The End of Dieting

Hi, my name is Alicia, and I'm a big nerd.

This past week, I decided to get my documentary fix on Netflix.  Nothing makes me more giddy than watching documentaries.  Except maybe watching reruns of The Office.

I finally got the chance to watch Bully.  Then I decided to watch Hungry for Change.
You can watch the first 20 minutes online for free on their website:
http://www.hungryforchange.tv/

I've always been big, at least for as long as I can remember.  When we got home from our Florida vacation, I weighed in at my heaviest yet, 252 pounds.  (I am 5' 10 1/2" for those who don't know me personally)  Why hide it?  Am I ashamed of it?  Yes.  But lying about it to, and hiding it from, myself and others is not going to do me a bit of good.  I came home 15 pounds heavier than when we left.

How could that have possibly happened?  It's not like I sat in the passenger's seat of the truck with a bag of Funyuns and a bottle of Coke in my hands at all times.  I ate 3 meals a day.  I didn't have digestive issues, as I suspected I would.  And we stayed somewhat active when we were home, thanks to my niece.  So then...what the heck?!

I came home and went right back on my diet:  1500 calories and no more than 40 grams of fat per day.  One prenatal vitamin per day, one flaxseed oil supplement at every meal, water water water!

I started exercising, not taking into account that I hadn't exercised seriously since before winter and inevitably injuring my knees (which are back to creaking and popping again).

Following this regimen, I dropped 8 pounds in 2 weeks.  Not too shabby!

But this week was a struggle!  My energy levels were almost non-existent.  It felt like I was fighting depression.  The weight stopped dropping off as dramatically as it had been.  I began watching Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz daily, and finally sat down to watch Hungry for Change while clipping coupons.  That's when the light bulb appeared over my head.

Instead of targeting calories, fat grams, the dreaded carbs...maybe I should be cutting out preservatives.  It's not really how much I'm eating, it's what I'm eating.  So I began doing research.

Without getting into the major specifics in this wide-spectrum blog post, I've decided to make the following changes:

1. Processed sugars and their substitutes will be replaced with all-natural honey.
2. Meals will focus on fresh fruits and vegetables above any other category.
3. Margarine and spreads are being replaced with *gasp* butter.  Real butter.
4. If I can make it myself (from scratch), I will.
5. Bread must be whole grain.  No more white bread, butter bread, Italian bread, etc...  If the label says "enriched flour" I'm not buying it.  It's a fancy word for "processed."

This is really just the tip of the iceberg.  Every single item of food that I will consume will be scrutinized.

Now to up the stakes a little bit...I will do this on a budget.  For years, my chief complaint and excuse has been, "It's too expensive to eat healthy and take care of yourself."

I debunked that theory this morning.  I made a menu plan, a grocery list and sorted all of my coupons before the last episode of Golden Girls was over.  Despite having a list in hand, I spent a good deal of time reading over the ingredients on each package before it was placed into my cart.

My new rule is:  if there are more than 2 ingredients in anything, put it back.  (with very few exceptions, bread being one of them)

$85 later (only $10 over budget!), I had a week's worth of clean food ready to be organized in the refrigerator.  I'm still in disbelief.  I was able to get Extra Virgin Olive Oil, honey, a good selection of produce, fish, steak, lean pork chops, green tea bags, a carton of egg whites, and so much more!  Enough to keep our bellies full until next Friday!

So now, only time will tell whether or not these changes will really make a difference.  If they'll really be worth it.  Common sense tells us that they will be.  But!  I've pretty much given this blog a little jump start.  Get ready for healthy recipes!  Clean recipes!  More exclamation points!

For now, I'm going to sit back, relax and enjoy a glass of freshly brewed green tea.

Monday, I will share my pico de gallo recipe with you all (because I was too excited to take pictures and I'm pretty sure I'll need a new batch by then).

***As a side note, I realize that I still have a long way to go.  Not everything I'm doing may be perfect, but I believe it's a very good start for my lifestyle.