First I have to tell you that I've had only limited success with my kiddos and my husband. I have managed to get them to cut out some sweets. They still consume more than I'd like them to, but at least they are doing better. And I'm paying close attention to how often they eat sweets too. I am strictly limiting it to once a day. As I said in my earlier post, though, I don't really think they should be eating sweets every day. But it's still an improvement, so I'm trying to look at it that way.
I myself have been trying to almost totally cut out sweets and fats. I allow myself to eat one Skinny Cow ice cream bar once a week (100 calories and they are yummy!!) and no more than twice a week. Other than that, I have given up sugar entirely. That means no sweet tea (and this Southern Girl used to live on sweet tea!), no cookies, no candy bars.
As far as fats go, I've totally given up butter (we use real butter) as well as cooking oil, fatty meats, and any other greasy foods. I've been either baking my meats, cooking them in the crock pot, or frying them with a tiny amount of fat-free calorie-free non-stick spray. I have been very surprised at how good my meat tastes even when cooked without any fats or oils. I've been using very lean meat too, so it doesn't have much fat in it to begin with.
Another thing I've been working really hard on is eating lots more fresh fruits and veggies and cutting down on breads and crackers. I found some yummy fat free, sugar free, low calorie salad dressing, so that has made it easy to eat lots more fresh salad. (I use romaine because iceberg lettuce generally has lots of pesticides on it.) I sometimes put diced apples and/or raisins or even dried cranberries or dried cherries on my salad. I don't use a lot of the dried fruits, though, because some of them have added sugar, and they generally have lots of calories. Dried cherries are a particular favorite of mine because they're chewy and very tart. Yum!!
I haven't totally cut out carbs because I really don't think that's healthy. Once or twice a day I eat a piece of melba toast (I actually like that stuff) or one slice of whole wheat bread. On rare occasions I eat two or three Sun Chips or a whole wheat cracker or two. That helps to satisfy my desire for something crunchy and salty without overdoing it.
In the last 3 weeks, I've lost about 7 lbs! That really has made me aware of the terrible amounts of junk food I must have been eating! I feel much better and have more energy (generally) than I've had in a long time. I've been trying to cut down on calories, so once or twice I've eaten too few calories and have felt tired and draggy. After that, I've been trying to cut calories but not so much that I feel bad. I'm learning where the balance is.
One thing I've learned just in the past few weeks is that, if I totally blow it and eat junk and sweets one day, don't get discouraged! One day during the past 3 weeks, I did just that! I tanked up on sweets, greasy pizza, and whatever else I "had" to have. It was totally worth it! Then the next day, I went right back to my healthy eating plan. It did set me back a few days as far as losing weight, but it satisfied my sweets and fats craving! Since then, it's been much easier to avoid those foods. (Partly because I felt so awful that whole afternoon and night after eating that junk!) So did you make a resolution to eat healthy or lose weight? How's it going? I'd love to encourage you along the way!
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Thats great Wendy!
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