image via: what katie ate
I will be the first to tell you I am a foodaholic. My favorite parts of the day revolve around food. Every night I look forward to the challenge of cooking and drinking wine. Living somewhere that is full of fresh and local eats it is hard to not be honest and say you have indulged maybe a little too much. I am not one of those lucky people who have a fast metabolism and skinny legs without trying. Actually I think I came out stomping some thunder thighs and they never have truly gone away from those baby days.
As I am getting older and realizing my work does not allow for a lot of exercise I have been rethinking everything I eat. I quickly put on weight after college when my active lifestyle quickly became sedentary. I noticed it after we got married and I began feeling heavy, depressed, and like I couldn’t have fun with my wardrobe like I used to. I had this “I don’t feel sexy” feeling that began getting me thinking. I knew my body was not meant to look or feel this way and that whole giving your best thing was not happening.
So for the past year and a half my diet has drastically changed. I began really being conscious of what I was putting in my body. Living in a place like Traverse City that is full of amazing food and drink on every corner I knew I couldn’t just give it all up and go on a diet. Working out was my first thing. Spending all day behind a desk was not helping my body weight or my feelings on my physique. So now I work out at least 30 minutes every day half way through the day. I try to get it in no matter what. My secret is watching an episode of my favorite show and using the Nike Training Club app. Somedays it doesn’t happen but I tell myself that won’t happen tomorrow. Learning that self-discipline has been huge.
When I still was not feeling the light and thin me that I had known in college and high school I realized more needed to happen. I am the biggest fan of bread, tortilla chips, and anything that involves potatoes. I don’t feel I am alone on that, right? I slowly began weeding out “bad” foods and eating half of what I initially thought I wanted. It was not easy! I am a baker and love eating my work, so I had to find a way to not make that happen without giving up baking.
One of the biggest things I changed and within a week felt results from was eliminating as many processed foods as possible. I began to read labels and hated the fact I had no idea what half of the things were even in “all natural” and “organic” items. I began to find a way to eat more whole foods that came from the rawest ingredients. This has resulted in a diet full of vegetables, grains (quinoa, barley, bulgar, farro, etc), fruit, and meats and cheeses that come from the most local farm I can get them from. I am lucky to have the option of buying things from farmers’ stands and local shops. It may cost more money to be doing this but I give up other things like buying certain clothing items to have healthy whole foods everyday. What use is having an amazing wardrobe if you aren’t excited about your body?
These changes have made me feel so much better, not just about my physique and my thunder thighs, but my whole being. My body feels lighter, fresher, more predictable, stronger, and healthier. I LOVE vegetables now more than ever and actually crave them. I also realized I needed half of what I was actually eating. I thought it would be nearly impossible to change my life this drastically, but how good my body felt and I felt about my body was the strongest motivation I could have imagined. I still indulged from time to time because sometimes I feel I really deserve it! 🙂
I am planning on beginning to add in some food posts especially in coordination with the garden so keep your eyes peeled for more on this idea of whole eating!! I felt I should begin to talk about here since it is a huge part of my day to day life. Let me know if there is anything specific you would love to hear more about!
