eating healthy is hard

Eating healthy is something I have always struggled with. I just love good food! And, of course, I know there are healthy foods that also taste good but often times I am tempted by the delicious foods that are high in fat, calories and all the wrong things. I am an avid lover of cheese, foods that are fried and PIZZA. I like to eat whatever I want, when I want and that makes eating healthy hard.

Ever since my junior year in high school, the year I stopped participating in interscholastic athletics, I have struggled with having healthy eating habits, my weight and self image. I go through a process that seems to be this terrible never-ending cycle of: doing really well with my eating and weight to giving myself a little slack because I deserve it to completely foregoing my healthy eating habits to losing my self-confidence and gaining weight then back to having motivation and eating well again. I have never been seriously overweight, but it truly affects the way I see and love myself when I am not working hard to be healthy.

My wonderful, amazing mother has been a part of the fitness industry since I can remember. She is beautiful, fit and I look up to her in more ways than one. She has always helped me in this area as she has gone through it many times herself. I am grateful that she has always been there to teach me good eating habits, love me and encourage me. Without her, I wouldn't even know where to begin in my efforts to regain healthy eating habits. I love this woman, so so much!

So, with a mini-backstory out of the way, this morning I blog about something I have to work daily at improving: eating healthy! Since one of my new years resolutions is to be more conscience about what I eat and work at making those choices healthy, I wanted to share some of my progress. I really want to share my progress to say IF I CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU! Because eating healthy and losing weight can seem like a never-ending struggle if you don't see results fast but I can often times find motivation from seeing other women lose weight the healthy way and take tips from them, too! So, here we go.

A very, VERY important part of successfully eating healthy is to be prepared. You don't have to scramble Sunday morning before your week starts and make 27 healthy meals in preparation for the week! Just make sure you have healthy options in your fridge to grab when you're hungry. Some things I like to do are...

• Have egg muffins in the fridge! This is something my mom used to have in our fridge that I love! Last Saturday I made some in preparation for this week and the were lifesavers. You can probably find many recipes on the best egg muffins and specifically how to make them. I just did my own thing!  It was kinda fun, too! (If you want to know how I did it, ask in the comments!) Yummy, easy and great for grab & go moments!

• Cut up veggies you like and have them ready to go! I cut up some cucumbers and bell peppers. I also have baby carrots ready to go at all times. Another good idea is to have a healthy dip of some kind, like hummus, so you don't get overloaded on one veggie.
• Have fruit on hand as well! We really like bananas, apples and oranges. Have whatever fruit you like on hand because it is a lot better than grabbing some Oreo's but remember that fruit is high in sugar also! You have to monitor how many fruits you are eating so not to defeat the purpose of a healthy sugar!
• Try to plan out what dinners or other meals throughout the week you will make. This always helps me when I know what exactly to get at the grocery store and knowing exactly what I will make. It reduces the chance of me giving up on deciding what to make and then just end up making mac 'n cheese.

Although there are so many other tips, I will end this post with just one more. It is to "be gentle with yourself". We are only human and we are not perfect.

I mess up all the time and know that I am not perfect. Don't beat yourself up! Just make a better choice next time. In the past two weeks, I have DEFINITELY not eaten anywhere near perfect. But, I have been trying really hard to choose carefully what I eat with lots of mess ups along the way. By working out (really only a few times a week, it's been busy getting back to school) like normal and making healthy eating choices I have lost 4 pounds. Eating healthy is a LARGE part in losing un-wanted weight. This doesn't mean eating hardly anything throughout the day in hopes of shedding a few pounds because that will cause your body to hand on to excess weight! Don't starve your body! I typically eat something every couple of hours so I don't get really hungry because then I overeat and, like my mom taught me, it's normally not the healthy, good stuff we reach for when we're really hungry. Don't forget to give yourself a cheat meal. Mine is usually date nights with my hubby. Don't forget that "one good meal isn't going to make you skinny and one bad meal isn't going to make you fat." Also, try to remember it isn't about being skinny or fat. It's about being HEALTY! It is about feeling good about yourself. So remember to be gentle with yourself.