Finally Friday! This week has flown by, which is a good thing, but it also felt like all I was doing was getting up in the morning, busy all day, going to bed and starting all over again. I’m really looking forward to the weekend!
For breakfast, I had Cheerios with a sliced banana and milk for 4 points.
While working, I sipped on Raspberry Chocolate coffee with FF vanilla creamer for 1 point.
I have been tossing around the idea of eliminating most processed foods for a while now. The truth is, I just wasn’t ready for it in the past. But hubby and I had a talk and we both decided that we are ready to start making slow changes to get away from processed foods. The plan is to use up what we have, and everything that we buy to replace what we have has to be unprocessed—for the most part. I’m not going to be CRAZY about it, but will definitely be making some changes, which you might not see a lot of for a while since we have a lot of processed foods in the house. I’m not going to do this over night, but am going to try to make slow and gradual changes. There will be things that will be hard to eliminate too! I am not going to go all Jillian Michaels and throw stuff away. I disagree with that. It’s wasteful and we don’t have the money to do that. It’s not like we have TERRIBLE foods in the house anyways. So that’s the plan. It’s going to be a learning experience for us both. We will have to learn how to tell if something is processed. What does it really mean? We will have to make choices about what we are going to allow and what not. It will take time to find substitutes for the foods we eat so often. Is organic the same as unprocessed? So many questions! The good news is, we’ve come this far—we know where to shop to find the foods that will be better for us. I believe this is just the next step in the journey.
I want to thank Kristen for her comment yesterday. While it’s always hard to admit that what I’m doing isn’t working, and that I may eat too many processed foods, your comment came at the right time for me and I appreciate the way that you said it’s important to switch gears to get where I want to be, but acknowledging that what I have done so far has been successful. I think that’s been the hardest thing for me to understand. How can I lose 85 lbs. and not be doing the right things? I’ve come to the conclusion that I lost 85 lbs. and while what I did to get here wasn’t WRONG, it’s just going to take a little different approach to get to where I’m going. This is a learning journey and this is just the next step along the way! I wanted to email you, Kristen, if you are even reading this, but I didn’t have a way to contact you. I am looking at my insurance to see if it covers a nutritionist also.
I’m going to find a happy medium. Something that works for me. Something I can sustain. Just better than what I’m doing now. Like I said, don’t expect huge changes right away.
On my first break, I ate a WW sting cheese and 1/2 serving of almonds for 3 points.
For lunch, I ate tuna, fat free cottage cheese, and tomato slices for 3 points.
I finished it up with a Fiber One brownie for 2 points.
By the way, that drizzle over the top comes on the brownie. It’s not caramel that I drizzled over it.
On my break, I attempted to eat celery with 1 Tbs. peanut butter. I’m going to admit, by the last one, I licked the peanut butter off and threw the last piece of celery away. *gag* lol. 3 points.
On my last break, I ate a package of Pirate’s Booty for 2 points.
It was a long and tiring day at work. I was so glad to be done.
For supper, Hubby grilled Jennie-O turkey burgers (which I topped with onions), and I made my roasted potatoes (watch for the recipe tomorrow!), and a spur of the moment creation that had northern beans, spinach, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar for a total of 10 points.
I have been advised to eat more beans by so many people, so today I soaked the beans for 7 hours and then put them in the crock pot on high for about 4 hours. They turned out perfectly! So now I have a bunch of cooked northern beans in the fridge. I will be experimenting with dried beans soon!
For dessert, I made each of us a serving of pumpkin pie pudding. I got this mix at one of my favorite local specialty food stores. There is no nutritional information, so I counted it as full fat instant pudding. 4 points.
And it was fantastic.
After supper, hubby and I headed out for a walk. I was actually craving activity tonight after my long and stressful day at work. We walked 24 minutes and I burned 161 calories. I almost took a big fall tonight! Thankfully hubby was there to catch me because I was going down! I think I stepped in a hole or something and my ankle twisted. Funny thing is, I grabbed on to hubby and I was going down so I actually grabbed his leg with my opposite hand and I think my wrist hurts more than my ankle!! haha. I guess that’s what you get for walking in the dark. Most of the area we walk is lit up though.
We’re going to relax for the rest of the night and probably find a good movie to watch on Netflix. I wish they had newer movies on there. Do any of you use Hulu Plus? What do you think of it?
Have a great weekend!!
Hi Alissa, good luck on the non processed challenge. I know you'll do wonderfully. Have a great weekend, take care!!!!
ReplyDeleteIf you've been following my blog any, you'll know I also have been wanting to ditch junky "diet" foods, too. It's so hard to do when you are so used to grabbing certain things at the store. I haven't bought any more Fiber One brownies, but I still have some of their bars and things. Sometimes I just have to have convenience, and I think you do with your busy schedule, too.
ReplyDeleteBut that stuff isn't healthy for us by any means. Boohoo. :( LOL. And sometimes it's TOO EASY to grab. I think your lunch and supper on today's post look much more like real food and a real meal. My big downfall is chips with lunch! I have cut the serving size in half, but I still need to find something other than chips for more times than not.
Making slow changes is usually the way to go. By cutting out a bit at a time, I think you'll feel less stressed, less deprived, and happier with your changes. You'll do great. Can't wait to see you shed those last pounds!
Glad you didn't get badly hurt with your fall! You have been doing great with your exercise. At least that's not something you will have to work at. :) Me, however... another story. Uggggghhhh! lol
Bravo to realizing you need to make more changes to continue on being successful!
ReplyDeleteBasically, anything packaged or fast food is processed. Any type of bars, cookies, crackers, etc.
I would first focus on the biggies like packaged cookies (WW or not), the lite ice creams, chips, brownies, etc and move downward from there. You will lose your taste for them after a while.
A good clue on a label for processing is sodium.
Good for you making changes and getting away from processed food! Even the smallest changes will make a big difference!
ReplyDeleteOrganic and unprocessed aren't the same, unprocessed just means its not been manufactured (like your lunch of tuna, cheese and tomatoes) - they're in their natural state. The cheese in a packet would be an example of processed foods.
ReplyDeleteI eat some processed foods, we have eat natural bars in the UK which are like a granola bar. However you'll normally find that there is a lot of sugar or additives in processed foods, and theres especially a lot of sugar if its a product purporting to be low fat. Its really easy to make your own granola bars using oats, raisins, nuts and coconut and that way you can easily see how much sugar is going in. Plus they taste way better!
I'm trying to break away from processed foods as well, it's tough! I'm doing the same thing you are, not going nuts and throwing everything away, but as we use something, I replace it with non-processed foods. Good luck to you!!!
ReplyDeleteJen@FoodFamilyFitness