Lifestyle change

If you have been following my blog, you may have read that I am working on loosing weight and living a healthier lifestyle. This road has been one of the hardest paths that I have traveled down. The weight has not come off fast which really gets me frustrated and impatient. I am trying harder to understand that even though the pounds are not coming off as fast as I would like, at least they are coming off at all...and they are staying off! My summer goal is to get into the 50's, tomorrow is my weigh day and I am hoping I am a little closer to that number. *crossing fingers*

I recently went through my closet and finally got rid of all the clothes that no longer fit me. I kept putting this off because I would think to myself "What if I gain all the weight back? I won't have anything to wear!!". I tried on everything that I thought no longer fit, it was the best feeling in the world to see that these clothes did not fit me at all whatsoever and were entirely too big. For the first time I looked at myself in the mirror and realized that I have been loosing weight! Even though the scale said so, it is hard to see it for yourself.

Let me start by saying that I am in no way trying to preach to others by saying what I think they should or should not eat. I love my junk food and treats probably more than anyone else. I think that diets are temporary and not necessarily something that would work for me. I do not wish to be skinny, I just want to be more healthy and get some weight off of me. I would like to have more energy and look better in my clothes. I am not a fan of exercise and have found it hard to find something a work out routine that I will stick to and follow through with. Because I do all the cooking and grocery shopping for our house I knew that it was up to me to make changes in our eating habits and to get us on the right path.  Getting drama and negativity out of our lives was and still is a hurdle to get over, but has been amazing for our mental well being. Food was always something we had a hard time tackling. The husband and I made a decision to try and make an effort to not place ourselves on a diet, but to change the way we ate and to stick to it. We have had some misses as far as "healthy" foods go, we do not want to force ourselves to eat things that we do not like, we like food too much for that nonsense!

I wanted to share what has been working for us, I can't wait to find more items to add to our food selection that we like and actually enjoy eating. Trust me when I say that if we can do it, ANYONE can do it. The husband is down twenty pounds since we started our lifestyle change. I am really proud of how far we have come. I just wish it was a little easier, but nothing in life is easy right?

We no longer eat white bread or rice. Believe it or not, I prefer the wheat bread and like it a lot better than white now. The brown rice has been a little harder to get use to. I think it may be a texture thing?

Instead of filling ourselves with sugary drinks (especially when it is hot out) we get sugar free juice that is only 5 calories per serving! It is really, really good, we don't think it taste watery at all and the flavors are amazing. I get one container of juice packets which makes 12 quarts for under $2! Can't beat that, a ton cheaper than soda. Our favorite flavors are orange, fruit punch and pink lemonade.

We are trying to fill the fridge with light items. This is a work in process as some light items we think do not taste very good. Trial and error! The light yogurts are really good though, just be careful of all the different flavors, pick ones that you know you will like. The husband says the Raspberry Cheesecake tastes like "rotten lemons mixed with tequila" yummm.

Diet soda! Never would I have ever thought I would drink it! I thought it was gross. Before buying a whole case, I would try one here or there from friends houses. The Dr. Pepper is outstanding. I don't think it tastes diet at all! Now when I have a regular Dr. Pepper it tastes really sugary to me, like I can feel it going through my veins! Recently we got diet Pepsi, it is the only diet soda the husband will drink, it is too hard for him to give up his once daily Mountain Dew (we will work on that slowly) but I am glad I found one that he will drink! Cutting down on drinking your calories is the number one thing that will help you loose weight! I am not a fan of counting calories, but for one day try to write down all the calories you have drank, it will surprise you! Try a diet...it really is not that bad!

Snacking. I hate that word, it is my weakness! Especially when I am bored or upset I find it easy to walk into the kitchen and grab a snack. A friend of ours had told me about these little 100 calorie packs, I was for sure they would taste horrible. They are the most amazing things I have ever placed into my mouth, AND I don't feel bad because they are only 100 calories! I get a box with 12 bags of treats for under $4. They have cheese crackers, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, short bread cookies and rice crispy treats. Mmmmm. Now I just need to work on telling myself that eating all 12 bags in one sitting is NOT a good idea ;) *Just kidding, I never did that, although it is really tempting!* Would I even admit that on my blog?? Probably...

So give it a shot, try something that is a little more healthier than you would normally eat. Don't be scared, worst thing that will happen is that you don't like it! Best case scenario is that you really enjoy these new items and can start a healthier eating lifestyle one bite at a time!