A Step Forward That's Actually A Step Back
In our last session of our latest health class at work, Christine asked us what we are doing now (good things) that we weren't doing 14 weeks ago when we started. She was trying to get us to see that even small forward steps are still, well, forward.
One of the guys said he started reading food labels. I had already been doing that but mostly looked at calorie and fat counts and nothing else. Now, I look at ingredients to spot high fructose corn syrup and trans fats and I'm also paying a lot of attention to the fiber counts. Our suggested daily amount is 24 grams and, trust me, it takes an effort to get to that.
One of the girls said she's now eating at home 6 days a week. Wow. Not only is she controlling her own ingredients, she's also saving a bunch of money. She bought a Weight Watchers cookbook and she makes at least three new recipes each week. She and her fiancee rate them and have found some keepers.
That got me to thinking about how much I eat out. I go out to lunch every work day unless I know ahead of time that my scheduled companion won't be there. Then, I try to bring something in but it's usually a frozen dinner like a Healthy Choice. While I save calories, I'm loading up on sodium so it's a win/sorta lose situation.
I also eat out nearly every Friday and Saturday and The Rocket Scientist and I go out during the week probably every other week. That's a lot of meals away from home. Meals where it's hard to control your portions and sometimes even guess just how many calories you're ingesting.
The other thing that's not so good is even when I do eat at home, it's still a lot of processed food. Wheat waffles, frozen dinners, fiber bars, pasta sauces from a jar, etc. That's a lot of preservatives and sodium that I don't need.
So, my next step forward is to start cooking at home more. To that end, I took a step back and started up my bi-weekly delivery of organic vegetables and fruits. I had stopped that service quite a while ago because I didn't cook fast enough and was throwing spoiled food out.
My initial goal is 4 dinners, 6 breakfasts and 2 lunches from scratch (or close to scratch). I just subscribed to Cooking Light magazine, I have a bunch of cookbooks and a huge recipe stash from the last time I got organics delivered. I should be able to find some good stuff in all of that.
My first delivery is Thursday and I will be TRS free for two weeks starting on Monday so it will be easier to hit my goal without my standby dinner companion available.
Even better, I'm actually excited about cooking again. It's been a long time since I was consistently preparing food and I miss it.
One of the guys said he started reading food labels. I had already been doing that but mostly looked at calorie and fat counts and nothing else. Now, I look at ingredients to spot high fructose corn syrup and trans fats and I'm also paying a lot of attention to the fiber counts. Our suggested daily amount is 24 grams and, trust me, it takes an effort to get to that.
One of the girls said she's now eating at home 6 days a week. Wow. Not only is she controlling her own ingredients, she's also saving a bunch of money. She bought a Weight Watchers cookbook and she makes at least three new recipes each week. She and her fiancee rate them and have found some keepers.
That got me to thinking about how much I eat out. I go out to lunch every work day unless I know ahead of time that my scheduled companion won't be there. Then, I try to bring something in but it's usually a frozen dinner like a Healthy Choice. While I save calories, I'm loading up on sodium so it's a win/sorta lose situation.
I also eat out nearly every Friday and Saturday and The Rocket Scientist and I go out during the week probably every other week. That's a lot of meals away from home. Meals where it's hard to control your portions and sometimes even guess just how many calories you're ingesting.
The other thing that's not so good is even when I do eat at home, it's still a lot of processed food. Wheat waffles, frozen dinners, fiber bars, pasta sauces from a jar, etc. That's a lot of preservatives and sodium that I don't need.
So, my next step forward is to start cooking at home more. To that end, I took a step back and started up my bi-weekly delivery of organic vegetables and fruits. I had stopped that service quite a while ago because I didn't cook fast enough and was throwing spoiled food out.
My initial goal is 4 dinners, 6 breakfasts and 2 lunches from scratch (or close to scratch). I just subscribed to Cooking Light magazine, I have a bunch of cookbooks and a huge recipe stash from the last time I got organics delivered. I should be able to find some good stuff in all of that.
My first delivery is Thursday and I will be TRS free for two weeks starting on Monday so it will be easier to hit my goal without my standby dinner companion available.
Even better, I'm actually excited about cooking again. It's been a long time since I was consistently preparing food and I miss it.
