The Diet

I spend most of my blog entries whinning or talking about my exercise. I guess I should talk about how I've changed in my diet.

Since this has been a really really long process (which is what most of the whinning is about) our diet has really changed. We've removed almost all junk food from our diet and I've been using lower fat cooking techniques for a while now. However, the cholesterol jump from my last checkup had us re-evaluate again and we've made a few more changes (I really don't see cheese as junk food).

I would say number one on that list is meat products. We are not vegetarian. I don't feel the need to completely remove meat from our diet. However, we've significantly cut how much meat we eat. Both Matt and I were raised in "meat and potatoes" types of households. It's not a dinner unless there's a slab of meat. It is a hard habit to break, but easier than I thought.

We eat beans a lot more often. There are several reasons I like beans better than meat. It's cheaper (I would be eating more beans based just on that). I don't have to worry about beans thawing in time for dinner (I'm well stocked in dried and canned beans so I can decide how much time I have to prepare them). They are high in fiber and great for my cholesterol. They're also very versitile and let's not forget yummy.

We try to have more fish and even some tofu occassionally. I love the Bocu brand of products, too. They've become my staple for lunch and we use the ground "meat" for dinner occassionally (they're great for sloppy joes and tacos).

Of course, we also try to focus on whole grains and lots of veggies. I still struggle with the cheese issue. I get low fat and even some non-fat cheeses and I hope this is enough, as I really don't think I'm willing to cut it from my diet. I'm hoping that the removal of other high saturated fats from my diet will help me lower my cholesterol and I can keep the lower fat cheese in my diet.

The biggest problem is snacks. I try to limit how many snacks I have, but it's hard to find tasty (and even fun) snacks that aren't full of sugar, salt or fat. I do limit how many I have and the Healthy Choice ice cream treats are just that: treats. Treats are not something I allow myself everyday.

I am seeing the sacrifice and hard work paying off (yes, I want it to be faster, but I am impatient), but I'm optimistic that I'll reach my 155 lb goal by Christmas. Maybe next Christmas I'll be able to reach my goal of 125 lb?