I started thinking today about food. While that's not really a shock to anyone as I clearly think of food often ;-), I was thinking about eating healthier. THAT is a shock. hahaha. If you think about it, we actually don't realize what we eat in a day unless we keep track of it. As I started tracking my food intake yesterday, I realized that, shock of all shocks, I am not eating enough food. So, I thought to myself, how do you get overweight (let's be honest-- obese) when you don't eat enough? So I started thinking about what I've eaten in the past and that phrase, I'm STARVING! Not really, but we all say it. If you don't eat enough calories in a day, maybe the next day you go overboard and eat too many calories or the wrong foods.
Let's look at some examples...
Pizza. Great food, right. My logic is there it has cheese for my dairy intake and then veggies on top and some protein if you like to include meat. If you are technical about it, you also have fruit as a tomato is a fruit and the sauce is made from tomatoes. Taking a look at what that pizza would be like in our household, requires a purchase from Little Caesar's Pizza. I like my research, but decided I'm not ready to go that far yet. So I ventured on line. We would normally get a cheese and a pepperoni (love those leftovers). Guess there goes the veggies. Oh well, so the nutritional information for the cheese that I normally eat is very interesting. One slice. How many truly eat just one slice? Well, anyhow, one slice is 240 calories and 9 g of fat. If you are watching your cholesterol or your sodium levels, you don't want me to tell you those. It's insane and high.
Can we make pizza healthier? I think so. We can improve it by using less cheese or healthier cheese options than the processed. We can also adjust the crust. I am considering using rice flour next time I make it at home. Plus at home, you can pile all the veggies on that you know you love. Broccoli and chicken with mushrooms. mmmm, getting hungry thinking about it.
Tacos.. We like Taco Bell, but our favorite is Chipolte (when the kids don't want it). This one had me going OMW. I like the burrito and while I normally get chicken, I thought I'd look it up for steak this time. Includes: -1 Burrito-size Flour Tortilla -6 oz. Cilantro-Lime Rice -4 oz. Black Beans -2.5 oz. Fajita Vegetables -4 oz. Steak -3.5 oz. Tomato Salsa -3.5 oz. Corn Salsa Drum Roll please....... 970 calories. Not a typo, I really mean that!!! 24.5 g of Fat. Makes me want to avoid that place for a little while.
We can make a burrito at home that is half the size and definitely half the calories and fit what we want in it. salsa is a low fat food. Let's focus on that. Let's use more veggies and a leaner meat than the steak. We can make it a healthy option just by using foods that are better for us.
I'm also finding that I'm eating too much in the evenings and not enough during the day. That's a hard one, but I realized that the experts do say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. By all accounts, it really should be the largest as you've been sleeping for how many ever hours you were blessed with getting before being awoken by that nasty alarm clock or that screaming beautiful child. Sleep will take some serious energy out of you and coffee alone won't do it. Today, I had raisin bran with milk and yogurt and by the look of my caloric intake, I'm not there yet. Still not enough food. My task for tomorrow is going to be finding a breakfast that is nutritionally big enough to get me through my day.
This thinking about food is too much work! hee hee. Another resolution that is hard to put to your brain when you are used to being fat and lazy, but one worth the effort, I believe. I think it's almost snack time. yum, string cheese and banana with a few crackers sounds pretty good.
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