For Real this Time

After being completely horrified by the videos I watched on Monday night, I ate horrible on Tuesday knowingly poisoning my body with aspertame (Sugar Free Red Bull) and a slew of other things (Zapp's CrawTater Chips, Sprees, and a Milky Way) I mean, it figures.
Say hello to my breakfast/lunch. Yea. It was as I was stuffing my face with this literal garbage, that I realized that I was hungry for a change. I want to be that skinny, confident, and most importantly healthy girl on the beach this year. I want to live for a long time. I want to have the stamina to keep up with the boyfriend and puppy-child. I can't achieve that by eating Milky Ways for breakfast every morning. No duh.

So after work, it was off to Whole Foods. The healthy food Heaven. I could hear the angels singing as I pulled into the parking lot. Ok rewind. I stopped by my apartment to throw (pretty much) everything I had in my fridge/pantry shelf away. I was amazed that so many products had SO MANY ingredients that I couldn't pronounce. Hyrdo-asjnbmeuqoety76 (almost literally that's what it said) If I can't read it, pronounce it, or spell it--why should I want to put it in my body? (besides the fact that it tastes good--we are ignoring that here people) And besides is the fact that it tastes good worth poisoning myself? Uh no.

Ok back to the angels singing. Ah Whole Foods. It's like calming for me to be there. One of my happy places--plus they always have the best fresh flowers selection. It can be overwhelming so I came prepared with a list complete with notes and my friend Kathryn on speed dial. Uh Geaux Tigers?

I did pretty well. I stuck to mostly the outside perimeter of the store filling my cart with fruits (ok just strawberries and bananas) and the vegetables I do like. I stopped by the butcher to get fresh organic chicken (which they wrap in cool paper so that's always a plus) and the fish (butcher?) to get tilapia. 

Here's a complete list of what I got: (in case you were wondering--also shown in the picture at the top):

-Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

-All Natural Honey

-Organic Pizza Sauce

-Van's All Natural Waffles

-"Healthy" Butter (it's like butter for vegans--the jury is still out on this one)

-Plain Oatmeal 

-Organic Milk

-Organic Eggs

-Hormone Free Chicken Breast 

-Tilapia Filets

-Oven Roasted Turkey (for sandwiches without the bread?)

-Fig and Goat Cheese (it was 2 for $5 so why not?)

-Organic String Cheese

-A Rotisserie Chicken (for dinner last night and lunch today)

-Rosemary Sourdough Loaf (for a treat)

-Precut Squash and Zucchini (if I bought them whole they'd rot in the fridge)

-Haricoverts

-Strawberries

-Bananas

-Lemons

-Organic All Natural Maple Syrup

Overall, I'd say it was a pretty good haul. Not everything is uber healthy, but when I'm craving something sweet instead of going for a chocolate milkshake, I'll reach for the fig and goat cheese spread. The bread will be for special occasions like when drinking wine or once a week, etc. etc.

A big shoutout to my "virtual" personal trainer/motivator Kathryn. She's been texting me and encouraging me to not give up, stay active, and send her pictures of what I'm eating. I probably wouldn't be this serious about it THIS TIME had it not been for her. Plus everyone needs SOMEONE to keep them on the right track. 

Hopefully by implementing these whole, healthy foods, I'll be able to crowd out the bad foods that think I love and need oh so much (breaking the addiction). Add in exercising and I'll be on my way to my goal in no time. That's what I'm going for anyway. Again, if you haven't watched Healthy for Change. Do it. Go now. 

This will be the last March that I am this unhealthy, because I said so. 

But I don't like Vegetables

Is a challenge.

Last night, when I got home from work, all I did was watch food documentaries. You know the ones that make you never want to eat again. 

So I know eating processed foods is bad. That's obvi. But according to Hungry for Change, the reason it's so hard to stop eating those foods is because sugar is strategically places in every single thing (except organic meats and vegetables) so you'll buy more and GET ADDICTED. The only way to get away from that is to eat whole organic foods. (Basically shop the perimeter of the grocery story--not the aisles) I'm all for that. In theory.

Food Inc, provides a look into the corporations that run the food industry--which is so confusing and I just feel bad for all the farmers and cows. Again it makes me want to just eat organic food from local farmer's markets. 

In Knives over Forks, the message is basically don't eat meat. A plant based diet is where it's at. Turns out, cancer and all other diseases are linked to meat and dairy. Cool. 

So that's my night in a summary. So depressing and confusing. Like, what am I supposed to eat now??

Here's where it gets tricky. I don't like vegetables. Ok I take it back, I only like about three vegetables. I don't like many. I'd die if I didn't eat animal protein as well--at least I'd be very hungry. So what's a girl to do? Apparently, your taste buds change around every seven years (here's to hoping this is the seventh year) and you have to try something at least three times in order to figure out if you like it or not. But how am I supposed to eat super clean and healthy when I don't like most things that are healthy? (the million dollar question)

I was basically raised on hormone induced chicken nuggets and carb and chemical laced macaroni and cheese. Of course, I didn't know all of this until last night--my childhood was based on a lie. Sure everyone knows to eat healthy, but it's killing you not to. It's pretty serious stuff.

Today after work, I'm going to Whole Foods and shopping the entire perimeter. I'll also be tossing a lot of the stuff in my pantry.  My health is important to me and not just because swimsuit season is basically here--although that is one reason. I highly Highly HIGHLY recommend these three documentaries (you can find them on Netflix) and would love suggestions on more to watch. In a way, it's kind of addictive to watch these even if they are so horrific.

What are you doing today to benefit your long term health?