Where I Am Right Now - Aiming For Healthier Eating

I have mentioned that I’d like to lose a little weight. There really is no easy, quick way to do this (healthily). The key is to make wise food choices and exercise. The food thing takes discipline, pure and simple, and the exercise thing is just a matter of getting out there and doing it. We used to have a membership at the local YMCA, but I put it on hold when I was pregnant with Boo due to the fact that my sciatic nerve hurt so much I could barely walk some days, so I just wasn’t going, and once Boo was born she seemed to get sick every time we went, so I finally just dropped it. Since then, I’ve tried to be consistent about walking with Boo, but that’s iffy depending on the weather and Boo’s tolerance of her stroller. It’s sort of hard to walk around the block with her screaming because she’s tired of sitting for one more lap.

Well, that was then, this is now. Monk is going to be starting swim team at the Y in April, so we’ll be joining again. He will have practice 4 afternoons a week. Back up the train…..did I just say four (!!) afternoons? Goodness. That’s a lot. Anyway, we figure I’ll be able to take Boo and Tic Tac to Drew as he’s getting off work and go with Monk to the Y and I can exercise while he practices. I’ll just have to get creative about preparing dinners – perhaps utilizing the crock pot more or putting together the dinner during the day and popping it in the oven once we get home, because we are big believers in having dinner together as a family when at all possible.

Anyway, that will help greatly with the exercise thing. Here are a few things I’ve found that seem to help me with being smarter about what goes in my mouth:

- First of all, grocery prices going through the roof as they are, this idea actually helps with the budget, too. Around pay day each two weeks I have started writing out a menu that will cover two weeks. I write up a grocery list that will cover that menu and then I shop from that list and try very hard to stick to the list. This way, I only do one major grocery trip each pay period, with occasional smaller trips for diapers or milk or minor things. It means one big grocery bill up front, but I’m ending up saving more in the long run. It also means we (theoretically anyway) eat out less since I’ve already got meals planned. The not eating out requires discipline, I’ll be honest. But, the less we eat out, the healthier we actually eat. And, it’s cheaper to cook at home.

- I try not to have junk food in the house. This is kind of a simple one, really. If the cookies are here, I’ll eat them. If they aren’t, I won’t. In the interest of honesty, however, this is a hard one for me. I do have snacks for the kids, but I try to give them healthier choices, too, because I want to teach them healthier eating habits, too.

- I bought a fun, bright pink, 32 oz sport bottle that I keep filled with ice water. I try to guzzle four of those bottles a day. I am finding that drinking that much water does help me to feel fuller and to snack less throughout the day. Plus, for a goal-oriented person like me, it is a nice incentive to drink less soda (even though I stick to diet, water is better) and finish my four bottles of water before drinking much else. It also helps cut down on the sweet tea consumption, though I have pretty much switched to Splenda for that little indulgence.

- Low fat frozen yogurt instead of ice cream, and that only for a treat once in a while, not every day. I am a huge ice cream fan, so to completely cut it out would be hard, and usually ends up in bingeing later. It’s better to let yourself have a small, sensible treat once in a while than to try to completely cut it out, I’ve found.

- Finally, while memorizing Psalm 103 this past month, verse 5 kind of stuck out for me in an interesting way. Here it is:

Psalm 103:5
“Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

The context of this verse is in the list of benefits that follow verse 2 which says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:” I think the actual intent of the verse is remembering that the Lord provides our sustenance, but as I was thinking about that verse and about my quest to make healthier food choices, I began praying that God would help me to be satisfied with the good food and to avoid the empty calories of the junk, and that I know I will be stronger and feel better as I eat healthier. Keeping the context in mind, I don’t think it is an abuse of that scripture to think about it in that way and to pray in that way. It has been helpful to me when tempted to pop something in my mouth – especially when I’m not really hungry but just wanting the taste of whatever it is.

Anyway, I do hope I’ll be able to keep that scale needle trending down in a healthy way, not to be too hung up on the number it finally settles on but to be generally healthier overall. And maybe I’ll stay with it better now that I’m writing out here on the blog.