Journey: Song of Solomon 4:7

You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.

Happy Saturday to my lovelies!  I hope that today has welcomed you with open arms.  Apparently my weekend decided to start at 7 this morning ... dang you internal work clock!  Anywho...

I was reading through some old posts, particularly about the ones about being healthy.  So, here's my update, sans pictures for now.  

When I finally had enough of the over-weight business back in December, I set a goal for myself to cut back on the sweets, ante up the healthy food, and really cut down on the soda. 

So far, I am seventeen pounds down.  

Here's what has helped me.  I'm not saying this is the end-all, be-all, I'm just saying this is what got me results.  

 

VS.

I also started buying my lunch from Whole Foods, which offers several (hundred) options for a tasty and healthy lunch.  Yes, it can be much pricier than a $3 meal from McDonalds, but I'd much rather feel good about what I eat than just forcing some processed crap down my throat.  I'm also not calling this the "whole foods diet" because I eat from other places than that.   

I cut down on the soda intake by half; in other words, I only drink about four ounces on a given day. I'm going to be honest and say that it is definitely tough and tempting when your office has a full case of the stuff in the fridge, free for the taking.  It's almost like if you could download clothes from Pinterest.  It's just too tempting.  I digress, cutting back on the sugary goodness has helped.  

I have also significantly cut back on the cheese intake.  Remember when I confessed that I would eat at least three or four of those little containers worth at a Mexican restaurant?  Now, I limit myself to about a tablespoon's worth just once a week.  Mainly, this is because I'm slightly lactose intolerant and dairy will make sick, but also because cheese can be very high in fat and I'm not in the mood to pay the repercussions of eating unhealthy.  This also includes dairy milk.  I stopped drinking dairy milk about five months ago, and instead, replaced it with almond milk.  There have been hear-says about how soy milk has hormones in it, but I prefer almond milk over soy anyway.  

I increased the amount of water that I would normally drink.  Not only has it kept my hydrated and happy, but it's also curbed my appetite when all I want is empty calories.

Confession:  it has been tough to not eat pure junk food.  It drives me nuts when I can't have my big old tub of popcorn and a large soda to wash it all down when I go to the movies.  It's tough when the sweet tooth comes in right after lunch and all I can think about is a cookie from Panera or City Bites.  But for being seventeen pounds lighter?  It's so much more worth it.  

What healthy diet changes have you tried?  I would love to hear your input!