda? Yep. Here and there. Do I still keep soda in the house? Sometimes. Mostly ginger ale because my husband and I like it (and we use it as mixer for whiskey). Do I feel deprived? Absolutely not! I let myself wean off of soda until I didn't want it anymore. I didn't make myself quit cold turkey and feel miserable. Also, I still let myself drink it if I want it. When I go to the movies, I ALWAYS order a soda. I look at it as a treat. I don't go to the movies very often, but when I do, I'm getting a Sprite or a cherry Coke! And I'm not getting diet, I'm getting the real stuff! It's not an every day occurrence so I don't beat myself up over it.

Look at your habits - both the good and the bad. Which ones are good ones? How did you form them? Do you have any bad ones? Maybe you always ask for extra cheese on a pizza without even thinking? Do you always order dessert at a restaurant, even when you're full? What little step can you take to start reshaping that habit?

Maybe you never fully give up your soda habit but just cut back a little. I would argue just cutting back is a success! Just taking a look at your daily routines and becoming aware is a huge step forward! Don't try to change every bad habit at once. Just take one and try to tweak it a little bit. Baby steps go a long way towards creating a healthy lifestyle!

Utilizing Leftovers

On Monday, I wasn't feeling very well so I stayed home from work. I'm very lucky in that my office provides lunch for employees each day. However, today I needed to come up with lunch all on my own. Luckily, my husband and I cooked a lot of food this weekend. That has been a huge success for me in learning to eat healthy. It can be hard to work all day, come home, walk the dog, start cooking, eat, clean up, etc. By the time you're done, it's 9pm! It can be exhausting. Making healthy meals that have a lot of leftovers is an easy way to guarantee that you won't be heating up a frozen dinner or making a box of mac and cheese on busy nights (although trust me, there is nothing wrong with boxed mac and cheese every once and while!). It just requires that you plan ahead and think about what you're evenings look like the coming week. Do you have to work late on Tuesday? Are you meeting up with friends for dinner on Wednesday? Or do you have time to cook on Thursday? Asking these questions on Saturday or Sunday seriously help you plan ahead so you aren't making dinner choices while you're starving and tired from the day. And they can help with lunches too! 

For lunch, I had leftover spicy sweet potato soup. This soup is soooo easy to make and is so healthy (Plus it made leftovers - huge win). It's a recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook. It's a creamy soup there is no heavy cream or butter or any of the typical ingredients that make a bisque-like soup get their texture. The creaminess of this soup comes from the actual sweet potatoes. You simmer sweet potatoes in vegetable broth (or you can use chicken broth if you prefer that) and then once they are soft, about 30 minutes, you use an immersion blender to puree the sweet potatoes. There is also red onion, garlic, and chipotle in adobo sauce in the soup. I always top it with cilantro and a few croutons, but if I don't have any, I just eat it with crackers. Since I knew soup wasn't going to completely fill me, I also made a vegetarian chicken patty with avocado and tomato. I'm not currently vegetarian but I did give up meat for 7 months about a year ago. I found a lot of great meatless recipes in that time and I still like to incorporate them here and there. 

For dinner, we ate leftover cabbage rolls (I had already eaten one before I remembered to take a picture - oops!), roasted carrots and parsnips, and a side salad. The cabbage roll recipe that we used made 12 cabbage rolls so we can eat them for left overs for dinner or my husband can take them for work. Also, when we roasted the carrots and parsnips, I made a TON! This way I knew we'd have a bunch in the fridge to use all week.

This is an example of how having leftovers can seriously make your life SO MUCH EASIER! I didn't have to worry about what I was going to eat. I already knew that I had plenty of healthy and satisfying food ready to go. Plus, I didn't have to slave in the kitchen when I didn't feel good. And we still have more leftovers which we are going to eat tonight because we both have a busy evening ahead of us!

Hello!

This is my first ever blog post! I have to admit, it's scary and exciting all at once. The reason I decided to start this blog is because I've noticed that I really love reading about other people's journey to finding themselves and how different people are living their fullest lives. Whether they've lost over 100 pounds and have kept it off or they completely switched their career path from something mundane that pays the bills to the exciting and fulfilling career they've always wanted. I've come along way in my own life and I thought maybe I can inspire someone like I've been inspired by others. I can't honestly say that I'm living the exact life that I've always dreamed of. However, I'm learning to love the life that I have and stop comparing it to what life "should be". I'm on a path to understanding what makes me happy, how to overcome self-doubt, and how to truly accept myself.

I will be posting about a number of things. One of the biggest is probably going to be food. I've had a love/hate relationship with food my entire life. Growing up, I thought I ate "healthy". Looking back, I now know that I didn't even really know what healthy was. I've learned a lot in the last 5 years about what healthy means for me. It means something different for everyone. Just because one method of eating and working out works for one person, doesn't mean that it'll work for you. You have to learn to listen to your body and stay true to yourself. I've been able to maintain a healthy weight for four years because I've finally found a way to eat and workout that makes me happy. I discovered that once I mastered my relationship with food, I started to be able to focus my energy on other areas of self-improvement. Instead of worrying about what I'm eating, am I gaining weight, did I work out enough, do I look fat, and a slue of other self-destructive and obsessive thoughts, I was finally able to stop yo-yo dieting and punishing my "bad" eating with cardio. I finally stopped obsessive food thinking and stopped the cycle of gaining and losing weight. I learned to cook. I learned to eat (and love) vegetables. I learned to cut out a lot of the processed foods I was eating. I learned to read labels and look at the number of ingredients. All of these changes made me appreciate the food I ate not resent it. That mindset shift made all of the difference.

It's a never ending journey and I'm still have a long way to go. I'm not sure that anyone ever truly "arrives" at the end of their happiness journey. We are constantly evolving and learning new things about ourselves. We have to embrace the journey and learn from our mistakes. That is why I'm striving to do and I hope sharing my stories with you will help you along your path as well.