Healthier Eating

Diets are so restrictive.

You can eat this. You cannot eat that.

I lived that way for 6 and a half years before becoming a mom.

Yes, I was a size 4 at my wedding, but I could not enjoy eating in any way shape or form. I looked at food as being either an ally or enemy in my war against weight. I ate foods I couldn't stand because they would keep me skinny, and I would look longingly at foods that I loved because they would make me gain an ounce or two.

For the last five years, I have not been as careful with my food choices as I once was. I am now a size 8, and while that is not the end of the world for me, I know that the correct choices in food are not for my weight but for my health.

Both of my parents are/were diabetic (Mom passed away due to diabetes related health complications), so I need to make healthier choices in food so that I can do my part in keeping my body (which the Bible calls the temple of the Holy Spirit) as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

But the trick is getting past what is lurking in my pantry, fridge, and freezer.

As you know, I am a couponer (I am by no means the "queen of couponing", but I really like seeing the amount I saved and the amount I spent match each other or better), so many times the items I have bought are processed, packaged, frozen or canned foods. I'm pretty sure that does not equal healthful.

Brian and I have been talking a lot about getting our bodies back into "shape" as in being healthier than we are currently. I tend to suffer from occasional migraines, and Brian has been having body aches and back pain for a couple of years now.

One way that we are going to go about this is by eating one healthful dinner each week until I can empty my pantry of all of the other stuff that is in it (I can't stand the thought of throwing perfectly "good" food away). Sounds ridiculous, huh? But if you consider what we as a family tend to eat for dinner- pasta and sauce with ground beef, shepherd's pie,  casseroles with cream soups- that does not equal a healthful meal. It equals a filling meal. By healthful, I mean a veggie/ whole grain/ "real" food based meal.

However, I don't want this to be phase that we go through. I want it to be a change of lifestyle for us.

I need to change what my children see as being "real" food. A sandwich can't be the only picture they have of lunch. And I know for a fact that Ian thinks Cheerios counts as its own food group. Fruits and veggies are their friends (and mine, too).

Hopefully by changing our food intake, we can see a difference in the way we feel, our energy levels (so that we can start exercising consistently), and our enthusiasm in getting out there and living life.

And a little weight loss wouldn't hurt either.