one little word report #2: health/body

Ready to hear how my health goal for the first 2 months turned out?

Health
Goal: Shoot for half a plate's worth of fruits/veggies at every meal/snack.

How it went: This went well, too. I actually started Weight Watchers the week before Christmas (on purpose--Christmas cookies are one of my weaknesses!), and you track food based on a points system they give you. Guess what? Fruits and veggies are 0 points, soooo that is good motivation to eat more of them. :)

I've definitely noticed a change in how I set up my meals now. Breakfast used to be straight up carbs--cereal and milk and nothing else. Now my typical breakfast is toast with peanut butter, a small glass of milk, and some applesauce. (I'm working on getting the kids away from cereal breakfasts, too.)

Snacks used to be rolls, bread, crackers or, okay, let's be honest--a cookie or some chocolate! Ha! Now I eat an apple with a piece of cheese or some PB.

And we've started preparing an extra veggie side at dinner so we can make half our plates be vegetables. I'm even learning about roasting and seasoning vegetables instead of just steaming them (I am not a talented cook, my friends. This is all new to me.)

I still need to work on variety--I mostly eat apples, I've noticed--and consistency, even when I'm hungry. I also need to shift my mindset a bit, I think, so that I can convince myself it is possible to feel full with a tummy full of produce instead of bread. I also need to plan better.

What surprised me about this was how hard it was. It takes a lot of planning to change your diet (I don't know why this surprised me), and I noticed that if I didn't have a plan for a healthy snack before I got hungry, I would go right back to the carbs and sugar. (Steve has recently started to use the term "hangry" for when you're SO hungry you start getting angry/fussy--this is the point when I snap at my kids AND reach for the chocolate; I need to be ready before then!)

Also, it's been interesting trying to move to less-processed foods--the challenge here is shifting our budget from cheaper-but-processed foods to more-expensive-but-whole foods, like fruits and veggies. I miss California's cheap produce. :) But Aldi helps out here!

Also, as of yesterday, I have lost 10 lbs!

NEW GOALS: I'm also going to keep this goal up (obviously) and I am adding two new goals:

1. Continue training for a 5k.
I have never really liked running (translation: I have always hated it) but Steve suggested I train to do a Color Run with him in April. So I found the Couch to 5K sheet I pinned a while back, and I'm now two weeks into it. It's only 3 times a week, so its been doable so far, and I actually (*gasp!*) kind of like it!

2. Plan and prepare snacks ahead.
I need to have something healthy to eat all ready to go before I get HANGRY. :)