Lunch today was leftovers from last night’s dinner.
I topped a bowl of roasted kale with haddock veracruz. I made the haddock last night following a recipe that I received on a card at Publix. Publix Apron’s recipes have proven successful in the past (remember the salmon with a raspberry glaze?), so I figured this one would be a keeper as well.
Unfortunately this recipe was only okay. The olives saved it, but it’s not one I’d make again. After eating it two times, I’m officially over it.
And now it’s time for me to write my heart out and work through some thoughts.
A Full Week of Healthy
Over the weekend, vegetables eluded me. Whole grains (other than boatloads of homemade granola) laughed at me.
Snacks ruled me.
I felt like I went from one snack to the next, munching my way through the whole weekend. I’d still sit down to meals because it was time for that meal, not because I was particularly hungry.
I awoke this morning feeling a bit lethargic, but committed. This week is going to be one full week of healthy. Not Monday through Thursday healthy… Monday through Sunday healthy.
Yes, desserts will be consumed. But reasonable desserts. Snacks will be enjoyed, but reasonable snacks… that have an end.
I absolutely love healthy food. I love the taste, texture and smell of fresh fruits and vegetables. I love the flavor of healthy fats and the way whole grains fill me up without zapping my energy.
Why, then, do I eat cookie after cookie (no, not just one… like seven) when I know I’m going to feel like garbage afterward? I know it’s not an issue of deprivation because I let myself eat treats and always eat when I’m hungry. So what’s the deal?
As you may remember, I started reading the book The End of Overeating about a month ago. I haven’t finished it yet, but one thing that really stuck out to me from the pages I have read is that study after study revealed that consuming sugar, salt and fat makes us crave sugar, salt and fat. Eating one cookie makes us crave another.
You guys know that I’m a big believer in indulging. Eat the dang dessert if you want it! I will never restrict myself or tell myself I can’t have something because that just backfires and I’ll find myself swimming in a tub of cookie dough in no time.
What I will tell myself as I head into my “week of healthy” is that I can have my treats, but make them reasonable and stop before eating one treat turns into eight treats, ruining my appetite for dinner and otherwise healthy foods.
You guys know I am a big advocate for enjoying what you want to eat, but my mom’s breast cancer diagnosis also flipped a switch in my head, inspiring me to make healthier decisions when it comes to food. I want to eat foods that benefit my body and supply me with nutrients and vitamins. It’s easy to veer off course every now and then, but the great news is that you can always hop back on the healthy living train.
Question of the Afternoon
- If you find yourself struggling with healthy eating, what do you do to hop back on the healthy living train?
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Good luck! I know I am the cookie cutter example for that definition of overeating… I always scarf down cookies and cake after I have some. Especially at night, I just can’t stop! I should definitely dedicate more time to working on it.
I remind myself how much better I feel when I eat healthy and don’t over do it. Every time I want to eat something, I make sure I’m not going to regret it afterward.
Julie, I am right there with you with being unable to stop once I’ve had one! I really enjoy baking but put it on the backburner for a while since I’ve been trying to eat healthier and get in shape. I tried baking healthier alternatives… but I’d still finish the entire batch in a day or two without even realizing it!
Anyway, I like this challenge, so I’m going to do the full week of healthy along with you! Good luck to both of us! 🙂
oh man, it’s so hard not to want to eat everything i bake… and i LOVE baking. 🙂 the dough just calls to me.
I think we can all relate to this post. I agree. I also find that when I eat junk, not only do I feel blah, but my skin is not as colored, my hair not as shiny, etc. Healthy food really makes a difference!
I’M WITH YOU! THIS WEEK = HEALTHY WEEK! I need some motivation and THIS is it! 🙂
I personally do better when I don’t think about eating at all- when I just eat when I am hungry and eat what my body craves I tend to lose weight and never over indulge. However when I try my hardest to eat super healthy- I wind up snacking too much, thinking about food too much, and gaining some weight.
The best diet advice I was ever given was to eat like you did when you were a kid: you never thought a food was “bad” to eat, never ate just because there was food there, and you always stopped eating as soon as you were full!
I think the biggest thing for me is to keep working out. Instead of getting down on myself for what I ate or drank the night before and deciding to take a few days off, I get up the next day and work it off. Start fresh right then instead of waiting until a “better” time.
You really grasped exactly what I’m going through right now Julie! Once I start to eat sweets on a more regular bases, there is no stopping..
I usually start reading “intuitive eating” by Evelyn Triboll and Elyse Resh.. It’s really an awesome book and I just keep reading it..
I don’t know If you’ve read it already but it’s awesome!
My mom has had health issues with her liver for over a year. She is only 30 lbs overweight, but her fatty liver has caused her to start down the road to cirrihosis (luckily, it can still be reversed.)
Knowing that I have more than 30 lbs of weight to lose, my mom’s own health scare has been a real wake up call to me. You don’t have to be obese to have dangerous health issues. It’s not easy, but every time I feel like I’m getting off track, I think of my mom and how much I want to be living a healthy life, now and in 30 years.
it’s amazing how the health of a loved one can make you reevaluate your own health. i feel ya!
Great post and great questions. I woke up feeling very similar this morning, but have noticed lately I feel like this most monday mornings after having waaaay over indulgent weekends! I’m all for indulging, but these things need to have limits.
Anyhoo, I’ll join you in a week of health. I have heard that incorporating more protein & fat into breakfast may help reduce cravings less throughout the day. So I decided to give that a shot this week. This morning I had low fat yogurt, berries, and some sliced organic chicken! We’ll see…
Good luck!
I’m currently struggling with healthy eating and I don’t know how to get back on track. I absolutely love healthy food, really I do, and I don’t deprive myself of sweets, but when I start, I just can’t stop, and lately I’ve been binging almost every day … it’s like a never-ending cycle. 🙁
After a weekend of barbecuing and eating burger after burger (and cookie after cookie, and cake after cake!) I am right there with you. I feel so blah today, but fully excited to start eating healthy again. It is so hard when I’m out of my regular routine!
But today, I am baaaaaack to fruits, veggies and whole grains, and I totally needed to read this post!
I struggle with the same thing…I do so good sticking to a plan during the week and then the weekend comes and I flush the hard work down the toilet with too many sweets and not enough self control.
I get on the scale Monday after a bad weekend and I let myself sulk for about 2.5 seconds. Then I remind myself that I made the number go up, not the food. Too much food is bad…period! Seeing the number go up – even slightly- is eye opening and helps me jump back on the healthy wagon!!
I had the same kind of weekend, Julie. I baked a TON this weekend, and naturally I had more than my fair share of goodies as I was baking. Even though I felt really lethargic and over the sweets as of last night, I ate even more of them today at work (we had a huge staff luncheon, and the dessert table is always my downfall). I don’t deprive myself either, but sometimes it’s necessary to do exactly what you just said: allow yourself to indulge in moderation. These past three day definitely have NOT been moderate, and I am craving some good ol’ fruits and veggies to get me feeling back to “normal.”
yes! totally agree. i am all about moderation, but there’s nothing moderate about eating eight servings of granola in two hours. 🙂
Amen!
To get back on track with healthy eating or even a general healthy lifestyle, I’ve been attempting to gain a healthy habit for a week or even six weeks because it takes 21 days to develop a healthy habit. For example: no soda for a week (or longer), exercise for 30 minutes every day for a week or eat vegetarian for a week. It really helps me re-focus, get back on track and remember why I am working so hard to be healthy. I deal with a lot of food issues and am trying to lose a lot of weight, so if I can break these habits up into manageable goals, it helps immensely. 🙂
I have the same issues as you and so many people that have commented on this post. And i completely agree that fat, sugar, and salt makes us crave more and more of it. I know that if I have an indulgent day (or weekend) I wake up the next morning craving UNHEALTHY food! It is so hard to break the cycle and I often find that it takes me several days to actually STOP craving foods that are unhealthy. I do find that exercise helps, though! After working up a good, healthy sweat i definitely crave things like fruits and salads 🙂
I always remember that tomorrow is a new day ( or in your case a new week!) and that we determine how each day goes with our attitude and choices! I have to remind myself that although food is a wonderful thing it doesn’t need to be the center of my life ALL THE TIME. There’s a lot of other things that one can focus on, for example God! And love. And relationships. I constantly struggle with balancing out a healthy life, so know you’re not the only one out there! I’m new to your blog but so far I think it is wonderful. Good luck with your week of healthiness!
totalllllly agree. food shouldn’t be the center of anyone’s world.
After a week of vacation I am fully wanting healthy food right now. I can notice such a difference so to get back to it I try to remind myself of how good I feel.
Hey, I’m new here. Thought I’d chime in because I know exactly how you feel. What I’m trying to do now is make healthy treats so I stop craving “junk.” For instance, tonight I’m going to be making a vanilla-lemon loaf and the only thing I’m going to use to sweeten it is organic baby food apple sauce, a mashed banana and a maybe a tablespoon of agave if necessary. Granted it’s not going to be SUPER SWEET, but it hits the spot when I want something comforting. I’m hoping that the longer I do this the less I’ll crave sweets.
I too think it’s good to just eat snack food when you have a craving, but like you said, sometimes it feels like the more you eat them the more you crave them.
I usually commit to 3 days of healthy eats and physical activity (even just a walk)… I find that by the third day I enjoy so much how I feel (aka. normal, not overstuffed) and by then I just want to continue eating right.
Plus I like fitting into my clothes.. I dont like being bloated!
Whenever I feel l have hopped off the train (chocolate, wine, and my dad’s incredible gourmet aka HUGE meals are my vices! – all of which were consumed this weekend :), I try to wake up the next day and go for a walk in the morning to get my metabolism going. The fresh air makes my head AND body feel better, and it starts the day off right. I make sure to pack my lunch and stay away from heavy meals for a few days to get back on track. Even though I love to indulge, I enjoy it even more when it doesn’t happen all the time!
I find that taking a few days to just say NO to unhealthy foods and only stocking up on healthier foods is a great way to hop right back up in the healthy eating thing! It’s not easy but just making that commitment is the hardest part!
I read your blog and Annette’s blog (www.enjoyyourhealthylife.com) for totally nutritious and new meal ideas as well as motivation for eating healthy and to remind myself it is ok to indulge… once in a while… and not in massive quanitites! 🙂 I, too, am in the middle of that book… I got it after I read about it on your blog and something that stuck out to me was that so much of prepackaged or restaurant food is just fat and salt and sugar on top of more fat and salt and sugar… When he puts it like that…. YUCK! Doesn’t even sound good!
I find it so much harder to eat well during the weekend! That’s when I do my baking, drinking, eating out-all the fun stuff. I’m usually kind of releived when Mondays rolls around so I can get back into my healthier routine.
I’d have to say that a quality workout and the awesome feeling I get after a delicious fresh meal motivates me to do that again. It’s fun to let loose every now and then, but it makes it so much more special when it’s only occasional, not regular!!
I think I’m going to take a look at that book The End of Overeating–
I tend to snack too..
I love to snack and eat dessert but after a weekend of too many of each, I normally start off with a healthy breakfast and try to go from there. A good sweat session also helps me!
I had a pretty bad weekend this past one too…so I’m jumping on your bandwagon and I’m going to try for a full healthy week too! It’s going to be a hard one because I’m gonig to be traveling a few days and working/traveling this weekend but I’m motivated now to stay on board with you!
So thanks! 🙂
i just started this mantra yesterday! i recently baked homemade brownies for my family, and let’s just say i went to town on them 😉 for me, eating one brownie or dessert is just not an option. so i plan on minimizing the sweets and opt for more wholesome choices.
Honestly, I do just what you are doing. I make a pact with myself to get back on track for a week or maybe even just three days. Then I get to remember how much better I feel when I eat healthy and I am hooked all over again!
Eat more chips! LOL
I LOVE reading everyone’s tips and advise for getting back on track. Love it!
Maybe it’s a personal thing, but healthy fats do not make me want to overeat. Sugar does. When I’m filling my meals with healthy fats, I feel satiated. When I think of the times I’ve overeaten something fatty, it’s because it was sweet or carby, which is the real culprits of overeating for me.
I’m reading that book too! Really enjoying it so far… what he’s saying makes total sense and is so basic, but reading it with all the scientific studies to prove it really helps.
I’m totally there with you! I like to cave in to my sweet tooth and snacking, but then that turns into too much indulgence more often than not. I always try to remind myself that I feel better when I eat healthy foods, so eating smaller portions of those indulgent delights is always better. It’s also helpful for me to remember that healthy foods help my body work in tip top shape- my mom has MS, my grandma has breast cancer, and my brother has Crohn’s disease- thus I want to keep my body as healthy as possible!
How convenient that you posted this today! I woke up this morning with the same agenda in mind… too much FroYo and ice cream this weekend!! To get back on track… smoothies always help! Plus, if I feel like I need a good dose of some veggies…. Monday lunches are usually huge salads.
I go to Costco/buy raw and fresh fruits and veggies in bulk, and nothing else, that way I HAVE to eat healthy!
Good challenge! I usually just need to remind myself of how crappy I feel when I go too far with the indulgences. It’s amazing how lethargic I feel when I go a day with limited veggies or water.
Good luck with your healthy week!! I think the mind is a ver powerful thing.. it can easily justify yourself into over- indulging, but if you want to, it can also help you moderate!
I think we can all relate to this feeling! It’s really hard for me to eat sugar in moderation, so asking myself whether I WANT the cookie or if I just want it because it’s there is something I’m trying to work on. I could never give up sweets for good, but I definitely think it’s important to feel in control of my choices!
My reason for eating healthy is wanting children. I’ve struggled with my weight since graduating college and its become much more of an issue since my husband and I now want children. Being overweight can cause problems and I don’t want that to be a factor. I still have my not-so-great eating days but overall, I’m trying to have a healthy body. Besides, I want to set a good example for when we do have a family. No better time to start than the present!
This might be the wrong thing to do when I’ve been overindulging, but I wait to eat until I feel really really hungry. I need to remind myself what actual hunger feels like, and then answer it with whatever is going to satisfy me, but also keep me healthy. When I have to feel that hunger, I know it’s time to eat, rather than snack because something just sounds good. Does that make any sense? It has really helped me to reset my bad eating habits in the past.
I am also reading the same book. I am still in the “studies” part. I can’t wait to get to the end on how to change. I am a healthy weight, but work really hard to stay there. I definitely over eat and over do sweets. So I really try not to keep them in the house, but I like savory too. Basically all I need is a “vehicle for cheese” and I am a happy girl. Over the weekend I was with my family and we ate out 2 out of 3 meals a day, as I was eating pei wei for lunch, I knew that there is a special combination of fat, sugar, and salt that is going to make me want to eat this whole thing… and I was going out of Mexican food that night. I didn’t realize how difficult it was to only eat half of the large proportion, it was like the pink elephant, it was all I could think of.
Yup, i totally agree with everyone here! the biggest things for me are LOTS of water! (really helped after the Jelly Belly eating contest i had yest with my lil cousins, i won btw) and NOT BEATING YOURSELF UP! everybody does it and whats important is the overall commitment to love and cherish yourself. i just remind myself that eaing garlic bread for breakfast is not loving to my body, its hurting it! tummy>taste buds! and is gonna make getting through the work day a lot harder!! 3pm crash anybody?!
You are absolutely right! I am right there with ya on the “snack and feel crappy later” train that I sometimes get on and can’t seem to get off. I love your approach to food and that you are an advocate for reasonable indulgences. Just like being “one workout away from feeling better” I think the same can go for food and you can be “one healthy meal away for getting back on track..” 🙂 I beat myself up about slipping up and eating too many cookies, ice cream, etc. but I have developed that same mindset that life is too short not to indulge and give your body what it craves. Thank you for the great post and confirming that I do have it rtight in the way I look at the way I eat 🙂
I love your blog and you are a great inspiration! Keep up the great work 😀
Love this post! So true that eating junk only breeds eating more junk. This is especially true for me now that I’m almost 10 weeks pregnant. Only junk food sounds good right now.
Once I start feeling better (read: less nauseous), I will get back on the healthy train. One thing I will try NOT to do: beat myself up for a few weeks of really poor eating. I’ve found in the past that being angry with myself for certain habits only made my emotions spin further out of control, which led to more bingeing on junk!
I look up a great, healthy recipe then make it for myself for dinner the following day. Having a great homemade meal to kick start my love of health again always seems to work.
Sometimes eating too much makes me get down on myself. So I like to do something productive in another area of my life, like go on a walk with a friend and have a good time doing something social and active and forget about over-doing it. Then I can sort of reset. Getting my mind of food and food frustrations is good for me in that way.
Julie! I absolutely love this. I, like you, don’t deprive myself. Yet I still have a hard time stopping at one cookie. I love eating healthy foods, too….but I don’t have that governor valve when it comes to only eating the right serving or portion. I’d like to join you in this healthy week challenge! I love that you will still allow yourself to indulge, but reasonably. That’s all a part of being healthy. If you don’t indulge at all, you’re simply dieting, which is not a lifestyle.
Julie, have you ever heard of P.B. Loco peanut butter? They might be out of business but I am not sure. I found it online and the flavors are TO DIE FOR (if you are a pb lover). For example, they have flavors like jungle banana, dark chocolate duo, raspberry white chocolate, cocoa banana, chocolate chip cookie dough, asian curry spice, dreamy creamy, munchy crunchy and cinnamon raisin. The stuff is aux naturale. I believe there are cafes or something that sell this stuff? Not sure. But I thought you should know because it looks oh so tasty! I want to try!
When i go to the grocery store to stock up for the wk, i make sure to buy only healthy items to snack on – lots of veggies, fruit – because if it’s not in the house, I won’t munch on it.. I.e. if I buy a big ol’ bag of Trader Joe’s Pirate’s Booty, though, it’ll be gone in a second. 😉 That usually gets me back on track.. Btw, I’ve heard the same thing about junk food and sugar in general, and i’ve noticed it for sure in my own life with chocolate. I can go forever without it, but once i have a bite or two, I’ll start to crave it (not that that is a bad thing of course!).
It’s just all about moderation!