Red Light Green Light

Over the last week I had some "You go girl moments" in which the mind set is shifting back to healthy eating. Several times this week while on my way home from work I wanted to stop and get food on my way home and I took the time to think about what I was about to do and did not do it (getting a burger or taco) and went home and ate something healthier like yogurt or cottage cheese with tomatoes. It really is a mind game for me. One night I worked till 1am and was very tempted to stop somewhere on my way home to get something, anything. As I was leaving my job site walking to my car I noticed a couple fast food places still open and thought, "I might just stop and grab a burger". I got in my car and said "no, don't do it", go home and eat some grapes or something, so I pulled away. On my way home getting closer to home (not even 3 miles later ugh ) is a 24 hrs a day taco place and I love tacos. I was thinking about stopping. See how quickly my mind lost the "no don't do it" to, "oh a taco sounds wonderful". Sitting across the street at the stop light, my mind went crazy with wanting a taco.  I am glad the light stayed red for awhile as there was no traffic and seemed like it was ridiculously slow at changing green for me, but that time saved me from myself. I was able to say " NO, Don't Do it!"  I will never get to my goals with the following mind set, thinking that I have been good this week and I missed eating some dinner tonight so I can have this. As I sat there at the red light thinking this,  I also came up with the thought, it is late and you are going to bed in the hour so there is no time to even digest, save your money and go home! As the light changed to green I was able with great pride to keep driving and go home! I truely felt great!
I really struggle with this environment...driving. You may think it is funny to call driving an environment, but for me it is. Driving becomes my mindless eating, not even hungry 90% of the time. The grilling smells of restaurants and even just driving by an In and Out or Chick Filet saying "oh man that sounds really good" plus,  I am by myself.  In the past being by myself I used it as my treat to stop and get a burger/chicken or taco. I know, not really a so called treat, huh? I think I have said this, but I love tacos!
I also went to a wedding this week and was so proud as I ate fresh fruit and a couple shrimp and a stuffed mushroom and a 1" ball that was like a tiny chicken cordon bleu thing and water! Oh and a chocolate covered strawberry! Yummy! No cake, No minature e'clairs  No seconds! I focused on chatting with people I have not seen in awhile and it was fun.
Meatless Monday came around and I made another wonderful new meatless meal! So good and full of veggies from the garden!
This week, I learned I can talk my way out of what my mind is trying to tell me and get my brain to shift gears to get it to tell me something else, something better, to be proud of the decisions I make. Now, I just need more stop lights to stay red for me a little longer to really think through my choices before the bad behavior takes control. A red light saved me from some calories and disappointment this week. Going through this week trying to get back on track I realize I have the ability to see, it is all in the mind. I can go down the road some day and have all green lights, for now I am thankful for the red lights!

Meatless Monday smells like Mexico

Getting back on track with changes in regards to my health has to start somewhere and Monday is a good day to focus. Monday's a few months past, I had started having Meatless Monday's for my meal planning. Over the summer meatless Monday's slowly dissipated. I loved Monday's because it forced me to learn some new recipes. Yesterday, I got back on that and I made some homemade pinto-re-fry style beans. I had always heard how much better and healthier it was to make your own and came up with a recipe earlier this year and I will never buy canned re-fried beans again! I made burritos with the beans, whole wheat tortillas,cheese and salsa and they were so very good! It has been quit a few months since I made them and Monday being a new start to focus on changes I made them again! I made a double batch so I would have left overs for some lunches too. Mexican food is one of my favorites and when my daughter came home from school and she opened the door, she said with great enthusiasm, "oh my gosh it smells so good, it smells like Mexico"! ( LOL, she has never been to Mexico - maybe she meant a Mexican restaurant).
My daughters above comment made me so happy, made me smile and be very pleased with my efforts. Then I thought; why do compliments regarding food make me/us so happy? Why do we try to please others and ourselves with food? I know we need food for nutrition and health, but the previous questions do not have anything really to do with why we need food. I enjoy cooking and getting compliments from what I have created. I know that since the beginning of time food has always been served at gatherings and I am probably being to hard on myself with that question. I guess I am trying to change how I think about food and not make it such a focus for me.
Yesterday, I also received a text from my daughter : "Have you exercised yet"?  I replied with the fact that I was cooking something for dinner that takes awhile to cook and I would after I got it going. I never did and had to admit that when she asked me again later. Sigh, I really need to make exercise a priority if I am ever going to make some additional progress in my weight loss efforts. I got the meal focus back in my head, now to get the workouts in. One day at a time, right? Today I am at home and set my focus on getting some yard work done and getting some fall decorations up. I need to get in a workout too and start making it part of my daily routine again. I will report back later when my day has come to a close. Are you able to make your workouts a priority in your day? I seem to go in waves and wish it was more like the mentality of, you shower and brush your teeth everyday, so why can't you make a workout part of everyday too? I am off to get the yard work done and will post how the rest of the day went later. Have a healthy day!

Living Life Conveniently is not Worth the Calories

There are times that everything you are doing right just fizzles down the drain. Labor day weekend was one of those times for me. My son came into town with his girlfriend and another friend. Which was awesome!

I made a hot breakfast for them when they arrived with all the fatty breakfast meats...so good, I love sausage and bacon, along with scrambled eggs. I also made some blueberry muffins and cran-orange muffins from a box. I also made cookies from a box, because it was cheaper than the bag of chocolate chips...yes, scratch is way better!. I have always made cookies from scratch so needless to say, box cookies are not that great. You would think with them not being all that great it would prevent me from wanting them, but no, I ate them anyway. In the past when I wanted something like that, it had to be the most fabulous cookie, chocolate or whatever so the calories were worth it and helped with a craving. Not all chocolates are created equal!  For some reason this Labor Day weekend, I did not think along those lines. I ate without a second thought to calories or fat. I also failed at dinner. We had a fire up one of the canyons and roasted hot dogs over it. Made and ate some homemade potato salad along with some potato chips, oh and s'mores. I also opted for juice (calories) instead of my usual water (no calories).It was all delicious, but not much in the healthy categories. Convenient foods seem to make life easy, but they are generally not healthy.  We did have some cantaloupe and I might add the best cantaloupe I have had in a few years!
When the weekend was over and my son left, I was like "whoa, what just happened"?

I realized a few things looking back at this; 1) I did what was easy and fun for the moment 2) convenience isn't all it is cracked up to be 3) one needs a plan to face these tough situations The good notes that came through this weekend, first the company was wonderful and it was so great to see my son and meet his friends! Totally enjoyed having him around even if it was very short lived! I  feel good when I am outside in the mountains. Looking for a picnic spot, I jumped at the chance to go scout out a place as it being Labor Day, all the places were very packed! I would have never done that in the past. In the past I was afraid of being to slow and breathing to hard even on a short walk.I would have saved my energy for the moment we actually had a spot to unload too. I was not afraid anymore, I just popped out of the car and did a quick walk thru at one of the sites! I am accepting the fact that quick in prompt too events are ok as long as I get back on track immediately following them.

Sometimes the occasion just calls for hot dogs, chips and s'mores and I need to allow that once in awhile, hot dogs on an open fire are the best!  I will never buy cookie mix anymore and do them from scratch instead! Muffins are ok from a box.
Convenient living is partially what got me to my fat zone and this weekend was a great reminder it isn't all it is cracked up to be. I like the time it takes to cook, smart and healthy and it is always delicious, plus I feel so gourmet chef when I cook from scratch. I am back on track and learned somethings along the way. I have also learned that I seriously need to make many more visits up the canyon! Hike, picnic, fire pits hang out  chatting with people I love, taking in the fresh air and the beauty of creation! It was a great weekend after all said and done, because the best parts have nothing to do with the food, it is the people we spend time with!