So I’ve decided it’s time to Spring clean myself. I’m not terribly unhealthy, but there’s room for improvement. I’m just so sick of always being sick. Since Christmas I feel like I’ve been battling one cold or respiratory infection after another. I know my two preschoolers are probably the culprits for spreading all the germs, but I also think that exercising and eating healthier will help too.
For the past week I’ve been doing P90x. If you haven’t heard of it, P90x is a set of workout DVD’s that claim to cause muscle confusion by changing up the exercises often. It’s tough! The last workout DVD I did that made me sweat anywhere near the amount this one does was Tae-Bo. So far for the first week, it’s going well. I’ve been getting up at 6 am to workout and Tired Dad Dave even joined me this morning. I’ve been super-swamped lately so rolling out of bed and getting in the workout before the day starts has been great. I don’t have to think about it all day and if I have time to do anything else that’s a bonus.
As far as eating, I’ve really upped my intake of fruits, vegatables, and protein. I used to be a carboholic. I could eat frozen waffles (no syrup) or cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, pretzels for a snack, and pasta for dinner, and then have a late night snack of dry cereal, pretzels (again), or crackers. I never thought it bothered me, but lately I’ve been focusing my food choices on fruits, veggies, and proteins and I do feel better.
Now my typical day is a small serving of Cheerios for breakfast topped with strawberries and bananas, if I worked out in the early morning I’ll have a protein bar before lunch, at lunch I’ve been really creative with my salad making skills, around 3 pm I get hungry for something sweet so I either have apples with peanut butter or vanilla yogurt mixed with fruit, dinner is protein based with lots of veggies, and my late night snack is opposite of what I had at 3.
While I’m enjoying eating healthy, I feel a little in a rut and it’s only been a week! Do you have any healthy eating tips, recipes, or links you can recommend to keep me on track?
Getting creative with the salads has been my big thing lately…that a grilling my veggies (so yummy)! My mother makes a big salad on Sunday and Wednesday…that way it’s always around. I need to start doing that b/c I find that if it’s not already made, I “don’t have time” to eat a proper lunch…it just becomes my excuse. I also need some meat to throw on top…we usually cook a small chicken every week, so that is perfect! Good luck…every time I read about what you guys are doing, it keeps me going on my track too!
I’m scared of that workout program, but yet I want to do it too! I eat carbs like you did. I count calories so I don’t eat a lot but it sure seems like all I’m eating is made of carbs. :(
I love this part of the year because as weather gets nicer I stop craving carbs and turn into fruit and veggies.
Sparkpeople.com has great resources and tools to use. I don’t participate in their forums and groups (did that and didn’t like it after few months), but I still use their tools and tracking forms.
One of the tips I learned is not to drink or eat anything for 1 hour after the exercise because the body is still melting fat and muscles are still working.
Also drinking ice cold drinks helps speed up the metabolism. When I feel craving foods before my period I try to eat ice chips.
Hubby and I started a 21 day Purification Cleanse, but then my Mom died 2 days into it, unexpectedly. Therefore, the cleanse was put on hold. I’m excited to get going with it again (it’s an actual “system”, through my Chiro), but don’t have the energy to do so quite yet.
I’m interested in the fact that if you drink ice cold drinks your metabolism speeds up. Seriously? That’s crazy to me! Ice chips remind me of labor! I’ll try ‘em though!
Wow – that is great… something I really need to do!
I love this woman’s newsletter and cookbooks. Although she’s been criticized for having too much processed food… But she does teach you a way to make sinful foods that taste good but don’t have all the calories:
http://www.hungry-girl.com/
What a great idea, spring cleaning for the body! I’m still a little scared of p90x though, but keep us posted about your progress!!
I started not buying all the cookies and junk-if it’s not in the house I won’t eat it!
First of all, I used to get 6 sinus infections every winter. Then I got the pneumonia vaccine. The bug that causes pneumonia also causes a lot of sinus infections. Since getting that, I’ve only had one sinus infection. And the vaccine is good for 5 years. You might want to ask your doc about that.
Second, my rule in eating snacks and meals is to always have some carbs and some protein (fruits are carbs). The carbs make you feel full now and the protein helps you feel full longer. If I forget my protein at breakfast, I’m hungry in an hour. Protein doesn’t have to be fancy. I eat a few slices of turkey lunchmeat at breakfast every day after my cereal to get in my protein. For snacks, I’ll have a carb with either peanut butter or cheese.
Hope that helps. Good luck with staying on track.
I make sure I have healthy food around to eat. I make healthy soups, and freeze them in containers for snacks and lunches. I also snack on pumpkin and sunflower seeds and pistachios. The key for me is not to eat too much at one time. I eat small amounts every 3-4 hours. I do eat a medium sized lunch and dinner. I eat oatmeal for breakfast. I also make Hummus and salads. I just make sure there is healthy food ready-to-eat in the house.