Back on track!

We all fall off the healthy band wagon, it's normal. So don't beat yourself up if you blew it over the weekend. That doesn't mean you should do that every weekend, it means you should learn from your mistakes so that you make better choices the next time. The weekends are the hardest time for me to stay on track; to continue eating healthy and watching my calorie intake. Without fail I do so well during the week and then the weekend comes, and we eat out more and have people over and the food choices are never what they should be and the extra calories in liquor doesn't help either. So, it is time for me to get back on track and I am going to blog about my journey. Hopefully you can learn something from me during this process.

I am not proud of my eating and drinking choices over the weekend. I did great on Friday, even had shrimp tacos when out to eat. Saturday I blew it. I was craving a burger so badly so I dug in. It wouldn't have been a big deal to have a burger if I hadn't eaten almost the entire thing! I should have had half of it and avoided the onion rings, but I gave in. And it really was good. To balance that I had planned to do a good hour or more of a workout and then it really would have been fine. But the workout didn't happen either. That is the bad part of the whole thing. Sunday I had planned to eat only the fruits and vegetables and a little chicken from the football party food, but I gave in to the other wonderful dips a little more than I should have. And some pizza too. Oooops. Again, could have worked out to balance it out, but I didn't. Not a very good example am I? Like I said, this weekend wasn't a good example of how to balance a healthy lifestyle and realistic choices. Now that it is over, it is in the past and next weekend I will not allow myself so many indulgences.

Back on track for me means that I will eat mainly from the outside of the grocery store, things that are not packaged. The entire outside of almost all grocery stores contains the produce section - fruits and vegetables, and the meat section. Did you ever notice that even the natural foods section is usually found around that area as well? Probably not a coincidence. Eating foods from these areas is the best way to give your body the fuel and nutrients that it needs. This is very similar to the Paleo lifestyle. Notice I said "lifestyle" not "diet". Look at the Paleo way of eating as a way to give your body the proper foods that it needs to be a fat-burning machine. Don't demonize foods that you "shouldn't eat" like grains, refined foods and pasteurized dairy, simply remember that our body wasn't build to properly digest and use these foods for fuel. You wouldn't put diesel gas in your car, so don't put diesel food into your body! Treat your body better than you would your car and it will run better and longer than you ever imagined. So what do people eat on the Paleo lifestyle... well this blog isn't intended to give you a full lesson on Paleo, there are so many great books and websites for that... but I can give you a quick overview and you can follow my menu plan over the next few weeks as I blog about it. Basically Paleo entails eating WHOLE FOODS that provide optimal nutrient rich fuel for your body (lean proteins, fruits and vegetables) and avoiding processed, refined, nutrient poor foods. I tend to do a modified version of Paleo because I allow myself some dairy and I also allow myself grapes in the version of wine. ;)

My meal plan today:
Breakfast: banana and tea
AM Snack: orange and hard boiled egg
Lunch: sauteed vegetables over fresh greens (squash, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli sauteed in a non-stick pan with a dash of olive oil, fresh garlic and a dash of balsamic vinegar all on top of a bed of spring greens) sometimes I add a wedge of garlic and herb laughing cow cheese
PM Snack: mashed cauliflower (steamed then mashed with a dash of pepper)
Dinner: Grilled chicken breast seasoned with fresh lemon juice and sea salt and pepper, garden salad, left over roasted vegetables from lunch
PM Snack: apple or other fruit

Give it a try and let me know how you do! You will be amazed at how eating these whole foods keep you feeling full longer. I honestly have to remember to eat, which is important to keep my metabolism going strong. Eat when you are NOT hungry, before you get that hungry sensation, and you will avoid pigging out. And remember to drink water before you put anything else into your mouth!