Excuses, Excuses

When it comes to eating healthy, I have given plenty excuses of why I wasn’t doing it.  It’s too expensive.  It’s disgusting.  I’ll miss out on so many good things.  My worst excuse was I give up.

About a year ago, I tried losing weight (again).  However, AJ was then put in the hospital to treat her RSV.  When that happened, I gave up on eating healthy.  I was not able to really do anything for 10 days except watch TV, play with my baby, and eat.  Boy did I eat!  The menu the hospital offered gave options for an entree, sides, salad, drink, and dessert for all three meals.  I ordered the max of everything I could for all three meals.  I received ice cream or Oreos from the nurses.  I tried exercising a few times by doing some stair climbing, but came right back to a full meal in the room.

Since August, though, I have done my best to drop the excuses about changing my eating habits.

It’s too expensive.

Josh and I sat down, and we talked about what it would cost to eat healthy.  We do our best to stick to a budget, and we weren’t sure if we could budget enough.  But we did decide one thing – we could either spend a little more money now on eating better, or we could spend a lot more money later with health problems.

Our grocery budget has had to increase a little, but it has all been worth it.  Sometimes the cost does outweigh the “health” factor, but we still do our best.  We look for foods that are lower in fat, cholesterol, or sugar.

It’s disgusting.

Some things can take some getting used to, but are so good once you do!

For example, spinach.  I don’t care how many Popeye cartoons I watched, I was always disgusted by spinach.  Then, a couple years ago, I discovered raspberry vinaigrette salads with spinach.  I realized this vegetable wasn’t so bad.  I was still wary to try it in anything else, though.

In August, however, I tried a green smoothie with some spinach and liked it.  I tried some other recipes with spinach, and slowly grew to not only like it, but love it!  Today alone, I had spinach as part of two meals and a snack.

Moral of the story – eating healthy is not disgusting, but oh so good!  “Eating healthy” doesn’t mean you sit and eat nothing but celery and cracked wheat.  Some of my recent favorite meals are quinoa veggie burgers, spinach breakfast wraps, salsa chicken, and breakfast banana splits.

I’ll miss out on so many good things.

I’ve learned a new word called “moderation.”   I still eat cookies, chocolate, ice cream, candy, etc. – just not every day.  If I’m going to make something at home, I’ve also tried to find ways to make it not as bad.  I use skim milk, or look for recipes that have been adapted for eating better.

I give up.

Why?  What is the point of giving up?  Just because I eat bad one meal or even one day doesn’t mean I have to throw in the towel.  I just need to pick myself up and start again.