You are what you eat

All my life I've eaten what I wanted, when I wanted, and how much I wanted. I was always very picky with what I ate. There were phases where I wouldn't eat a grain of rice and had either my grandmother or my mother make me french fries instead. Vegetables were placed no where near my plate and I had absolutely no intentions of trying anything that grew out of the ground. Honestly, I must thank the great genes that have been handed bestowed unto me by my parents. Were it not for my great metabolic system I would probably be obese and not able to do every day functions properly. My motto used to be: "The less healthy the better." Which in truth isn't that far fetched. The better tasting foods are generally those that aren't very healthy for you, and those were exactly the types of food that I indulged in. Oh, how things have changed.
 To compliment this new exercise routine I would have to give up and change a lot of my day to day eating habits. Which would be no easy task to take on. Luckily P90X comes with a nutrition guideline and recipes. Also, Turbo Fire - another at home work out routine - does as well. Combining those two books with The Biggest Loser Cookbook that I purchased a while back would give us a jumpstart to eating healthier by providing recipe ideas for every meal.

It all start with simple things such as, discarding salt from all food preparation unless necessary and if so then only adding a miniscule amount. We've gradually switched from whole mild to 1% which will then give way to purchasing skim milk. Some have advised me that switching to soy milk instead of skim is a healthier choice, but seeing as how Matt and I only really use milk for cereal and coffee there doesn't seem to be a need to switch to soy milk. I gave my up potato bread for whole wheat bread months before I began my new year's resolution. White rice was switched to brown rice; from regular pasta to whole wheat pasta; from vegetable oil to, as Rachel Ray says, EVOO (extra virgin olive oil); from regular salad dressing to non-fat salad dressing. I'm sure you get the point. No real drastic changes, just small, tolerable changes here and there. That's really all it takes though. If you make a lot of small changes, it all adds up.

Breakfast, my favorite meal of the day, usually consists of a cup of coffee and a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich or the occasional waffle. I've only altered breakfast slightly and only on some occasions. I've opted to use deli thin whole wheat bread instead of sliced whole wheat bread, I've discarded the butter completely by switching to a cooking spray, and I often cook only the egg white. Much to my younger sister's chagrin (when she sleeps over), I no longer buy the sugary kids cereal we all grew up with and loved. The Cap'n and I parted ways just recently and it was quite an emotional farewell. In his place... Multi Grain Cheerios. I have yet been able to conquer my dislike for oatmeal and with the need for that morning cup of Joe to wake me up it's not an urgent change. On the weekends I try to pick things from one of the recipe books to make for Matt and I. They all normally require egg, which is fine with me. I love eggs. :)

Lunch was not as easy to change. Since moving in with Matt I began preparing dinners just enough for two and at times would have a little left of over so that one, if not both, of us could take it for lunch the next day. On days that I opted to go out for lunch I would just run to the nearest fast food place and order at least 3 things off of the value menu with a medium juice of some kind. Luckily enough neither Matt nor I really like drinking soda so it's never purchased. Now that I started eating healthier it became a little difficult to avoid running to the nearest McDonald's. I've made wraps, salads, and sandwiches in the morning to try and prevent myself from going for what's most convenient over what's healthy. Having all the right types of food at home makes it 100% easier though. I must say that I'm quite proud of myself for a decision I made just yesterday. Lacking any ingredients to make either a salad, wrap or sandwich I came to work without a lunch and would be left to try and find the healthiest food around. Instead I decided to look up Muscle Maker Grill locations to try and have them deliver lunch. Seeing as how the closest one is a little over 5 miles delivery was not an option unless I was making a large order. Determined to not give in to the temptations of KFC, McDonald's, and Smash Burgers that are less than a mile away, I drove those 5 miles each way and gave up 45 minutes of my 1hr lunch. It was probably the best decision I made that day!

I was never really conscientious of how snacks in between meals are important. After skimming through the nutritional books I realized that keeping your metabolism going with healthy food is much more beneficial than just abating a sugar craving. Apples, oranges, bananas, Special K bars, non salted nuts, yogurts and even cottage cheese doubles are my primary choices for snacks. Recently added to the repertois are cereal bars and protein bars. In the event that I hadn't gone to the supermarket to stock up on healthy snacks at home I'm literally S.O.L. (shit out of luck) until lunch time or after work. The vending machine at my job has a piss poor variety of healthier snacks. Potato chips, salted nuts, overly sweet cookies and the like fill up the entire vending machine. Which is often the case anywhere. It's just unfortunate that for those people who are trying to be mindful of what they eat.
Dinner time becomes the most exciting meal of the day. After becoming the woman of the house I've been eager to look up new dinner recipes and try them out at home. It's a challenge that I most willingly accept and now making sure that the dinner I cook is a healthy one makes it slightly more challenging. When time permits me to attempt to make a new, healthy recipe I'll dive in head first into it. My most bold attempts have been the chicken & sugar snap peas stir fry and the chili rubbed tilapia with lemon asparagus. Though one wasn't an absolutely success it was at least edible. Whole wheat pastas, grilled chicken breasts, brown rice and steamed vegetables are practically staples as dinner options. It is, at times, difficult to follow these recipes, because they often require herbs and spices which I do not possess and have never tried. A prime example would be last night's dinner, chicken breast with sugar snap peas in spring seasoning. The recipe called for either saffron or dill and assuming they were similar in taste I just opted for the one I found at my local Trader Joe's,  which was dill. I've never cooked or tasted dill and had no idea what to expect. After adding the exact amount the recipe called for I could immediately sense that the smell of dill overpowered any smell in the room and almost gagged. Needless to say, and without going into much detail of my disapproval of dill, I couldn't eat the dinner I had just prepared. Oh well. You win some and you lose some. Last night, the dill won. ha ha
I will not be discouraged by any failures as a nutritionally sound chef. I will only surpass my herb & spices obstacle and try again another day :) I'll make sure to share overly successful dinner recipes.

"Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul"

- Douglas MacArthur