Motivation

Tina at Carrots and Cake wrote an interesting post yesterday about books that were motivational to her in terms of healthy living and losing weight. That post got me thinking about the book that produced quite a few epiphanies for me.

Women, Food and God was a life-changing book for me. There were countless “a-ha” moments. When the author spoke about her experiences and her feelings about food, I felt like she was speaking about me. I could relate to her so much.

Now I think it is time to read that book for a second time (and maybe a couple of the books that Tina mentioned). The past couple of days have been rough for me. I have made some bad choices and I am trying to recover from a binge as I type this. I think I feel even guiltier for the binge because I am supposedly a healthy living blogger. I debated on whether to talk about this or not, but I want to be honest with you guys.

It seems like every single day is a struggle. I struggle to make the “right” choice with every single bite that goes into my mouth. Maybe that’s why I felt the urge to binge yesterday and tonight. I am just tired of the struggle. I am tired of fighting every day to be healthy and be active. So I gave in to my impulses because it’s the easier thing to do.

But every day is a day for new choices. I have to figure out a new way of coping and handling my urge to binge. Living a healthy lifestyle should not be this hard. Should it?

I think my first step is to go back to Geneen Roth’s guidelines to eating. These guidelines are good rules to follow and I can honestly say that I don’t follow any of them.

• Eat when you are hungry.
• Eat sitting down in a calm environment. This does not include the car.
• Eat without distractions. Distractions include radio, television, newspapers, books, intense or anxiety-producing conversations or music.
• Eat what your body wants.
• Eat until you are satisfied.
• Eat (with the intention of being) in full view of others.
• Eat with enjoyment, gusto and pleasure.

Thanks for following along with me during this little ramble. I promise that tomorrow’s post will be somewhat cheerier. 🙂

Do you follow these guidelines on a regular basis? Is there any book that has motivated you in terms of healthy living and weight loss?

Day of Shopping!

On Saturdays, I work. It kind of sucks, I know. But I’m off on Monday so my weekend officially began today!

The morning started with some pancakes. It was a recipe of peanut butter protein pancakes. They consisted of egg whites, oats, and peanut butter. I topped them with some strawberry jelly.

I would share this recipe, but they didn’t turn out quite right. They were actually a little too sweet. I will do some tweaking and then share the recipe when I have it where it needs to be.

Work was busy and the time flew. I didn’t take a picture of my lunch, but it was my new favorite: egg and cheese sandwich. We must get to the Farmer’s Market so I can get some new veggies for lunch and snack.

After work, my lovely husband and I immediately headed out for some shopping. We both had several gift cards from Christmas that were burning holes in our pockets. 🙂

First up: Borders!

I absolutely love that place and I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve browsed in a bookstore. I bought several items with my gift card that my boss gave me. First item was Operation Beautiful by fellow blogger Caitlin Boyle.

I have been dying to read this book and I actually bought the last copy. Woo-hoo!

I also bought a new workout DVD, Jillian Michaels 6 week 6 pack.

I have never done this workout, but I have heard good things. I can’t wait to try it out.

In addition to those items, I bought my husband a book . . . cause, you know, I’m that good of a wife. I also bought the other two books of the Hunger Games series: Catching Fire and Mockingjay. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

We went to the mall, where Corey bought some new sunglasses.

Glad that’s done. Now he can stop complaining about the fact that he lost his. 😉

But the best purchase of the night was this:

Yes, I got a new blender . . . FINALLY!!! I haven’t made a smoothie in forever, partly because of the weather and partly because my blender can’t handle it. Last time I made a smoothie, my blender started smoking. Literally, smoke was coming out of the base. Thought I was going to catch the house on fire. So I am excited to make green monster smoothies again. But better than that is the food processor that comes with it. I have never owned a food processor before. I am so excited about making my own nut butters and hummus. Does anyone have any good recipes?

Shopping does make us hungry, so we went to Carrabba’s for dinner. Corey’s boss had given him a gift card. The dinner was awesome. It started with some warm bread and olive oil.

I had a few small pieces. But I did tell my husband to take the bread away from me when I thought I had eaten enough. I didn’t trust myself, but I knew that I wanted to stop. So proud of myself for stopping!

I also had an Italian salad. It was delicious and refreshing.

In this salad, there were cherry tomatoes. Believe it or not, I have never, ever tried a cherry tomato. But I did tonight! And they were delicious. I don’t usually like tomatoes, but the cherry tomatoes had a different flavor that I really enjoyed. And maybe it was the combination of the tomato and the Italian salad dressing.

For dinner, I ordered the Chicken Bryan and green beans. Chicken Bryan was chicken topped with goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, and a lemon basil sauce.

This was the best dish I have eaten in a long time. I don’t know that I’ve ever had goat cheese before, but it had a really nice flavor and was super creamy. The chicken was very moist and the cheese really brought out the flavor of the sauce. I didn’t eat all of my food because I didn’t want to overstuff myself. I stopped at the right point. Another victory! And it was tough too. I knew I was full, but I was so tempted to eat more bread. But then I asked myself: do I really want to eat more food? Answer: no.

Before leaving Carrabba’s, I felt inspired to leave an Operation Beautiful post-it note on the bathroom mirror. What better place, right?

I always feel so great after leaving a note like that.

With all of this shopping, we had to get something for Callie too. Otherwise, she might have felt left out. 🙂 We bought her a big red doggy bed.

I think she liked it.

All of that shopping wore me out so I’m pretty sure I’m hitting the hay soon. But today was a great start to the weekend!

 

Operation: Get Back on Track

After this weekend’s sugar binge, I had to start today on the right track. I know that I have to force myself to start eating better again. The fact that I haven’t worked out since last Thursday is not helping. 😦 So this week will officially be Operation: Get Back on Track. Catchy name, yes?

I started the day with a healthy breakfast of eggs, all natural bacon, cheese, and 365 Organic Mighty Multigrain bread. Of course, I couldn’t forget the hot sauce. 😉

This breakfast was tasty, filling, and healthy. Loved it!

I continued my healthy eating at lunch. I had Jason’s Deli (I LOVE this place!). I had half a whole grain wrap with marinated chicken, sautéed onions and peppers, and low-fat honey mustard.

I had some of their delicious Southwest Chicken Chili with my wrap.

This evening, when I got home the last thing I felt like doing was working out. I was tired from work and just tired in general. But I remember a good point that Julie made recently. There are 168 hours in a week. Seven hours dedicated to exercise is really not that much in the grand scheme of things. So I did a (very intense) 40 minute strength training workout by Exercise On Demand, followed by 20 minutes on the elliptical. I felt so much better after the workout! I am going to repeat this to myself when I am not motivated to work out.

After my workout, I played with my dog a bit and my husband made a delicious dinner: whole wheat pasta with organic pasta sauce and some cooked chicken breast as well. Yummy!

The highlight of my day? Receiving my very first Christmas gift, courtesy of Amazon. My very good friend, Luke sent me a few items off my Amazon wish list. This was a total surprise, which made it even better!

In the package was Seduced by Bacon: recipes an lore about American’s favorite indulgence, Pumpkin: a super food, for all 12 months of the year, and A Reliable Wife. I have to admit that when I saw the books about pumpkin and bacon, I was drooling a little. I can’t wait to go through all the recipes! And the third one, A Reliable Wife, will be perfect reading material for my upcoming trip to Alabama to visit Corey’s family. Thanks Luke! 🙂

It occurred to me today that it is going to be difficult to schedule in time for working out this week. Difficult, but not impossible. There are a million things to do in the days leading up to Christmas. There are last minute gifts to buy, presents to wrap, baking to be done, an oven that needs replacing, and of course I will have to pack for a trip to Alabama to visit my husband’s family.

With all of these items on my to-do list, the stress is going to be higher than ever. I will probably feel like skipping workouts to do other things (or just relax and watch TV) and I will probably feel the urge to binge on sweet snacks. I need to focus on my goal of losing weight and remember how incredible working out makes me feel. I may not be able to lose very much weight this holiday season, but I can certainly do my best to maintain it. And if I stay active, maybe I won’t feel so guilty if I have an extra cookie (or four). 🙂

How are you planning on staying fit this holiday season?