Healthy Drinking

... and no I don't mean the alcoholic kind. Although, actually now that I think about it, I'm trying to kick that habit too.

Well! I have decided to go on what I call a non-diet. I've always tried to be a healthy person in my life; eating right, sleeping enough, and of course staying active. That part has never been hard for me, not until recent years.

Yesterday, I had an epiphany. As I was reading health & fitness blog after health & fitness blog I realized one constant detail between them all. They all started small. They slowly changed their diet to a healthy one and slowly increased their exercise load every week.

A-Ha!!! So that's how they do it! (and keep it). All this time I've been trying to force it and I always end up having a healthy breakfast... partially healthy lunch... and then eating an entire box of macaroni and cheese. Organic or not, I know it can't be good for you.

So, I made a promise to myself to start slow. If I have one bad meal, my whole day is not ruined and I can't beat myself up over it. I can only do the best I can. Also, Reese's miniatures are helping a lot. Whenever I feel the need to gorge myself with chocolate (which happens, we all know it does.. especially once a month) then I just have one little piece. I take it with me and have it somewhere away, and preferably on another level, from the kitchen. I enjoy it, I savor it, and I'm not tempted to go back and get more. Especially if there is an entire flight of stairs in my way. Call me lazy... but it works!

So after doing all of this I made a goal for my slowly renovated diet, that coffee would be my big kick. I love coffee. It's good for you. It gives you energy. Yet, I know it can't be good for you the way I drink it. As my friends like to ask me, "Would you like some coffee with that creamer?" I basically try to make my own latte.

What I started with was taking out the cream. I changed to 1% milk and 2 packets of Splenda No calorie sweetener. The I took out the milk entirely. I tried it just black and almost got sick. I definitely was NOT used to the taste so I added 3 packets of Splenda instead of 2. Now, I'm down to 2 and I'm hoping by next week I can be down to 1 until I am drinking completely black coffee. I'm basically training myself to like the harshness of it... Which I actually am starting to like. I love that when I'm done with my cup I'm awake and NOT bloated. Oh what a good feeling.

I'm already noticing changes to my body. No, not because of the coffee. I'm sure that's one small factor, but there is much more to it. I'm doing portion control, spacing out when I eat (which for the most part is every 3-4 hours), I don't eat after 8:00 at night, and I'm doing small workouts throughout the day until I can give a good hour and a half to two hours dedicated to working out.

The two highlights of my week so far?
1. Not feeling anything jiggle while walking around Wal*Mart.
2. Having my arms feel SO SORE today after the weight living I did yesterday.

Awesome.


Stay healthy and have a good day! =)

xoxo Meila

P.S. - If you're going to drink out of a mug, make it a mug you love!!