Day 4 - Healthy Planning Keeps the Junk Food Away?

Breakfast has mostly consisted of fresh fruit this week, although today I had some Greek yogurt with caramelized almonds.

I think this yogurt is really yummy - the almonds are amazing. I really like how high in protein Greek yogurt is compared to regular yogurt.  I didn't really even like Greek yogurt when I first tried it, but now I couldn't even tell you the last time I ate regular yogurt.  That boost in protein is definitely appreciated; being vegetarian, I need to be more mindful about getting protein in my diet more regularly.

So far, so good on being healthy.

But here's the problem. Tomorrow I'm driving up to Michigan.  And it's going to be an 8-hour drive round-trip. What is my favorite thing to do during road trips? Well, besides sing along to the radio, I would have to say eat. And the bad kind of eat, like grabbing some cheese sticks at Arby's or a Frappucino at Starbucks. Plus, I already have a list of like three restaurants I want to stop at along the way. The plan is to bring a cooler so that leftovers won't be an issue and I won't feel pressured to eat more than I need to. I think I will definitely need to plan ahead to make sure I have healthy snacks on hand, but I'm thinking this trip is definitely going to have me tapping into my cheat meal (or meals!).  

Day 1 - Missing the Weekend Already

Wow, one day in and I already feel like I'm starving!  I did have a really fat weekend though. Which consisted of this giant calzone from Three Wise Men Brewing Company while visiting a friend in Indy. 

This was seriously like a large pizza folded in half.

Dessert was another calorie bomb when we stopped at Parcha Sweets and I had a Blueberry Streusel cupcake and a Cuatro Leches dessert.  I love Tres Leches cake, so I was excited to try this.  It was soooo good!

OK, so that is a far cry from my meals on Monday. I had some papaya and Greek yogurt for breakfast.

We got a fresh papaya when we stopped at Whole Foods over the weekend. These things look um...less than appetizing...on the inside.  

I was supposed to be limiting processed foods...but that's not like an OFFICIAL rule...so I had this vegetable lasagna for lunch. 

I

I generally take a multi-vitamin along with a flaxseed oil supplement during lunch.

I know that I regularly take less than recommended - I usually just pop a pill or two - but I stopped to read the serving size to take the actual recommended amount. 2 flaxseed oil supplements...which isn't so bad, but SIX of these little guys. That's a lot to swallow!  Ugh, I might need to explore other brands when it's time to buy new vitamins - but it is so hard to find these supplements without gelatin!

Dinner consisted of way too many vegetables for my liking - potatoes, peppers, and green beans - and could have used a splash more flavor.

I had just enough calories for half a serving of homemade vegan strawberry shortcake.

Healthy Rules

I considered doing a cleanse, such as this Whole Living Action Plan that I read about in a magazine, but I decided to just build my own Get Healthy plan. This way I can customize it to my own needs (plus, I am worried I will feel like I'm STARVING if I do a cleanse. I think I might try it some other time though...).   

So, here are my rules for the Three Week Get Healthy Challenge! 

1. My daily calorie intake will average 1,200 calories. I consulted a few different websites, including this Healthy Weight Forum to get an idea of the number of calories I should consume. I decided I would set a goal of losing 3 lbs in 3 weeks, so this came out to just over 1,200 calories a day. 

2. I will eat 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables per day.

3. I will participate in 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week, including muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days per week. 

4. I will allow for 1-2 splurge meals each week. That will be a maximum of six cheat meals over a three-week period (although I'm hoping to get by with less!).

5. I will keep an exercise and food log regularly.

Those are the general rules. I am also going to try to avoid processed foods as much as possible.

Happy Healthy Days

Last week, while paying careful attention to a Service Center Costing webinar, I started jotting down some of my thoughts about what being healthy means to me. From those basic thoughts, I wanted to seek some additional guidance to make sure I was making the right healthy decisions. I think that everyone has their own specific idea of what 'being healthy' means and not everyone would agree with my decisions, but that's okay! Here's how I'm going to try to be healthier.

I'm not sure how well you can make out my hand-written list, but I'll discuss the relevant points below.

The CDC says that I should eat about 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables every day.  I'm probably lucky if I get one serving of each on a normal day. 

Exercise-related guidance was a little more confusing. The CDC offers several different options for getting the right amount of physical activity. I decided to keep it simple with their first suggestion for important health benefits, which indicates that adults need at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups.  This is in line with what I usually do. I generally work out for a half-hour in the morning before work, and it's usually a mix of cardio and strength training.  

So, where do cookies and french fries fit in to this plan? I know foods such as these regularly factor into my weekends...I find that I can do okay eating fairly healthy during the week, but Friday often kicks off a weekend of poor eating. So, forget about a cheat day, we're talking like 2.5 'cheat' days every week on a normal basis for me.  A cheat meal seems to be more of an accepted practice, maybe allowing for one or two splurges in a given week. 

I've read some conflicting things about whether vitamins and supplements are necessary or if they can be more harmful than good for you.  Given that I'm a vegetarian, I think I'm going to continue to take them to make sure I'm not missing out on any essential nutrients. 

As for some of my other notes, processed food, stress, and alcohol are all obviously bad, so I will try to avoid those as much as possible.