Day 1/33: A Whole New Attitude (to food)

Of course, as soon as I decide I'm not going to blog anymore I end up with something to blog about.

Today is February 1st. We are exactly 33 days away from Little Buddy's first birthday. And I'm still not at or under my pre-pregnancy weight. Bleh. And I know exactly why. We have been eating takeout with embarrassing frequency through this first year of Little Buddy's life. So often that I'm going to just skip over the exact number of days per week to avoid the judgement that is sure to reign down on me.

So! It's time for a change. I've been feeling this way for a while lately but the final straw came from R. He went to his yearly physical last week and has gained more weight than he is comfortable with. So here we are. Doing the big D word - Diet.

But, really, it's a lifestyle change. We are removing the whites from our diet (white flour, white rice, white sugar...)  and adding 60-75 minutes of activity into our days. Call it Low Carb, Paleo, or THM, bad carbs are out and lots of movement is in!

R and I each have 20 pounds to lose. The general plan is to stick to a strict(ish) Low Carb diet with a few fruits thrown in until Little Buddy's first birthday. Then, after taking the day to splurge on cake and luau noms, step back and talk about how Low Carb felt for each of us and how we want to move forward.

For exercise, we are going to trade off 30 minute workouts in the morning while the other watches the baby and take a 2 mile family walk at Noon. Plus I have karate 2 nights/week.

To take care of our food, I have prepared 13 low(er) carb freezer meals for the slow cooker. During the day, we have: coffee, eggs, Applegate bacon, cottage cheese, salads, no-sugar smoothies, raw almond butter with celery, and the occasional apple. I'm also picking up frozen burgers for when we are craving fast food (I'm not above making oven baked sweet potato fries to go with 'em on occasion). I have almond flour for breading chicken and tons of veggies to be steamed, roasted, and stir-fried.

We are taking bits from each of the "diet plans" above. Low Carb, of course, reducing the amount of carbohydrates in our diet over all. Paleo by eating whole foods rather than processed. And THM by eating on 3-hour cycles, eating until we are satisfied, and not excluding fruits.

The hope, of course, is that the next 33 days will help us re-learn how to eat and take care of our bodies, as well as turn our family into a healthier and more budget-contentious one.

Sit down, hold on, and here we go!