Yesterday, I went out for a training. On the way back, I rode the bus system. It took me two hours to ride 16 miles. Needless to say, by the time I got home, I felt frustrated, hungry and tired. I was lucky enough that my daughter had made dinner, and I ate heartily. Then I took a nap. When I woke up, I was more tired than when I took my nap. I looked at my day and I realized that I had not eaten anything since breakfast, I had no water, and I walked, carrying a heavy bag for over a mile. I love walking so I did not notice the weight on the bag was stressing my back…until I woke up this morning.

Today, I am going for the second part of the training. What to do? I have snacks in my bag, I ate some cream of wheat, I packed my water bottle and I am more relaxed, having done some breathing exercises. Now all I need is to get some transportation set up for next week, because I cannot count on the bus system.

My question to you is this: what is making you feel tired? Look back on your day, or the last week, and identify those things that are wearing you out. Are you eating well? Do you need to supplement with a vitamin? Do you need to relax? Keep yourself accountable and take care of yourself.

Out of the 12 days I did it, I actually posted 9 on twitter and six on my blog. I give myself credit for using the baseline weeks to keep track. I feel like is a little obsessive to spend that much time on what I ate. It takes all the fun out of the experience of eating. I came to understand that the reason why I have never been able to keep it up is because I just don’t want to spend that much time on what I ate, how I felt, etc.

Those days that I did keep up with it, I found out that my real problem is not the chocolate, it is the carbohydrates. I have to make adjustments in my daily nutrition in only to have better choices like fruits, veggies, brown bread. I also noticed an abundance of white stuff when money is a consideration: white rice, white pasta, white bread.

The most important lesson that I got out of this experience is that you should always do what works for YOU. Food journals do not work for me. Moving, works for me better than anything. The words I choose work on me. That is why on my daily goals I list “Drink plenty of water”. This statement is an action statement. It is not about the negative aspect of my decisions on what to drink. It is about choosing the good ones. In the two weeks I have been doing this, I have had one soda. Normally I would have one a day. That is progress. The second goal that I set for myself is “Move one hour every day”. Out of the 11 days of the month of January, I have done that for eight. Most days, it has been walking. I have done some other exercises, and more importantly, I am going to the gym. Interestingly enough, I have not let the cold weather affect my walking schedule. I am taking things slow and using baby steps. That works for me. For some of you, giant leaps might be more your style. That is OK too.

The important thing is that you do something. I am curious though, can you keep a food journal? Let me know. I can’t wait to see what you think.

In the exercise front, I had this interesting situation with my right leg. A muscle got upset at me and pain was unbearable. After 3 massages, and a lot of screaming, on Tuesday I was able to walk in 35 degree weather for half an hour. I am very proud of myself for being able to brave the elements.

And now to the food entries, and remember, the first week I am eating what I usually eat in order to figure out what I am really doing wrong. I can tell you that chocolate is my downfall. There are other mistakes on my food choices.
9:30 AM I ate 2.1 ounces of Frosted Flakes dry. I don’t drink milk which makes having milk on cold cereal impossible.
12:30 PM Spaghetti and fresh shrimp on vodka sauce, excellent meal. 2 squares of 60% dark chocolate with caramel
6:00 PM Pulled pork on Jack Daniels sauce and jazmin rice. 2 squares of the dark chocolate with caramel
10:30 PM 10 Fish Sticks with mayo ketchup sauce.
Drank water all day long. Wow, I did not have any fruits or veggies today. This is really bad.
Highlight: I just joined the Biggest Looser Challenge where for every pound you loose, they donate a pound for the needy. You can get more info here

The food journal was even worse. I woke up at 9, did not have anything to eat until 11. Here it goes
11:30 AM 2 ounces of Heartland cereal, ran out. Drank water.
2:40 PM had a massive drop in sugar levels. When that happens, my favorite life saver is a slice of bread with peanut butter. Since we no longer buy white bread, we are trying different varieties of brown bread and this one was spectacular in flavor (Nature’s Pride Whole Grain).
2:50 PM ate 6 fish sticks baked in an oven instead of deep fried. Had them with some mayo-ketchup (for those not familiar with this, it is equal parts mayo and ketchup and a little bit of garlic for flavor. Had more water.
6:00 PM I went to take a test for a job opportunity and they gave us a dinner break. We did not know that was going to happen and without a car, I found out why I should always have a snack handy. This is specially funny because I just got pecans and fruits from the grocery store, which I should have packed and taken with me. Lesson learned. I had a variety of ill choices from the vending machine. I picked the bag of white cheddar popcorn because in a recent tv show I found out it was the lesser evil. Had half the bag and my hubby had the other half. Down it with two fast swigs of Coca Cola, which, if you come from Puerto Rico, and you are used to CC in PR, you don’t drink it in the states, too sweet, and not enough sizzle. Plus, I want to keep drinking other things.
9:20 PM Ironic that today I decided to go for the regular spaghetti box instead of the brown ones I usually buy. Today,we ate late, after coming home from the job interview. I had a big serving with about four ounces of Shrimp in vodka sauce. The sauce was Berttolli (sorry, I am a big fan). I need to learn to make my own pasta sauce. The dinner was great and it was a fitting end to a strange day. The reason why I am not feeling very guilty is because it is close to midnight and I am not sleepy yet. This means that it will be over 3 hours before I go to sleep and I will be a little less full.
I have taken my 60% Cocoa dark chocolate with caramel and I am pretty sure I will eat the whole thing before I go to bed. I am bad some times. I do need to find healthy substitutes for my sweet tooth. I did purchase some fruits and I will see how it goes tomorrow.

My daily journal today went something like this.
9:30 AM Sleepy mood, ate 3 ounces of Heartland cereal dry. Drank water after.
1:30 PM After a short walk (where I experienced pain on my leg) I had a bowl of white cheddar popcorn. Drank more water.
2:30 PM Felt guilty about the popcorn and ate some nachos with humus. Humus is one of those healthy spreads that I love to eat with pretty much anything.
About 10 minutes later I had a Hershey chocolate almond bar.
3:30 PM Ate a banana. I am not sure if I am anxious, hungry or bored.
7:15 PM Salmon with couscous, excellent choice. Feel it was a healthy meal. My desert was one ounce of dark chocolate.
It is now 12:45 PM and I did not add any more food to my consumption. See you tomorrow.

I don’t know about you, but I was raised by the best cook in the planet.  Mom fed us really well, had great combinations of veggies, meat and carbs in every plate, before we even knew how important the combination was. 

She also spoiled us with some of the best, not necessarily healthy meals, like mac and cheese (from scratch), lasagna, imperial rice (it is like a lasagna, but the pasta is substituted by rice and the meat is chicken), cheese custard, arroz con dulce, etc.

There are two ways you can still share with FAMILY and be healhy.  Either fill your plate up with veggies and salad and have a small portion of the goodies (I don’t believe in depriving myself of what I love) or start learning to make the same goodies in a healthier way and make a cooking party with your loved ones.  And when you are done, tell me all about it.

We tend to equate food with LOVE on happy and sad occasions.  Now I am not saying not to invite friends and family over to celebrate or have a meal.  What I am saying is that if you really LOVE them, there are plenty of healthy options that will taste good, make them happy and keep all of you healthy.  That is a better testament to the LOVE you feel for them, and for yourself.

And if you are sitting home alone and you decide to “clean” the fridge by eating everything in site, make sure that your choices when you shop are healthy, which will make your food LOVE fest healthier than the chocolate cake binging or strawberry short cake devouring  that you are thinking on swallowing whole.  LOVE yourself, not your food.

You cannot be healthy if you do not make HONEST nutrition choices.  If you make smart food choices most of the time, you can indulge on anything you want in moderation.  Here is where HONESTY comes in.  I said moderation.  Moderation does not mean every time, every meal.  I’ll give you an example.  I allow myself a square of 70% Dark Chocolate with caramel (not the healthiest choice) if I include on my daily meals at least three fruits and at least three vegetables.  I love fruits, so adding three a day minimum is an easy target.  However, I am not a great cook and vegetables are harder for me to include.  So when I do, I treat myself.  If you eat healthy 80% of the time, I can indulge 20%.  That is my personal rule.

Your rule might be different.  You might not be able to indulge every day because you know your weakness for ice cream, cake, soda or whatever you consider unhealthy.  You might be able to indulge every meal because you have the capacity to eat just one M&M.  Every person is different.  You need to find what your treat is and then come up with your own rules.  You need to be HONEST with yourself.  If you want to be healthy well into old age, you want to take care of yourself and eat healthy today and every day.

What is your favorite food?  Which is your comfort food of choice?  Are they both the same thing?  When you are having a bad day and feel like crawling under a rock, what is the one food that calls you?  I have this thing for macaroni and cheese (not from a box and with four or five cheeses) and I have a great recipe for it, which is not the best recipe in the world if you want to eat healthy.  After chocolate, anything with pasta in it is a close second in my comfort zone.

This year I am making it my mission to make my favorite recipes nutritious without loosing the flavor, specially the macaroni and cheese.  Do you know any healthy versions of your favorite comfort foods?  Maybe you have one for mac and cheese?  Do you want to share them with us?

My secret to this mayhem is no secret.  I don’t exclude anything from my diet.  I don’t want to loose 30 pounds in 30 days.  I want to banish three to four pounds a month, slowly so that I never see them again.  And even though it is a slow process and some months I don’t see any difference on the scale, I see it in my clothes and in my attitude.  More important, I see it when I get up in the morning and I can walk out of bed instead of crawling out of it.

The one thing that I try to avoid is soda, only because I link it to arthritis like pain.  I heard somewhere that soda eats your bone density.  I don’t know if that is true, but I do know that after my 40′s, if I have a soda and not much water, the next day I feel my bones ache.  So, I might have one every two weeks or so.  And I always drink three liters of water a day. 

If you eat all things and the so called “bad” things in moderation, exercise, and take care of yourself, I don’t see any reason why you can’t have the body you want and the health you need to enjoy your life.

Healthy breakfast includes eggs, veggies and a rice cake, yummm!!!