Wednesday, May 15, 2013

healthy parents = healthy family.

"If you can DREAM it, you can DO it." -walt disney

Aaron and I are tired of  filling our bodies with junk. Honestly, I had much more energy and enthusiasm back when we were more careful with what we ate. Believe it or not, I felt the most energetic, ever, when I was a vegetarian. Ever since I had getting pregnant with Emmett, we sort of threw caution to the wind and started eating whatever we wanted... and now we're paying the uncomfortable price for that. 

I want to be a good role model for my children when they get older... and I feel like I can't harp on them to make healthy choices, if I don't do it myself. Don't get me wrong, we aren't the worst eaters in the world- we never cook fried food, and although we are guilty of the occasional bowl of ice cream, it's not like we're constantly stuffing our faces with greasy or fatty junk. But I am rather fond of calorie-dense savory recipes, eating out too much, large portions, and eating too late at night.

Today, we started a diet... a diet that I hope will turn into a new, healthy lifestyle for our little family. We're concentrating mostly on fruits and veggies, with good protein choices- a little chicken, lots of yogurt, some cheese, peanut butter, etc. thrown in there. And very few grains/starches other than rice. Luckily, our boys LOVE veggies so it really won't be tough on them. Tonight we had sauteed broccoli & cauliflower served over rice, and they both devoured it. I would eventually like to wean them off some of their beloved crackers and snacks, but I'm in no rush. This isn't so much about taking things away but about demonstrating lots of healthy eating behaviors- smaller portions, healthy snacks, lighter meals, more fresh veggies/fruit, less meat, less empty calories. Getting back to the basics. This is one of the things we are looking forward to about moving to Costa Rica.

Our goals? Aaron wants to lose 40 lbs. That would put his BMI into a much healthier range. As for myself, I really don't have any real weight loss goals- I wouldn't mind losing 5 or 10 lbs, but overall, I just want to eat, feel, and be HEALTHIER.

Just a few of the fruits/veggies we picked up while grocery shopping yesterday.



3 comments:

  1. The lady who writes Can you stay for dinner? went to Costa Rica a while back and the food she talked about was amazing! So much fresh, really fresh vegetables. I doubt you will have any problem following your diet once you get there. :)

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  2. We're totally in the same boat - just not eating very healthily in the past couple months. This week I've been subbing yummy fruits for my sweet cravings (that usually lead to chocolate, lol) and I feel so much better already! We have a subscription to the Fresh 20 meal planning service (the vegetarian version - it's amazing!), but stopped following it a couple months ago when life got crazy. Need to start up again!

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  3. I need to try doing this. I just started working a month ago for the first time in 4yrs and already lost 11lbs but I have 10 more left and do pretty good with our eating for the most part but I still have a huge love for potatoes and pasta but we love fruits and veggies here too.

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