Around the House,  Changes,  Health,  Just for Fun,  Marriage Confessions

Getting My Healthy On

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Welp. It’s been ten days since my New Years resolution to get healthier. So far, I have surprised myself with how dedicated I have been to the no soda rule. I thought that one would kill me. But I really haven’t cheated.

Okay. Except last Tuesday when we had an emergency Chinese take out night. But that one doesn’t count. Everyone knows that you have to have Diet Coke with Chinese food. It’s, like, the law.

Other than that one time, though, I haven’t cheated at all. Even better than not drinking the soda is that I am drinking so much more water instead. Now, I have a big glass of water on my desk all day instead of a can of Diet Dr. Pepper. At dinner, I drink another glass of water instead of tea or another Diet Dr. Pepper. And at night when I start to crave a late night snack, I pour myself another glass of water.

At first, I was pretty miserable. Especially around 2:00 in the afternoon. I’d hit the wall and start to really miss that caffeine. But that lasted about a week (which felt like the longest week of my life, incidentally). Now, I actually seem to have more energy now than I used to have drinking my afternoon diet soda.

I’ve also stopped eating sweets.

Except for that football party I went to the other night and I made those killer Reese’s Cup brownies. Oh, and that dinner party we had last week when I made these awesome chocolate and peanut butter crescent rolls. And except for that time…

No, I think that was it, actually.

So, except for those two times, I’ve done really good with the no sweets thing. I’ve started having fruit or yogurt when I need a little fix (did you know vanilla yogurt tastes just like cake batter ice cream?!?!). And just the other day, I walked into a room with THREE UNSUPERVISED CANDY BARS and I turned around and walked away. I had to. Because if I stayed, I would have eaten all three. But I didn’t. I walked away and sat at my desk in my classroom, gulping water with lemon and trying to convince myself that it was just as satisfying as that Snickers bar.

(Which is a total lie, by the way. I don’t care what diet you’re on or how long you’ve been on it. Snickers bars will ALWAYS taste better than water. Even LEMON water. Period.)

I also switched all our rice to brown rice and all our pasta to whole wheat pasta and I stopped eating bread.

Except for those bread sticks I had at Olive Garden the other night. But those don’t count because they were APPETIZERS and everyone knows that appetizers don’t count. Duh.

Overall, I think I’m doing pretty good. I’m feeling better and I’m proud of myself. I’ve decided to celebrate small victories (like turning down unprotected Snickers bars) and overlooking small mishaps (like the fact that I haven’t exercised yet). Although, no matter how many baby steps I take into this world of health, my philosophy on food will always be…

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25 Comments

  • Lorrie

    Good job, Katie! Keep up the good work! You have cheatedWay less than I have. It’s so hard to cut the bad stuff out completely, but you are off to a terrific start.

  • Kelly H

    Love the philosophy picture at the bottom of the post! That is exactly how I feel. But good job on your progress – celebrating those “baby steps” are what lead you to the “big” ones!

  • Jen @ Caved In

    You have to start somewhere and it sounds like you’re moving in the right direction. The key to exercise for me is finding something I like. I hate the treadmill so I find any excuse to avoid it. But I love to dance so Zumba is a blast and a great calorie burner. Good luck!

  • Allison

    I have been avoiding pop as well, and it has been a lot easier than I thought it would be. I love the pics, and totally agree. I am trying to be healthier as well, but I keep finding these great recipes that I am not going to pass up, like Maple Bacon Scones!

  • Marina

    That’s as close to perfect as most peoples New Years resolutions are by this time of the year, in fact probably a lot better then most! And what’s life if not for that Diet Coke with Chines food?

  • Katie M

    You go Glen Coco (name that movie!)… You’re a healthy rockstar, I’m inspired! What in the world is your secret to avoiding sweets? I’m PMS-y and have eaten 4 cookies today. *Sigh… there’s always tomorrow to start over… AGAIN!

  • Chloe

    Water is not so bad!
    I hate any kind of soda, and my favorite drink is just water…

    I’m proud of you for stitcking with your goals 🙂
    I wish I could say the same thing about me… haha

  • alison g

    you go girl!! Have you tried Dreamfields pasta yet? it tastes so much better than whole wheat pasta and your body doesn’t digest all the carbs. I eat it because I am diabetic. You would never no it was any different than regular pasta!!!

  • Jenn

    You are total right on the Chinese food thing, except that diet soda is gross so I’ll take mine with regular coke or a ginger ale. And congrats to you for giving up bread. Sandwiches are still a staple of my lunch.

  • S

    my resolution was to make an overall healthier me, which also included drinking more water. i keep a giant (pink) waterbottle on my desk at all times so when I am teaching, it’s easy to grab. keep up the water habit!

  • Brina

    I, too, have given up soda! So far so good… I also decided to drink green tea in the mornings in lieu of coffee (ok, let’s be honest here… my cup of coffee was really half coffee/half creamer). It’s amazing how little changes can make such a big difference! And don’t feel guilty about the chocolate and peanut butter crescent rolls. Those are too amazing to give up completely… =)

  • Melody

    We’re on the same health rode as you, and I thought I’d share a new snack we discovered. Make some cranberry relish, (1# cranberries, 1 peeled orange, 1/2c sugar, chopped in the food processor until well chopped and blended) put 1/2c of this is a dish. Top with a healthy dollop of Greek yogurt, and maybe 1T of good granola. I do not miss the bucket of ice cream I used to eat at night!

  • Kat

    L O L that picture kills me. I need to do an update on my slacking, err, I mean New Years resolutions. But the most important question here is – how does one cook brown rice? I’ve switched my family a while back to almost all whole wheat but every time that I try to do brown rice I fail. And I mean miserably.
    Oh and freakin’ GO YOU! No snickers?! That’s impressive.

  • Donna

    Congrats and Good Job! btw indulgences in reeces brownie (I must look up the recipe!) and bread every now and then is good. Too much depriving will cause anyone to fail!

  • Jenna@CallHerHappy

    Small steps 🙂 Way to go on your New Year’s resolution! I found that breaking mine up into small steps was the best. I want to accomplish more each day so I am going to do three things: 1. Get up earlier 2. No TV during the day 3. Make a list of things to do each day!

  • Tan

    you will be surprised if you stick to this that in a fairly short amount of time junk food actually starts tasting like junk and you really prefer the taste or fruit or roasted veggies – whole foods in general. Having soda or sweets when you really want the item (instead of out of habit) also makes that item taste that much better! I hope you stick to it!

  • Julie S.

    Congrats! I NEED to cut out pop but I am a one Dr. Pepper a day kind of girl. Ugh. I swear, when this 12 pack is gone, I am done. DONE. And that photo at the bottom? Made me laugh so hard!

  • All My Monkeys

    I’m doing stuff too. TOday is day four. I still feel like it’s the longest week ever. But I haven’t cheated at all, and I WILL PERSEVERE!

    Here’s a little water formula, and if you weigh as much as me it will make you nearly crap your pants to see how much water you should be drinking. (Not so much an issue for normal weighing people like yourself.) 1 glass = 8 oz = 1 cup. Take your body weight, divide by 2, + 20 = how many ounces you should drink. I can’t manage to get more than 10-12 glasses, but I feel good with that. That’s still a ton more water than I was drinking.

  • Dorice

    Hi Katie, Just wanted to let you know that a better tasting option than wheat pasta is Ronzini Smart Taste pasta. Lower fat, higher fiber than wheat pastas and taste just as good as the regular pastas. Also, here’s a blog I follow that has fantastic low fat, healthy receipes; desserts too! http://www.skinnytaste.com

  • Sarah

    congrats on the progress:) i keep telling myself, any food i turn down or walking i do is way better than eating everything in sight and dying in front of the tv every night. keep up the baby steps:)

  • Lori @ I Can Grow People

    Congrats on sticking to it! One of my favorite healthy things is greek yogurt–particularly Chiobani greek yogurt. It is so rich and creamy it totally tricks me into thinking that I am eating a dessert of some sort. It’s my new favorite healthy thing!

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