A health nut?!

In the last 20 years I have dedicated myself to healthier eating habits probably about 25 times. not to lose weight – I am blessed with genetically high metabolism so it’s never been a weight issue. It’s been more just for the benefit of being more fit, in shape and healthy. Having more steady energy and less afternoon crashes. Rely less on caffeine. However, even though I said it was not for weight, it was still a DIET change. And anyone who has been on a diet knows that it takes a few weeks to make the change permanent and that the key IS to make the change permanent. Of course I never quiet got there! It was so much easier to make the excuses to go right back to fast food and eggs and potatoes and pre-packaged dinners. Then I started donating blood regularly and the blood bank started providing cholesterol readings. EEP! This time rather than doing some drastic overhaul, I started one meal at a time. Ok, not entirely true. I did overall decide to go organic as much as possible and 100% with meats and produce. First it was breakfast. I stopped getting eggs and potatoes/french toast/oatmeal from the cafeteria at work and switched to cheerios with vanilla soy and blueberries or strawberries OR to good Old Fashioned Oatmeal with vanilla soy milk and the same berries. And I *crave* that now! It’s so silly, but I really look forward to breakfast every day! Lunch which also used to be from the cafeteria and was often quite greasy and/or an over sized portion. With the oatmeal breakfast especially though, I am really not hungry for anything heavy. So I have been having a can of Wolfgan Puck organic soup. Sometimes with a half sandwich or a small salad, but usually just with some crackers. Dinner has not really changed other than using all organic products. I still make some pre-packaged meals, but they are Annies Oraganic brand or something similar. Desserts or snacks are fruit, pistachios, dried peas, yogurt or the real treat – Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches 🙂 I’ve been on this eating plan since mid-December or so. It already worked to lower the cholesterol 30 points in 8 weeks. I also noticed that as long as I don’t have a sinus headache issue, my energy is so much more steady. Oh yeah!! Not more coffee! I switched to caffeinated tea in the morning and totally weaned off Starbucks even on the weekends. So, no huge surge of energy, but also no crashes after lunch. I sleep better overall as long as no cats interfere. Sinus problems are reduced to being more related to hormones from what I can tell – certainly less frequent! I’ve been through a couple of 10 days periods with no pain meds or Claritin at all. The really cool thing though is that I really really crave this diet. While in Orlando I was pretty much forced to eat rather poorly and I felt it and hated it. Didn’t even taste good to me. I got home Wednesday night and promptly made myself a big old bowl of oatmeal. Gawd that tasted so good to me!!! Tonight I was shopping with DS2 at Henry’s (if we go when DS1 is there we get his 15% discount) and got everything we need for the week. No one complains – organic foods taste so much better now, even the processed stuff. Hopefully I am teaching DS2 some healthy habits. He sure is good about eating fruit and veggies on his own.
So yeah, I guess I am a certifiable health nut now. And I FEEL GOOD!