The Eating Journey Begins

Life is a continual process of trying to better ourselves.  This weekend we took another pretty big step at trying to do just that.  And it is a REALLY hard change for me.

Anyone who knows me knows that my "love language" is food.  I love food.  I love sugar, I love chocolates, I love donuts, I love burgers and fries, I love ice cream and cupcakes, I love cheese and cereal.  Basically every junk food known to man, I LOOOOVE it.

But I really hate the feeling that my love of food has taken over my life and I am not feeling well, looking well or having healthy kids because of how we eat.  But I hadn't really been thinking much about it, just occasionally I think, "I need to actually eat a fruit today," or "I should exercise."  You know things like that.

Lucky for me, I am curvy, but still about the same size as I was when I got pregnant with Josh.  Four kids later, that isn't too shabby.  So I don't have a ton of motivation because I don't feel "huge" too often, because I've always looked this way and it isn't a horrible way to look, so I've been okay with it.  However, having muscle would be nice and not jiggling in certain areas would be nice too.  But along with my hair and lack of make up, I don't pay much attention to it.  I have a wonderful husband that sees me and loves me and that is that.  But his drive lately to live a healthier and better life has really got me thinking and inspired me.  He even ran a 5k last week even though just months ago he hated running more than anything.

Tys is the extremely attractive one on the right.  Dallin is his brother-in-law and personal trainer and Cassie is his awesome marathon running sister.  She has been trying to get us to eat healthier for a long time.  :)

I saw someone post on Facebook a few weeks ago about wanting to get in shape and if anyone had any weight loss programs that worked well.  One person commented something about a book called "Eat to Live."  Don't know why, but the comment stuck with me.

So, what did I do?  Went to Amazon and searched it.  I started reading the "Look Inside" section and I was hooked.  Could this be for real?  The author, Dr. Fuhrman, talked a ton about eating healthy vegetables and fruits and not eating animal products and how he has been able to reverse Type II diabetes and helped to prevent heart attacks and cancer and on and on.  Sounded crazy, but at the same time made SOOO much sense.  I totally checked it out from my local library, but I recommend buying it if you can, there are so many things I wanted to highlight and keep.  I did however buy another book he wrote called "Disease Proof Your Child."  I have just started reading it and I LOVE it.  Either of these affiliate links will take you right to them if you want to read snippets from them or read other reviews.

 

So as I was reading "Eat to Live," all the things I have been taught for years about how milk makes your bones strong, and meat is the best protein, were totally shattered.  I almost had this feeling like I didn't know what to believe anymore.  I couldn't put the book down and seriously, that NEVER happens to me.  I love to read fiction and happy love stories.  But never non-fiction, especially stuff telling me not to eat the food I love most in the world.

 

I kept telling Tyson all the info I was learning as I read it and was so excited about it, he couldn't help but learn and care.  Believe me, he tried to ignore me, I would not shut up.  I kept telling him about all the people that have lost a lot of weight on this new healthy eating habits and he said "might as well give it a try."

 

Well, if he was all for it, I had to stand my ground.  We were going to do this.

 

Dr. Fuhrman suggests giving it a six week commitment and the results will speak for themselves.  I looked through his recipes, but seriously, very little actually looked good that didn't take a long time to prepare.  And anyone that has a nine month old, a two year old, a four year old, and a six year old, or even one of those, knows that making dinner has got to be quick, simple, needs to look good, taste good, smell good, etc.  I hit a road block before we even began.

 

Being the wonderful husband that he is, as soon as Tyson heard my worries, he said, well forget to recipes, lets just buy tons of healthy stuff and we will just mix it together and make it work.  Sounded good to me.

 

My wonderful mom and my crazy little sister, Carmel, went with me to the store and I bought more veggies than I think I ever have in my life, I got lots of beans and fruit and nuts.  My mom helped me know how to cook certain veggies that I refused to even look at as a kid so I had no idea what to do with them, and Carmel provided the entertainment as she hopped on the front of my cart and waved to all the shoppers as I steered her carriage around.  Got to love the teenage love for life and all things crazy.

 

I was so excited to live this new life, to have more energy, to lose weight (maybe I could actually look hot in a swimsuit), to not get sick all the time, to feel good about the things I was giving my kids.  I unloaded those groceries with pride.  And this is all I will tell you for now, this post is getting much too long.  Keep checking for updates to see how this six week challenge is going!!