Oh you guys, I fell off the health bandwagon the last few months. I was going strong for a solid year but then, bam! Went on vacation, had that plane thing happen, got a flu shot (I don’t think my body liked it much), hurt my shoulder, and basically anything that looked delicious went down the hatch. It’s funny how life can get in the way and kick you in the pants.
I’m back in business though – I generally feel terrible and I’m wondering if back when I was fatter I felt like this all the time but I was used to it so didn’t notice it so much. Ugh. So I’ve been getting back up to speed this week with eating healthy and next week I’m going to ease in to exercising – I’ve been sick so I haven’t had the energy to do much more than go on walks. Aside from the usual reservoir walk with my dad I want to add at least 3-4 more days of 30-45 minutes exercise/weight training. I also signed up for the weight-loss competition at the office which started yesterday with our first weigh-in. (Ouch.)
Other things I’ve done to get back on the health train include:
- Buying an actual food scale (I killed my yarn one using it for food. It needs a new fancy battery so once I get that I’ll clean it and put it back in the studio.)
- Buying an actual scale – I’d been using my Wii Fit balance board for this, heh.
- Bought some vitamins, just Vitamin C and Oemga 3/Fish Oil ones. I really like the NatureMade brand gummies (I’m such a child). I’ve never been able to manage taking vitamins consistently before but the combination of them being tasty gummies and keeping them in my laundry room by the back door causes me to actually eat them on my way out the door in the morning.
- Bought supplies to package up smoothies for the freezer.
- Making plans to do some hardcore crockpotting and stock up the freezer with healthy homemade items. Need to clean out the freezer first though. :/
I plan on starting the Jillian Michaels Killer Buns and Thighs next week (heh) and I’m going to order her new BodyShred system which is apparently using the 3-2-1 system (3 minutes strength, 2 minutes cardio, 1 minute abs/core that 30-Day Shred and Ripped in 30 use). I like the Body Revolution workouts as well – I did those last year and dropped two dress sizes once I’d completed all the disks.
I’m also moving into eating mostly whole foods – meats and plants with little to no processed items, which includes bread (I love bread). I’ve had a hard time saying goodbye to tortillas but they use processed white flour (and whole wheat tortillas from the store are gross) and I’m trying to eliminate that from my diet for the most part. I don’t drink milk but I do love cheese and yogurt so those products are here to stay. I may lose my mind and attempt to make my own yogurt one of these days.
I’m undecided about canned food. I am on a budget and canned food can be convenient and inexpensive however the salt content is prohibitive. I did find a brand of tomatoes that has no salt added so I’m headed to Winco this weekend to grab some of those. And I love Rotel. So I’m torn on this subject. I know there are a lot of opinions about canned food in relation to GMOs and all that – while I do think that organic is good I don’t necessarily think they’re the best and I think the anti-GMO people have probably drunk the kool-aid so to speak. But I’m not really interested in arguing about that kind of stuff with people – I think everyone should do their own research and decide what is best for themselves and their family. And let’s get real – you will pry that can of Campbell’s Mushroom Soup out of my cold dead hands.
I guess the hardest thing about all this is not the eating or the exercising, it’s the planning. I don’t really have an aptitude to plan much in advance, so I have to be better about that. I’m really good about planning for travel that’s happening months down the line, or what I might be having for dinner tonight, but what am I having for dinner two nights from now? I have no idea.
Anyway, I’m hoping to use this space to talk about this in a more candid manner than I have previously, and maybe post meal plans that have been helpful. Honestly if I can get two posts out in a month that will be a miracle! Hah.
Here was what I was always planning to do : write all the menus I liked down on small cards with a hole punched in the top (have the cards done, but never did the rest), and hang seven of those removable hooks on the cupboard door, then every week I will just pick out seven cards and hang them in order from the hooks – instant menu! Still like this idea, I wonder where my cards are??
Also, we should have a tortilla-making day and make some whole wheat/oat flour tortillas that you can keep in the freezer. Using whole wheat pastry flour makes for a less “healthy-tasting” tortilla.
Sign up for an account with Nature Made and enter the codes from the bottles. You can get $7 coupons! If you use them regularly, it’s totally worth it.
Looks like the program is ending May 1 – but I can still try to get coupons until then! I’m almost out of the Omega Fish Oil and I have three bottles right now I can plug in for the points – thanks for the tip!