Pathways of Grace: What I Ate Wednesday: Changes to come (I hope!)

This week I was not good at taking pictures. That's become the norm. Sigh.

Moving on.

One thing What I Ate Wednesday has shown me is how many sweets I eat. I already knew this, but it's interesting to see it in picture form or to realize the times that I ate a piece of candy and thought to myself, I don't want to take a picture of this because I don't want there to be a record of it.

Two things are going on in my life right now that are making me realize I need to change....ok, 3:

1. I work in an office, where I sit a lot and I get bored a lot. When I'm bored I tend to find amusement in eating and there seems to always be lots of candy and baked goods around to amuse me. Combined with a cup of coffee, my sugar intake has increased dramatically at this job.

2. This past summer I was in 2 weddings and in an attempt to slim down a bit, I did one of those weight loss shake things, combined with semi-starvation. Afterwards, I gained everything I lost, plus some. I've learned this lesson in the past and I am angry at myself for making this mistake again: DO NOT DO FAD DIETS OR "PROGRAMS". EVER. EVER. EVER. EVER. Eat real food. The end. I know this, but I was sucked in....and now I'm paying the price through slightly tighter pants and a more puffy belly. SIGH.

3. I just turned 32 years old. Yay! But also, whoa! I've said it for years, but I really want to develop healthy eating and exercising habits that can carry me into my middle-aged years. Healthy and realistic is the goal. Starvation is not realistic. Boot camp at 5 am is not realistic (for me). Even regular running is not realistic (for me). Walking is reality. Lifting weights could be reality. Swimming, a gym membership, and aerobics could all be reality.

Another thing I am hoping will become reality soon is less sugar and less alcohol. By less sugar, I really mean less candy, baked goods, and ice cream. I would also like to watch my sugar intake in other foods (yogurt, cereal, etc.), but that's secondary right now.

I've never had a problem with alcohol (thank God!), but I would still like to decrease my intake just due to all those pesky calories. I love, love, love red wine, but am hoping to limit my intake to 1 day per week.

Same for sweets. One day out of the week I would like to let myself indulge in ice cream, a cupcake, or whatever. I also might make small exceptions for birthday and holidays. But a nightly cup of ice cream? No. 3-4 mini candy bars throughout my workday? No. 3-4 glasses of wine per week? Hopefully not.

I think this will be difficult, but I'm trying to simplify by not worrying about other things. Yes, I want to eat healthy in other areas, but if I'm hungry, I'm going to eat something (just not sugar!).

We will see how this goes. Hopefully my What I Ate Wednesdays will reflect this change...