Sugar Free Jello!

Yes I know it is a strange title for today. I am actually eating a cup of it right now! Even better is that it only has 10 calories, and no fat!!! And other than letting you know that that the past 5 days have had there ups and downs I am not going to spend my blog time today talking about what I ate.

I do have one food related question, however. What do you do when your options seem limited? None of the food is what you would call healthy, and you don't want to be rude to your host, what are options? After giving this a little thought I have come up with a few answers. If you have a hamburger or hotdog, skip the bun; save on the carbs and extra calories. Eat smaller portions! Don't go back for seconds, unless it is offensive and even then keep the first ideas in mind. Choose the healthier drink; none available, choose water. There are probably others that you could think of.

Other tips for eating healthier... One of the biggest that I have learned and still continue to learn is not to deny yourself. Sounds strange, I know, but I don't mean go out and eat everything available; that is no where near healthy eating. What you can do is have a smaller portion. Say you really want a piece of Cheesecake and that is all you have been drooling about for the past week. You can't get it out of your head. Don't completely deny yourself. If you do then you will probably cheat, try to hide it and then decide since the whole day is ruined that you can go ahead and fully blow it. Instead, save yourself the guilt, self loathing, and wallowing and get a cheesecake, but eat it smartly. Share it with friends. Cut it into a smaller piece and give the rest to someone else. Eat a portion and freeze the rest for another day. Maybe your just craving the taste? Buy the 100 Calorie version or cheesecake bites. If you do it smartly you really can have your cheescake and eat it to.

Lord, help me eat smarter!

Stumbled somemore

Okay it was not a good day in the voyage to eating healthy. Discipline???? I threw her out the window....bad me... No excuses, just an explanation. Yesterday we hosted a Chamber Mixer at the Corps, with all the set up, prep, and just being at the event I was exhausted. Didn't eat horribly bad at the mixer. Where it all went wrong was today. At our 1st of 6 Back to school distributions I was in charge of keeping tabs of what clients spent at the thrift store. Somewhere around lunch time my husband got ahold of me on the radio and asked if I wanted something from McDonald's as he was there. Now let me note that this was in no way his fault. I could have asked for a salad, but at this point I was facing a long line, endless adding, and pure exhaustion and I in no way wanted to think about other options. Didn't even let the "salad" word enter my mind. Instead I blurted out cheese burger meal. My husband was sweet enough to remember the diet coke! Then came dinner.... After finishing the event and then heading out to do a much needed shopping trip so that we could the rest of the week, I was in no way gonna make dinner. I told Mike that I could go out to eat and choose something healthy. I think I was lying to myself, because as soon as he asked, "Can you find something healthy to eat at Olive Garden?", all thoughts of health were no where to be found. Once again I do not blame Mike, because there is a health fare option at the OG, but I didn't even look at that page.

Now you know the truth. I do not count myself down and out. I stumbled, but I refuse to stay down. Tomorrow we will find discipline, apologize to her and let her do her job once more.

Choices, choices, choices.

So I kinda made it through another day of healthy eating. I actually didn't do as bad as I could of. If you read the last post you know that I am trying to be disciplined in what I eat and how much I exercise. I actually was able to stick to it for the most part.

I started the day off with a slim fast (this actually works for me). I usually skip breakfast anyway and slim fast at least gets something in my stomach.

At lunch I also had a slim fast. On Wednesdays it is Home League lunch, so this area was a little harder to be disciplined, but I skipped the yummy smelling food and had another slim fast and a 100 Calorie Cheesecake snack (I didn't want to feel like I was missing out on desert). I will be doing the slim fast at least for the next few weeks, until I can get my body used to eating the smaller, healthier potions. It also helps keep me disciplined and able to withstand temptation a little easier.

Since Wednesdays are a longer day for me at the corps, I went to the ARP dinner and ate just a salad. I only put in the veggies and used salt and pepper instead of dressing, yeah me! The salad helped keep me going until dinner. Being hungry and tired makes for a grumpy Rachel and I didn't want to go into chapel with a grumpy attitude.

Speaking of dinner that is where I didn't fully stick to the plan, but I didn't fully give in either. Mike and I went out to eat with a friend and I chose and omelet, french fries, and english muffin, and ranch dressing... I was so tired by this point in my day that it was getting harder to stay disciplined. I was happy that I didn't choose something worse, but knew I could have skipped those sides and got something healthier. I did however drink water, so it wasn't a total waste of self control. I could have easily said hand over the soda and no one gets hurt, but gave it a second thought and realized that water would be a better option.

Knowing what I ate may not interest you at all, but as the guys in the ARP say it helps me run an honest program. I don't want to hide and be a closet eater. I know I have an addiction to food and blogging about it, talking about it with a friend, or even drinking slim fast help me in this process of letting go of the addiction and letting God fill that space.

Unlike some other addictions, I can't give up food, but with God's help it at least doesn't have to control me.

Take 32

So I have been a little more conscious in what I eat the last few days. I haven't posted anything yet about it because I want to make sure it is not just the same old song and dance. I know that wanting it isn't enough, neither is having every reason in the world to be healthier. It is going to require that little thing called discipline.

What got me even thinking back in the direction of my health are those late night fitness video infomercials. Watching them and realizing at my current physical fitness level I wouldn't even survive some of those moves. Now don't get me wrong there are some moves that would just be difficult no matter what, and they are made that way, but I am talking about the simpler moves that should be easy to do but there is no way I could do them.

So here I start from the beginning again. Knowing full well that it is going to take a lot discipline. My current goals are not necessarily to lose the weight, but to be able to maintain my current healthy living program consisting of both eating healthier and using the treadmill in my house and walking videos.

What I would ask of you is support and prayer. I know that first and foremost that I need to fully rely on God. I can not do this without him. Secondly your encouraging words and support mean a great deal. It is that tangible voice that spurs me on to continue.

I don't wish to be supermodel thin, I just want to start taking care of the this temple the Lord gave me....