Eat Less CRAP...Eat more FOOD!

Bonjour Bloggettes and Bloggies!!

    Today is the continuation of my previous post...Correction..Nothing Tastes as Good as Healthy Feels(can be found on the home page). *Warning Label:This post is going to be long.  Please take regular breaks. Or your legs will fall asleep.  Or you will get dehydrated.  Or you might not notice your child getting into your makeup and then look up and almost die of fright because they look like a weird clown midgit.  Either way, you've been given due notice to possible side effects! :D

  The motivating phrase for today's post is Eat Less CRAP...Eat More FOOD.  Now I'm not a regular user of the word crap, so let me explain this one...
No abusing your body with..
C-Carbonated Drinks
R-Refined Sugars
A-Artificial Sweetners+Colours
P-Processed Foods

Instead indulge in..
F-Fruits & Veggies
O-Organic Lean Protein
O-Omega 3 Fatty Acids
D-Drink Water

This little thought goes along with the next part of my journey to find a healthy life.  So we are going back a few years to May 2010, where Brett,my husband, had just graduated college and there were slim pickings of job prospects in the area we were living in. So he started looking for a place to move that would land him a good workplace.  Conviently, his parents were moving to Florida, so we decided to hop on that bandwagon, and transplant; from one of the top snowfall areas in the USA, to the sunshine state!  With no job lined up right away, his family graciously invited us to live in their house.  This is where my weightloss/healthconcious attitude took a pause.  While Brett started taking on some odd jobs, I stayed at home with my girls and his mom and sister. And this is where an old habit kicked in...which I'm sure all of you can relate, its a little thing I like to call Boredom Munchies.  The meaning of this reminds me of a scene from Lord of the Rings where one guy is asking two others about eating and it goes something like this...."What about breakfast?"
"Youve already had it."
"We've had one, yes.  What about second breakfast?"
"I don't think he knows about second breafast."
"What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon Tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesnt he?"

Hahaha!!!-I laugh no matter how many times I see this..
Maybe you've never watched the film, so I hope you get the humour, nonetheless!!  I find it hilarious because of how much it described me.  If you ever find yourself in a spot where you look at the clock and try to convince yourself its a meal/snack time just to pass the time,  you probably should just go out and take a walk. or swim. or bike ride. or just lay in the grass and watch the clouds pass...God made our bodies so brilliantly that they will let us know when we need to refuel!  So this is big, DO NOT(!!), let some written or unwritten codes of society dictate what time of day you should be eating your meals/snacks or how many times you should be eating.  Let me explain: every day, no matter how similar it may seem as the previous, IS DIFFERENT.  So one day your body may be hungry at 8,12,5 on the dot, and the next it may be 7,9,1,7, and the next even more different!! And even more importantly, everybody is different!!  Some people need just 3 meals while others need more, but let me repeat, take the time to understand and listen to your own body, so you will be able to distinguish the difference between the boredomunchies and actual hunger. I understand everyone has a daily routine where their jobs may have scheduled their lunchtimes for them (I will save my opinions on that for a different time ;)..It's all about small changes, and respecting the body and mind that you have.  Your health will determine your future!
    Alright, sidestory complete...lets dive back into southwest florida where thankfully I hadn't lost complete motivation in staying healthy.  So, while those boredom munchies had joined my everyday routine, luckily my learned habit of staying active helped and those pounds didn't start creeping back.  I took up walking, I'm talking 80-100 degrees, rain or shine I took out my big ole jogging stroller and gave it my best.  Also, I swam in the pool, had dance dance revolution competitions with the sister in law and snuck in crunches/jumping jacks/etc when I remembered.  My activity level was still low-moderate and so with my unhealthy food habits, my body had hit a plateau, very little muscle gain/fat loss. Here's where I met another greatly needed turn in the road, it was only a 2 months from the time we moved and Brett found/started a new job.  A couple weeks later we moved out of his parents house and into a condo that was closer to his work.
    Here's the tie-in to CRAP ;)...We had very little money to work with so unfortunately I thought the easiest/cheapest meals were the best.  My meals consisted of ramen noodles, hot dogs, overly processed pasta with the calorie laden jarred sauces, fa(s)t food, and...well you get the not so pretty picture.  Again, I wish I would have recognized sooner how much the artificial crap was tearing up my body and mind. I had enough personal motivation to stay slightly active by doing yoga, going to the pool or pulling my daughters in the wagon around our development for an hour or two.  I started seeing some fat loss, but my head had that bad food fog starting up so sometimes those activities were limited to once a week and I had myself convinced I was being active enough. :P  I avoided people because I was so uncomfortable with myself and my diet was giving my body a run for its money. Thank GOD my body fought back.  I had bloating(aka foodbabies), low energy, and I kept breaking out in rashes/hives.  Also me and my daughters fought really bad colds/croup/flu-like symptoms.  I wonder if my body was trying to tell me something?! :P  Because of all that, my motivation started dwindling, I was ready to just sit back on my self-pity chair, pout, and let life move on by me...
    However, I met another corner in the road, going home for Christmas/New Years for a staycation of about a month.  At that point, my weight loss was only a couple pounds from July-December 2010.  Going back north was like finally making it around that looong bend and being able to see straight for miles ahead!  I was back in my old stomping grounds and it was like a breath of fresh air..  My family/friends/surroundings were just the positive energy and love I needed, and it goes to show you with a positive mind your body is unstoppable.  Back at home, I was eating healthier (thanks moms all natural/organic pantry!) and had the energy to constantly be going.going.going.  From snow-shoeing, to snowmobiling, to helping haul wood and clean house, my activity level went from low to high.  The results were amazing, my mind and body were happy and it showed, by the time I returned back to FL I was 10lbs lighter.
   Around this time was when I convinced Brett to start up tennis with me..we had played before, but only a few times and to say that I was awful was an UNDERstatement! haha!  I have to say, for those of you who haven't tried it out, please do..and at least a few times, it grows on you!  It is a great whole body exercise, and so much fun!! We tried getting out there almost every day, it didn't really matter how bad I was, the point was being active and making myself better!  I also started incorporating more fruit/veggies in my diet.  I have to point out that my intake in the couple years previous was almost nonexistant, so even though it was more than I was used to, it was still a lower amount than my body needed. 
    My one downfall of that year was getting too comfortable with using alcohol to relax my body/mind.  This led to this bad habit of thinking I could drink everyday?...No, this wasn't an overnight thing, and I wasn't partying all the time, it was simply a small glass of wine with dinner on the weekend.  But after many months, I realized it had turned to a large glass of wine every night.  Basically, even though I was proud of my body and how I was changing, my mind was still struggling to overcome that wall I had built when I was pregnant at 17...that I was the fat bitch that nobody would be interested in being friends with.  I wouldn't say I was antisocial, but I avoided talking to my family/friends from back home and I still hadn't opened myself up for the chance to finding friends and creating a life for myself in a new environment.  I realized it was a problem one afternoon when my exact thought was how many hours until dinner and that large glass of wine, so I could lounge in front of the tv and escape the loneliness, and then go to sleep like a charm. (stop! keep that judgement from coming to your head and don't go there, I was not drinking to the point of passing out, I would get a slight buzz to mellow out.)  And no, I am not taking a stand against you everyday vinos, some people can drink daily in moderation and have no problems with it.  For me, personally, it was a negative thing because I was doing it for the wrong reasons!  My diet was still not where it needed to be for my body and mind to be at a healthy level, and by drinking wine every night I was about to push myself backwards.  Do I still drink? You bet your bottom dollar, definetly not part of my daily routine and definetly not for the wrong reasons. Someone I love dearly once told me drink because you are happy, not to make you happy.  Healthy minds make healthy choices!!
    Now I'm going to sort of skip over a chunk of time(wine was in that frame) because basically there is no long story, it is just short and simple.  From spring 2010-december 2010, my weight was at a plateau, but muscles/toning were starting to show because of the raise in activity level from low-moderate!  Another big positive was I started cooking/baking more often, which is a huge passion of mine!  I put on my apron and I'm transported into another world, a place where amidst the mess of flour dusted counters and piles of dirty measuring cups and cookie cutters, I feel at peace.  And, even though I was still not making the healthiest choices, by preparing mine and my families food, I was visually understanding and educating myself what I was putting into my body.  That is huge to any healthy lifestyle change...going in the positive direction, so while all my choices were not the best, I was changing for the better, learning by living one day at a time....
..To be continued......so stay tuned for more experiences and laughs!

Many thanks to you all for taking the time to read and give some wonderful feedback, <3love you for the support! Again, I am writing this first and foremost to move forward with a healthy life.  In order for that to happen, I needed to be honest and open with myself, and others.  I am still quite a private person, but this past chapter on my life is on its final closing words so I have no problems bringing up those old memories because I no longer have the pain that came with them.  For too long I struggled because I wouldn't address the demons that were holding me back and keeping me as the scared and lonely 17 year old who thought the world was going to swallow her up.  To be cliche', I needed to be lost for a little while in order to truly find myself.  I thank God everyday for his amazing love and the strength he gave me to send those demons straight back where they came from...
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint"

Have a blessed day!!
Lots of love!!
C'est Si Bon!

Melanie