Habits

It's time to talk about that mission to eat a little healthier I talk about in my bio.

It's not something I worry about constantly. I don't count calories, apples are my favorite food, I can't stand fried food (to the point it makes me nauseous just to smell it), don't eat red meat or pork, love veggies of all kinds and even tofu. Plus, although I like to bake cakes, I don't like the texture and rarely eat them.

Yet, I still have some really bad habits that I slip back into every once and a while that just make me feel gross. Namely, my snacking habits. I go through phases where I just feel like I'm constantly eating. It's been worse since I made the move home about three weeks ago. Just because there's more food in the house in general, plus the stuff I never bought myself that's here because I have a 16-year-old sister.

So after about a week of hating myself for the way I was treating my body, I finally sought out some advice from the one person I can tell these things. And what she had to say really made me stop and think. But as usual, she was right :)

I want to be clear about one thing. I wasn't given diet advice. I wasn't asking for diet advice. I still have no intention of counting calories or completely abstaining from anything I love. It's about being sensible and thinking consciously about the fuel I'm giving my body to get me through long days or work, coaching and working out. I wanted to form new habits before the old ones became a problem.

It turns out I wasn't eating enough at the right times, hence the snacking and the bloating feeling.

So I'm adding more protein and carbs at breakfast and lunch, so I'm fueled up for coaching and my workouts (which have had to move to the afternoons during the fall). Hopefully it'll also mean that I can eat a little less at dinner and not snack before bed. Which, in turn, I'm hoping means I'm not as hungry in the morning when I wake up.

I started this Thursday morning, by having egg whites, lettuce and salsa in a whole wheat tortilla. Oatmeal at 10, since I wake up too early to make it all the way to lunch without a snack. Lunch was greek yogurt, granola, grapes and an apple (which I know is not enough but it was what we had in the house!). Grabbed an apple and a half of a PBJ on my way out the door to coach. Dinner was this awesome kale, butternut squash and gnocchi dish that I have to share the recipe for. It was only one day but I definitely feel like these are habits I can stick with.

And I felt great. I wasn't hungry at work, and I had a great run. It just feels really good. I know this was all stuff I knew, but getting a reminder makes it easier to make smart decisions. Hopefully it sticks! I really don't want to fall back on those old habits, but that's why I'm putting it out here for all to see.