Mental

Being healthy isn't all about how many carrot sticks you substitute for potato chips. And, it doesn't always depend on how long you ran on the treadmill. These things are all import to become healthy, but there's another side we need to remember. The physical aspect is obvious, however there's a mental part that is just as important.

This year I'm not only trying to focus on eating right and exercising, but I'm working on being a happier person. Let's face it. No one wants to be around a sour puss. No one likes being yelled. No one likes being angry all the time either. Being upset gives me headaches, and headaches make me upset. So I'm heading off that catch 22 before it even starts (and sometimes using a lot of ibuprofen).

I'm finding mental tranquility and all around happiness in everything I do. By the way,  I'm writing all this down as my 5 year old throws a fit because I turned off cartoons after she just watched 2 hours of it.

How do you become happy and healthy?

Just some quick notes

You know how just on Monday I was was going to be strict and eat right all week so that by the end of the month I'd meet my goal? HAHAHAHAHAHA! Ok, well I have an excuse (I'll talk about excuses in a min). Yesterday was my daughter's birthday and we went bowling, ate fries and nachos, drank a couple Corona's, and had birthday cake.We were driving home and I thought to myself, "What a pig!" Good news is that it's only Tuesday, so I have the rest of the week to act right and get that weight off.

Update on Angel - She had her tests yesterday and the good news is that she's not going into kidney failure. Bad news is that her tests were still elevated, and it was higher than the Dr would have  liked to have seen. So we're still playing the wait and see game. This time we'll wait three weeks, go into a high tech lab and she'll get a full panel done. Then we'll see what to do next.

EXCUSES!!
Don't you think we give ourselves WAY too many excuses? I know I do. I have to change my mind.  I have to make excuses in the right direction. No more excuses to eat crap food and be lazy. I have to find my reasons why I want to be healthy and fit, and make my excuses to get into the gym and eat salads. Just a simple frame of mind change. It'll be a hard habit to break, but I know I can do it!!!

Falling in love with Food Logging

A few days ago I was reading some new blogs and came across a post at The Fox Family. I commented that I actually loved logging my food, and she responded asking WHY? Frankly I didn't know. Why on earth would I want to take time out of my day to write down (or enter into My Fitness Pal) every thing that passed these lips. It's just a tedious job. Well, after days of thinking it over, I've finally figured it out.

It actually took me going over my daily calorie goals to figure it out, but now I know.

I LOVE logging my food because I LOVE being in control. I LOVE knowing that I can set a goal for myself, and I can accomplish it. I HATE knowing that I've gone past my daily calorie goal. It's almost devastating. Even when I know for a fact that I'm going to go over, and I consciously make that decision. I look back the next day and think, "Really! Did I HAVE to eat that!" I feel stupid for not making the right choice. Don't get me wrong, I occasionally go over my calorie goal and I don't have a problem with it. But it takes one day to make myself not want to do it again.

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So there you have it. I LOVE logging my food because I LOVE watching myself actually do something I set out to do. I can be healthy, and I can have self control, and I can look back and be proud of it.

My Day Off

So I wasn't planing to have a "day off" from dieting, but that's the way it ended. I chose to treat myself to something I crave. My Monday was terrible, I had to go to the store anyway so I splurged with this treat. I measured out my calories for the day and made this treat fit right into my daily calories along with a salad for dinner. What is this "treat"? Deep Fat Fried deli Burritos. YEAH BABY!!! I know, most people are cringing. But I love these things. So I had my meals planned out, I ate my disgustingly delicious burritos, and them my day changed.

I joined my husband at a bar for a social meeting with friends. The bad part is that this bar has the best fish n chips in town. I had 1 Michelob Ultra, diet soda (which is also on the NO NO list), and I only at HALF of the meal. So I'm definitely over my calories for the day, I had a beer, and I had soda. And I was sick to my stomach on the way home. HA! I guess that's what I get for my gluttony.

The funny thing is that even though I know I messed up, I'm ok with it. I can't be perfect all the time, I don't expect to be. But if I'm good 6 out of 7 days a week, I'm good with that. It may dampen my goal of losing 50 lbs in 6 months though...we'll see.