Healthy Changes

I kind of go in spurts on this, and I'm starting another round of healthier eating. I've been inspired by a few things.

I received Eating Well When You're Expecting as a Christmas gift. Eating while being pregnant is hard for me except for like eight weeks in the middle. I'm too nauseous for the first half to care to eat much at all, and by the third trimester I just feel full all the time. Plus, heartburn. It's ridiculously bad all the time, and certain foods make me think I'm having a heart attack because the pain is so bad. Anyway, I enjoyed looking through the book, especially the recipes, and I plan on incorporating some of them now and continuing after the baby is born.

This month our insurance wellness challenge is focused on weight management. As part of it, we attended a seminar on the topic given by a BYU professor. He didn't say anything too revolutionary, but two things stuck out to me. One is to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, especially before the other parts of your meals. Fruits and vegetables have the lowest amount of calories per gram, are nutrient rich, and fill you up. The idea is that if you fill up with lots of fruits and veggies first, you won't eat as much of the higher calorie foods, and your total calories for the meal and the day will be lower. The other thing was just a way to control unnecessary eating. If you want to snack on something, ask yourself something like, "Am I hungry enough to eat a plate of green beans?" or "Am I hungry enough to have an apple?" You're probably not really that hungry most of the times you want to snack. If you are, go eat an apple.

I've felt trapped indoors by the winter weather and the awful air quality we've had in these parts. I'm an awful snacker and lack food-related self control, so being inside all the time makes me eat more and then feel gross because all I ever do is eat, and I can't get out to exercise.

So, I'm going to start being healthier by making smaller, sustainable changes. Here are some of the ways I plan on doing that:

1. Eat more fruits and vegetables. This will probably take the form of eating a fruit before the bowl of cold cereal in the morning, eating a fruit and/or vegetable before lunch, and starting dinner with a salad, or at least the vegetable portion of the meal. Plus, I want to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into actual recipes.

2. Eat more whole grains. I usually do okay at this, but I'm recommitting. This means making whole wheat bread instead of white, and using brown rice, whole wheat pasta, etc. as much as possible.

3. Eat healthier snacks. I openly admit to having a really big sweet tooth. And it would be near impossible for me to just cut out all sweets. Instead I plan on substituting things like fruit for a cookie and using healthier ingredients when I make things (applesauce for oil, more whole wheat flour).

4. Limit red meat. We don't eat much red meat (yes, that includes pork) anyway, and we will continue eating it sparingly. I might still let Camille have hot dogs for lunch sometimes, but I won't partake.

5. Get outside as much as possible. We went on a walk and played outside yesterday (warmer weather+no inversion) and it was good for both me and Camille., physically and emotionally.