All in Moderation

To all who are taking the time to read this, mind you, I’ve never been a dieter or super conscientious about the foods I eat.  Yes, I have tried to eat healthy and, Yes, have justified when I did not.  And I am still a firm believer of everything in moderation.  That has always been my mindset with food. 

That being said, what is in moderation?  Is it merely eating until you feel full? Participating in specialized diets for your body type? Using the food pyramid and the daily value regulations?  For me, it’s always been the first, and at times, that meant stuffing my face until I felt like I had to be rolled away. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it a hundred more times, I am a VERY food driven person.

Since starting this journey though, I am NOT partaking in any fad diet or using various supplements or dietary aids.  I am simply following the daily value guide given to us by the almighty FDA. Simply put, I am reading the label on the packaging.

The key things I look for when I pick up a yogurt, my coffee creamer (I will discuss this situation in another post), or anything else, are: serving size, fat, saturated fat, sodium, and sugar, not carbs, sugar. I sometimes check the calorie count just to make sure it is not a ridiculous amount, but I figure if I am staying within my means on the other factors, I’m staying within a healthy calorie count. 

So how am I supposed to know that I’m actually reading the label correctly and staying within my limits?  What’s really convenient is that the labels give a percentage (except on actual sugars…hmmmm) of how much you should take in on a daily basis. This link provided is also an easy way to become familiar with how to read these labels as well: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/ucm274593.htm

I want to also bring to your attention that these labels are usually based off a 2,000 calorie diet.  For me, I’m actually a small person measuring at 5 ft, so I don’t typically take in 2,000 calories.  But, it is a still a great guide and easy way to monitor what you are eating. And if you are worried about serving size when they say one cup, one tablespoon, etc. if you are like me and cook a bunch you can eyeball it or there’s nothing wrong with measuring it out.  Even if you are at work, find a perfect 8 ounce cup to measure out your food.  You might get some funny looks in the breakroom, but at least you know you are trying to do right by your body.  

Everything in moderation my friends, and now we have a better idea of what that really translates into

My first week

Recently, it has been brought to my attention how much sugar we all eat on a daily and what our daily value really should be.  It was extremely shocking and I realized I might have a serious problem.  Cake is my best friend, donuts are a great way to start the day, and those fancy juices made me think I'm doing right by my body.  Boy, was I sorely mistaken.

To help put things in perspective, the average female should consume no more than 25g of added sugars as.day and the average male 37.5g. A single Hershey's milk chocolate bar contains 24g of sugar.  Mind you, even typing this breaks my heart.  I cannot express to you how much I love my sweets.

But then I have to think about the consequences of eating such foods on a frequent basis.  There's obesity, Type II Diabetes, heart disease, and tooth decay.  I don't know about you, but I like having healthy teeth and a healthy heart.

So, I took the plunge.  I decided to limit my sugar intake to 20g or less a day. (Side note: I'm 5ft, so I wanted to stay well below the maximum).  Within the first week, I suffered from killer headaches everyday and had brownies, cakes and donuts on my mind all day everyday.  But I also found by day three, just day three, I was not feeling as tired after a long work day and found myself automatically being in a better mood.  After six days, I had lost six pounds.  And I was not starving myself.  Oh no, this girl is very food driven!  I was simply being more conscientious of the types of foods I was putting into my body. 

Today I am concluding week two, and have lost two more pounds since.  I have more energy to do things like write about this journey, take my dogs on longer walks or extra walks, and hula hoop a couple times a night while I watch TV.  It's absolutely incredible how much better I feel.

As I continue to post about this journey, I want to share with you simple recipes I'm finding along the way and easy, low impact exercise I'm finding to help reshape a healthier me.