This Week’s Revelations

I met with my nutritionist this week.

We talked a bit about how difficult it is for me to get all the pieces of the puzzle together. I’m eating well overall, but still struggling to get my all my meals and snacks in (she wants me eating three meals and two snacks 3-4 hours apart). I also struggle with strength training.

I also notice I seem to make vegetables more difficult than they need to be. I can make a salad in no time. I’m doing that regularly, but other vegetables have been a problem to me. I buy broccoli, for instance, and eat it for one meal. I don’t want it for more.

She suggests I use more frozen vegetables, including those with sauces. There is something that seems wrong about that (I tend to eat vegetables plain with salt), but he thinks that will get me to eat more.i did notice the calorie count on these veggies is fine, so I am going to try some.

I’m good with fruit. I love frozen berries and Granny Smith apples, so they’re on my plate often. She has no issue withthis and says eat as much as I want. In the past people have cautioned me against the sugar in them, even tjough it is natural, but she says that should not be a focus for me now.

She’s also on me to do a better job of meal planning and trying new recipes. I have been perusing skinnytaste.com (I have no affiliation with them) and some of the ingredients had me panicking.

“I can’t put heavy cream in a recipe.”

But they use these things sparingly and it does add a luxury to the palate. While I mentally hate the idea of ascribing monikers of “bad foods” and “good foods”, I fear years of diet talk impacted my brain.

Incidentally when I look at the calories and nutrition info for these recipes, they are all fine and within my targets. It’s a matter of keeping portions reasonable.

So on my agenda is to try a couple of new recipes and have food prepared that lasts for several meals. I’ll focus more on the nutritional value.

To improve the strength training I am going to start doing more exercises with my body weight at home. Fitting in things like pushups and squats during my day. Working with my hand weights on my biceps and triceps. Even small sessions should make a difference if I do them regularly.

I also came to another revelation this week. I was talking to a friend whose daughter has been working on overcoming an eating disorder.

If you would have asked me I would say I have never had one.

There was one time, however, I did the Adkins diet in high school and while it definitely took weight off me quickly, I became obsessed with avoiding carbs.

Obsessed until the point that I started having symptoms that concerned my mom. The doctor said it was like drug withdrawal – my body needed carbs and my steadfast avoidance had hurt my body.

I had digestive issues for about a year and resolved never to go on diets that restrict you from food groups ever again.

But gee, avoiding those diets is difficult to do when you know you need to lose weight and everyone else is losing quicker on this type of diet.

To go a bit further into the discussion with my friend about her daughter’s eating disorder, I realized that while our issues were at opposite ends of the spectrum (starving yourself vs. stuffing yourself) the reasons and traits that get us there are so similar.

It’s given me some “food for thought” that I’ll keep mulling over.

Aside from that, a friend and I celebrated her “special birthday” with a spa day yesterday. Everyone needs to do something like that on occasion. Spas may not be a relaxing time for you, as difficult as that is for me to comprehend, but you deserve treats. If you haven’t indulged lately, how about planning a day that gives you a mini-vacation from real life?