Healthy Living!! So far so good but so hard!!
Well, my first month of being a vegetarian is going well. I really don’t miss the fact that I haven’t had meat in the past 29 days. It does take a lot of work though… you know being healthy and all. Notice I stopped the daily food journal thing. I have a notebook that I’m keeping that info on and periodically I’ll probably put a day on here, but I want this to be a blog not a food diary. I want to talk about my changes and information that I find helpful to you guys.
Back to what I was saying… trying to live a healthy lifestyle takes a lot of work!!! We are so use to things being quick and easy and we believe everything that’s put before us. The majority of the food items that are labeled “healthy” are not. I know for a fact because I have spent too many hours in the grocery store reading labels trying to find foods that I can have. Here are some tips that I want to share with you so far about making this healthy lifestyle transition.
- Read, read, read the labels for the ingredients!! I can not stress this enough. You would be surprised to see how many foods you thought were good for you that had high fructose corn syrup as the 2nd ingredient usually after enriched flour. When you buy food, the first 5 ingredients should NOT be sugar, high fructose corn syrup, enriched flour (of any kind), saturated fat or hydrogenated oils.
- If you don’t know the ingredients or the calories of a food item, don’t eat it.
- Start cooking for yourself and family!! I have been preparing my meals because that’s the only way I can keep track of what I’m really putting in my body.
- Don’t drink empty calories! That 130 calorie juice or soda could be used for something more filling.
- Watch your portions and measure everything out just so you don’t go overboard.
- Make sure that you have 12 hours of fasting between dinner and breakfast the next day. Just to make sure that everything you ate the prior day is digested properly.
- Consume less processed foods and more whole foods. Makes a huge difference!!
I haven’t been consistent with the exercise like I should be so that’s what I have to work on the most. So, I’ve made a commitment to myself to exercise at least 40 mins a day. If I happen to do more that great but I have to do 40 mins straight of something, walking, workout DVD, dancing, swimming etc. daily. Also I’ve decided to just weigh myself on Mondays only and use the Calories Needed for that weight for the entire week. For instance this morning I weighed 320.8 lbs so I need to consume 3502 calories to maintain this weight or consume between 2560-2802 calories to lose weight by next Monday. I realized that I don’t need to come up with new calculations every day especially if I’m consuming 1600 calories daily anyway. I don’t have a personal chef, dietitian, nutritionist, or personal trainer so I have to do all the calculations and food preparations myself and hold myself accountable for how I take care of my body. The one thing I do notice that it will get easier as time passes by. Counting the calories and shopping for the right foods at the grocery store is way easier and faster than it was the first few weeks. I also love how creative I’ve been in the kitchen. All the meals and snack I’ve prepared are really tasty and healthy full of lots of protein and fiber. I’ve taken pictures too which I’ll share with you on a Recipe page plan to create as well as my long awaited You Tube update video. Until next time, happy living. 
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