Shut Up and Change It!

Hello everyone.  I hope your January is treating you well.  Many bloggers kicked off this year by sharing their New Year's resolutions or their goals for this year.  I'm finally getting around to sharing mine.  In addition to thinking over what I wanted to accomplish this upcoming year, I also glanced through my blog and reflected over the posts.

I changed the title of this blog from Health Nut - Hold The Nut to Journey to 100, which better reflects my life.  I'm not what you would consider a "Health Nut", but a journey of living healthy to try to reach age 100, reflects my life perfectly.  My healthy life is a journey that has it's ups and downs.  Lately more downs.  Looking over my recent posts, they seem to say the same thing: I'm not working out, my life is busy, I'm not eating great, I'm gaining weight. And this goes on for MONTHS!

My lovely husband, Mike, used to complain about the same thing over and over and over to me.  Eventually I said, "You know what? There's only one thing to do, Shut up and change it!"  I have been complaining to Mike about the same things that I have been writing on this blog and one day he said to me, "I'm going to tell you what you told me once, 'Shut up and change it!"   After reading back over my posts, I felt like yelling it at myself!

So this year, the basis of my goal is "Shut up and change it!"

New shoes from my sister!!

Dreaming Big -Eating Healthy

I have big dreams about my life; what I want to do and what I want it to look like.  My dreams are always down the road.  "At some point in my life, I want  ______." Then I realize, I'm 27 years old and will be turning 28 this year.  That's only two years away from 30.  I'm getting married this summer.  Although I don't feel like it - I am an adult.  So what better time than now to make those changes I want to make?!

The biggest change that I want to focus on right now is the food that I eat.  The concept of "healthy eating" is something that I am struggling a lot with right now.  I'm trying to lose a few pounds so I'm counting calories, but just because I get below my calorie count, does that mean I'm eating healthy?  I don't believe so.  I can tell you right now that my diet for the last couple months has not contained enough fruits and veggies.

Birthplace

And what about processed "healthy' food.  Today I had a southwest veggie stuffed sandwich made by FitActive, which is supposed to be Aldi's healthy food.  I love them - they taste great, have veggies, but the ingredient list is crazy long and full of things I can't pronounce!

 From what I have read in health books and on blogs, I think the best diet is one that is plant-heavy and mostly homemade.  By that I mean fruits, veggies and whole grains are the majority of the diet and animals based products are a smaller part.  In addition to this, most of the food should be homemade rather than store bought.  Both of these ideas seem to be very contradictory to a modern American diet. Which reminds me, portion control also needs to be added to a healthy diet.

What does this translate into for me?  Time. Which I don't have a lot of and, as of late, I don't seem to manage well.  I'm thinking in order to incorporate eating this way into my life, I'm going to need to meal plan and meal prep on the weekends for my week.  I don't mind doing that, but I just need to make sure I have the time for it.

Gotta use my planner!

So this is the thing I'm going to work on for the next couple weeks. I don't think that in a couple weeks I'll be a pro at it, but I'm going to at least take some steps towards this. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

*Healthy diet here does not mean like Atkins, I just mean the entirety of what I consume.  Diet also often implies temporary.  I'm talking about a lifestyle, people!

Do you meal plan or cook food on your weekends? Any tips or ideas you can share with me?

WIAW #28 - It's been too long

Hello fellow What I Ate Wednesday party-ers! And hello to those who are not WIAW party-ers!  According to my records, the last time I partied was back in October!  It's been way too long!  I'm really trying to focus on my food this month and I'm tracking calories.  That being said I am happy to say that I am actually proud of my eats today (even though they don't live up to the green theme)! Check it out and see what you think:

Breakfast:

I have had a seriously craving for bagels lately. This may or may not be Jenn's fault ;) Anyway Mike and I went shopping while I was starving, which is always a bad idea.  I bought two packages of Bagel Thins. Everything and Cinnamon Raisin.  I have been having them like every morning with cream cheese and today was no exception.  It's like the best breakfast ever!

[no photo]

I continued my breakfast after my workout, with one link of Erkrich Farms Cheddar sausage and a raspberry Nutrigrain bar.

Lunch:

I finally made myself a smoothie! I've been wanting to incorporate smoothies into my diet as another way to get fruits and veggies in me.  Usually I would say especially veggies, as they are the hardest for me to meet the daily requirement.  However lately my diet has been void of fruits.  This smoothie helped that by having 1/2 a frozen banana, some frozen mixed berries, plus plain no fat Greek yogurt, vanilla protein powder and a little vanilla almond milk. Oh and the smoothie has a reusable green lid and straw! How's that for green?!

Snack:

 [no photo]

My own 100 calorie snack pack of salted peanuts!

Dinner:

Birthplace

I forgot to take a photo of my actual food because I was too busy stuffing my face, but here's a stock photo. Morning Star Farm's Griller on a white bun (lame.  I don't know why I bought white instead of wheat), with sweet pickle relish and mustard and a side of canned pears in 100% juice!

So what I did pretty good right?! I am happy with it.  Don't forget to go visit Jenn's party, meet some new friends and get some yummy food ideas!!

WIAW #27 - Series Time!

Tonight was the first game of the World Series and unfortunately the Tigers lost, but that's okay because we don't even need that game to win!! Tomorrow is another game and this time the Giants are going down!

Birthplace

Oh...right, you're here for the food, not the baseball.  Sorry haha. I haven't taken many photos today, but hopefully I'll have enough the get you though :)

Inspiration Day

Today there was a couple of incidents, one positive, one negative; both equally inspirational for me to get my life back into a healthy order.

First I was at the gym today and an elderly gentleman came up to friend and I to chat. He told us he had 10 great-grand children and that he was in one of the wars (I can't remember which, I think WWII), and he also told us that he was 92 years old! He even took out his ID.

Sure enough, he was born in 1919! Just think about everything he lived through, the Great Depression, a war, the Civil Rights Movement; it's amazing! Not only that, but he is 92 years old, using the weight machines at the gym! I told my friend after briefly chatting with the elderly gentleman, that I hoped to be in that good of shape when I was his age.

Today's run

WIAW #25 - I Have No Title Edition

My schedule finally worked out so I could make it to the WIAW party! How exciting! It has been a month since my last What I Ate Wednesday party! What a bummer; but I'm back and ready to rock!

So let’s get onto my eats and the good habits I'm falling into! 

Beer Bread

A few weeks back I was at Mike's house and his mom said, "I feel like baking cookies - it must be fall".  At the time I thought, "Why would a season change make you want to bake?"  Now I got it.  The weather is getting colder (much to my disappointment), stores have Halloween stuff out (much to my excitement), and everything on pinterest is pumpkin, baking, soups, stews and chili.  I can see how the season change can make you want to change your cooking habits....

...Too bad I didn't get the memo on changing my clothing habits - my open toes and bare lags are freezing today!

Anywho...I was pinning my heart away on Pinterest when I stumbled across this bad boy

Honey Beer Bread!

WIAW #24 - Tuesday is easier?

Well today, we are going to do What I Ate Tuesday.  I'm going out of town this weekend and I have been a busy social butterfly every day after work, so between getting ready for the va-ca and socializing there's not much time for other things and it was easier to do Tuesday this week...and believe it or not, even though today was easier - I only have two pictures! Blah....

The Disappointing News

So now the disappointing news I teased a few days ago.  I'm sure you all have been holding your breath waiting for me to share. HaHa.

Anyway....

Let me start by saying for those who might not know, a few years ago I started running to lose weigh and ended up losing 20 lbs before it was all said and done.  [Read a full post.]

I mentioned a few weeks back that my pants were getting tight and I'm pretty sure that I had gained weight.  Last week I bought a scale, because I wanted to know just how much weigh I have gained.  Remember that 20 lbs?  It's baaacckkk! Mostly.  It just makes me sick.  After all the work I did, I have gained almost all of it back.  I'm really disappointed in myself.

Please excuse my Christmas socks...my feet were cold.

Trying to get fit...

...is an uphill battle. At least this past week it seemed to be.

I ate out almost every dinner this past week and a few lunches too.  Take a look:

Birthplaces: Bagger Dave's, Olive Garden, McDonald's, Menna's Joint, Wild Chef

If you read my post from last Saturday, you'll know I have started to track my calories.  It's been a very eye opening experience.  I don't know that I will track my calories forever, but right now it's been a great reality check and a great tool to help me see what I need to do to lose the tens pounds I have recently put back on.

Tracking calories while eating out is tough.  It's amazing how many calories these meals have. 

I Am What I Eat

I don't remember who first told me about MyFitnessPal.com, I think it was my friend Amanda. I signed up for it, but never used it.  On Friday a student I work with told me I should get it.  I looked into the website again and decided to start using it.  MyFitnessPal tracks what you eat, the exercise you do and the water you drink.  When you sign up, it asks for some of your information and gives you a calorie goal, the amount you should strive to eat each.  I have used it for two days so far...and it has been eye opening.

I never wanted to count calories, but recently have thought about starting to count calories, just to see how I'm doing.  My previous mindset was as long as I am getting in my fruits and veggies and only taking small portions of sweets sparingly, I would be okay. In using MyFitnessPal the pass two days, I have seen how poorly I'm eating. As you can see from the charts, I have been over my goal in calories both days.

Using MyFitnesPal has shown me that I really need to start watching what I'm eating.  Not only for my daily calories, but also what I'm eating for each meal.

 Above is my first day of snacks.  Now I don't always eat all these snacks. Some days I don't have snacks at all.  However I wouldn't say that this is a really random odd day and these snacks would never occur like this again; they would. Which is a problem since I had over 700 calories just in snacks! And when your calorie intake goal is around 1500, 700 just in snacks is a problem!

Breakfast today.  Mike and I went out.  I love breakfast food, so when I go out I want everything. The above chart is a typical going-out-to-eat breakfast for me. I almost died when I saw the calories.  For those of you reading from the Grand Rapids area, this is a Mr. Burger #3.  Not paying attention to what I'm eating is definitely part of the reason why I have gained back part of the weight I lost.

I'm really excited to have such a great and easy tool to use to help build my knowledge on what I am eating.  MyFitnessPal also has an app for your phone.  It gives you a daily report about your calories and your vitamins, so you can see where you need to improve.  It's free and effective - the best kind of program!  I'm not saying I am going to use this forever.  I currently envision it as a learning tool, until I have a decent idea about what I should and should not eat and then trusting what I learned to steer me, but who knows.  I might just use this forever.  Also if you are on MyFitnessPal, add me - username Seifkat.

Disclaimer:  If you are looking to start a diet program, please speak to your doctor first. I am not a nutritionist or doctor, so my word is not professional advice.  I also have no affiliation with MyFitnessPal, except that I have used this product.  I am not being compensated to write about it, I just really like it and thought you might too!

Do you count calories?  If so do you have a program you use?

Time to shop

There was a point a few weeks ago a month ago (all the weeks are running together), when I went grocery shopping for two weeks, maybe three weeks in a row.  What I loved was the following weeks, when Mike and I would decide to have homemade dinner together and I could just whip something up with what I had in the kitchen.

Cut to now.  Last weekend I was trying to decide what to make for this week's dinners and I felt like I had nothing in my kitchen.  Two Monday's ago, Mike and I went to see a movie and I was trying to figure out what I could whip up fast and I couldn't think of anything I could make with what I had in the kitchen.  For some reason I couldn't figure out what was different.  Why don't have anything I can make a meal out of?

A recipe that I am masquerading as a grocery list.