Avoiding Rabbit Food

Sooo, long story short: we sold a house, moved, bought a house, and moved again in a period of about two and a half months (though it seemed much longer!). And, since I tend to eat my feelings, I gained 18 pounds. Not cool.

Anyway, there it is, out in the open. I avoid the camera. I'm embarrassed to see people who knew what I looked like "before." At least my new acquaintances here don't know any better. Anyway, I know I'm the hardest on myself, but it is depressing, especially after all my hard work last year in Globe's Biggest Loser competition. They called me a winner and gave me a prize. Now I've let them down. Boo.

Okay. Time to snap out of it. I've been settled here for two months. I really love it here, and am no longer stressed or depressed. There are no more excuses.

So after many deep breaths, a little perusal of fitness websites for motivation, and some serious prayers, I have felt my attitude shift. I'm ready. And I'm going to do it right. I'm not in a competition, and I don't have a deadline, so in some ways it's harder. But rather than focus on extreme calorie-cutting, I'm just going to eat healthier. Which isn't hard, considering I was on the chocolate-milkshake-plus-a-donut-per-day diet before. And I'm going to include strength training, and focus on ways to increase my metabolism. I want to be able to eat like a normal person, just a little more carefully for now. Because living on a rabbit food diet is so sad. No one should have to live like that.

Eat less. Move more. It's so simple.

Right?

So, I've done a few work-outs from Amazon Prime's collection of relics. Not the greatest exercise videos ever made, but they got me moving. And I'm eating less junk, and focusing more on fruits and veggies. But I'm not starving myself. I'm not counting calories. If I want ice cream, I eat it. But I pay attention to portion sizes, I eat 4 or 5 times a day, take fiber supplements, and stop eating at 7pm.

Then there's the full-but-not-satisfied phenomenon. I will eat a delicious meal of grilled chicken over a bed of crisp veggies, with some light dressing. Or I might have just had a good sized portion of beef and veggie stir fry over brown rice. And I'll be full. But there's this nagging feeling in my stomach. I used to think I was craving dessert, and I would just try to ignore it. But I've discovered that I was missing fat. I can't lose weight without eating fat. So I enjoy a spoonful of natural peanut butter, or a handful of almonds. And the annoying feeling goes away.

It's been so nice to be done with homeschool for the summer--it got pretty hairy there, and I was clearly burned out. I rarely cooked real meals. We ate fast food a lot. Now I have the energy to focus more on meal planning, and keeping to a schedule for our meals and snacks. It's also helping the kids realize that they shouldn't be eating constantly all day long.

At any rate, things are off to a good start. Here's to staying motivated.

And here's to not eating rabbit food.