What I Used To Eat

I've been pretty open these days about what I eat. Part of that is because the food choices I make are directly impacting my fitness goals and my waist line. More than that, I am proud of my food choices. I like sharing that I eat fruit and veggies. I like sharing the healthy choices I make when I eat out. I've only recently been able to actually talk about how I was eating before now. It's funny- I wasn't ashamed of my food choices then. I didn't think about what I was eating so it didn't matter. But I look back now and I do feel... embarassed? Ashamed? I don't know exactly. But I feel the need to "come clean" about how I've been eating for the past 2 years or so. I would often grab breakfast on my way in to work. Burger King or Chick Fil A were the preferred stops. At Burger King- a sausage, egg, and cheese croissanwich and a mocha joe with no ice. At Chick Fil A- breakfast burrito with sausage, egg, cheese and salsa (no onions or peppers) and a large lemonade or sweet tea. Sometimes, I would even get a gallon of sweet tea so I could drink it all day long. If I wanted a mid-morning snack, I'd grab junk out of the vending machine or snag some candy from someone's desk. That's typically how an afternoon snack would go, too. Lunch was often eaten out- fast food or large portions at a chain restaurant. Rarely made healthy choices. Dinner was similar to lunch- Big Mac, fries, Dr Pepper. And sometimes... there was a second dinner or a large dessert after the kids went to bed. I'm not sure when we started this really bad habit... one of us would "still be hungry" after the kids went to bed. Instead of grabbing something light, one of us would run to a nearby fast food chain and bring home goodies. Mini chimis from Hardee's, a Blizzard or Peanut Buster Parfait from Dairy Queen, bag of stuff from Taco Bell. Or I'd sit on the couch with a gallon of ice cream, a spoon, and a bottle of Hershey's syrup. I think it's those end of the day meals that I'm most embarassed about. That was emotional eating at its finest, I think. In a day, I could easily consume... Wow, this is hard to face. 4,490 calories 1,726 calories from fat 231 grams of fat And that doesn't include soda, sweet tea, lemonade, etc. That was mocha joe and cheesy bacon bk wrapper for breakfast, donettes at work, chili's quesadilla explosion salad, cheetos in the afternoon, big mac and fries for dinner, peanut buster parfait at night. What was I doing to myself?? I wasn't buying produce- and if I did, it was for the kids, not for me. If I did, it was more for fun and not as part of our daily food intake. I ate veggies for dinner if I cooked dinner at home. I just can't believe I let myself be that way. It should come as no surprise that the weight is falling off now. I've gone from 4000 calories a day to less than 2000 calories a day. I've gone from being sedentary to hitting the gym a few days a week to being a truly active person. My grocery list has gone from as much packaged and frozen food as possible to spending all of my time in the produce section. Chips, dips, cookies, donettes, sugary cereals, processed and pattied and frozen chicken. Any produce purchased usually went bad because we simply didn't eat it. Now I explore the produce section- picking up grapefruit, oranges, apples, bananas, artichokes, avocados, tomatoes, salad mix, and more. I'm eager for the Farmer's Market to open up so I can start buying locally grown produce. I'm going to give a produce delivery service a try soon. I'm eager to expand my shopping list to include quinoa, berries, chickpeas, kale, plums, bok choy, and more. I'm starting to think about trekking to Whole Foods for a more varied and organic selection of produce.

I started my day on Thursday with a fruit smoothie. I had plain kefir and frozen fruit that needed to be used. Peaches, strawberries, mango, plain kefir, some locally grown honey, a little water. Delicious and at least 2 servings of fruit, maybe even 3. For dinner, rump roast was already cooked and I made some peas and potatoes for the family. I had a little meat and some potato... but I loaded up on spaghetti squash. I'm just in awe of the changes and so grateful that whatever needed to click, clicked. Because I would have certainly killed my body had I continued with my previous diet.