Thoughts About Weight

I know I've shared before on here about how I struggle with accepting myself and my ever fluctuating weight, but I had a few new thoughts about it and wanted to share.

Every year I vow to myself to "get in the best shape ever", but I think I've finally started to realize that my best shape ever doesn't necessarily equal this:

Let's face it, I'm not six feet tall with a long torso and legs that go on for miles. I'm a shorter girl who happens to have hips and more muscular legs. I've told myself over the years that I could be a shorter version of that ideal, that I could have skinny legs and amazing abs like that, but the truth is I can be in shape and I can be toned, but my body is never going to look like hers.

You know what though? I'm finally starting to be ok with that. I want to be muscular, I want to look fit and toned, but I don't want to look sickly and I don't want to starve myself or cut out amazing things that I love to eat (in moderation) just so I can try to be a size 6. I think I look good at a size 10 or 12 and even when I lost 20 lbs, I still was in a size 10/12. Evidently that's just my body. 

I see this floating around Pinterest all the time:

And I think it's a load of crap. I can think of lots of things that taste better than skinny would feel. Potato casserole, cheese enchiladas, chips and salsa, and a cold Dr. Pepper are just a few. Obviously I believe that you should eat and drink those things in moderation, but I'm not going to cut them completely out of my life. I mean, in the end of my life, am I going to look back and care whether I ever was a size 6? Are my children going to care if I ever made my goal weight or only gained 10 lbs when I was pregnant with them? No, I think not. And because I don't think it really matters, I'm not going to worry about it anymore. I'm going to worry about making myself healthy and getting into shape. Not trying to look like some ridiculous idea of what people think "in-shape" is.

I'm sure this new thought process is going to take some time for me to switch over to, but I'll try to update you with how this new process goes.

My Paleo Experience

As some of you may remember, I decided to give the Paleo way of eating a try back in January. I told myself I'd do it for 30 days and see what I thought of it. Click here for the previous post.

I did well eating Paleo until the last week and then because I was sick I decided to be a big baby and only eat Paleo for breakfast and supper.

Pros:
I felt much better eating Paleo. No bloating, no stomach cramps.
More energy for my workouts and day to day
For the most part I like what my food options are: veggies, nuts, meats, some fruit
I found out I LOVE almond butter, it's just expensive

Cons:
The first few days I craved sugar hardcore. Even though I thought I didn't normally eat that much sugar, it was quite apparent that I really missed it once it was gone.
Not eating dairy or pasta. Living in Italy and not eating pasta was quite frankly, hard. The last few months I've been drinking raw milk and I craved that a lot too.
Eating paleo here was a bit expensive and also I felt like I didn't have access to some of the fats/meats that I would have access to in the States. Kind of a bummer.

On my vacation I didn't eat Paleo at all and I haven't since I got back. I thought once I was done with it, that I'd probably never eat that way again, but the last few days I've been thinking about going back on it. I think for me there will be a few exceptions though. There are those out there that do eat some dairy with their Paleo lifestyle and things that I like, such as kefir and raw milk are on the list of "Acceptable dairy". I've been favoriting Paleo websites the last few days and feel like I have a better array of recipes to choose from then I did before. I'm not saying I won't eat pasta or risotto or a Reeses Peanut Butter cup, but I think those things will be showing up in my eating habits a little less.

I'm not sure I'll ever eat 100% Paleo, but I can see the merits of eating that way and for now I think I'll go back to trying to stick with it.

Trying Something New

One of my goals this year is to be the healthiest me possible. I decided to tackle that goal today. Why not start early?

So..because several of my friends in the blog world have been eating Paleo (google it if you want a complete explanation that is better than one I'd give you) I decided to give it a try for 30 days.

To be quite honest when I heard about Paleo and what you could eat, I thought people doing it were a little crazy. No dairy? No sugar? No breads or pastas? I LIVE in the land of pasta! I told Sean I could NEVER eat like that, nor would I want to. However, there was a little voice in the back of my head telling me I should at least try and see how I felt at the end of the month.

So..today I headed to the commissary and bought 2 weeks worth of food for Sean and I. Sean isn't following the plan. In fact, he's only eating Paleo for supper.



I'm going to give this next 30 days my best shot and see how I feel. To be honest, I'm not sure I can permanently give up all dairy or pasta, but for now I will.

I'll probably report in from time to time and tell you how I'm doing. Here's hoping I don't gnaw my arm off between now and then!

Veggie, Veggie, Fruit, Fruit!

Just a few lyrics from an old Disney attraction.

Seriously though, I am going to discuss fruits and veggies today. Why? Well..why not?

I've been on a health kick since Sean deployed. Partly because I want to take better care of myself and partly just because I want to look smokin' hot.

Part of that of course is dependent on exercise, but the other part is my eating habits. I've never really had an aversion to fruits or vegetables, so that makes it a lot easier for me. However, I get bored just eating things like carrot sticks and tomatoes so I have to mix it up a bit.

My favorite way to get some fruit and veggies in my diet is a Green Monster. I first heard about them from Megan and I couldn't wait to try it myself. Basically the way I make mine is to add a whole banana, a whole kiwi, sliced with skin on, skim milk, a big handful of spinach leaves, some vanilla yogurt and strawberries if I have them. Blend it all up and there you go. A perfect way to get in some fruits and veggies.



I've also been roasting a lot of my vegetables. Carrots roasted with olive oil and sprinkled with thyme is delish. Did you know carrots taste sweet after they've been roasted? It's true. Today I roasted some asparagus with olive oil, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and a sprinkle of garlic salt. Heavnely!



Do you guys have any veggie or fruit dishes you'd like to share? I'd love to hear them!