Here We Go

Thankfully, I have the support of my boyfriend in my new healthy lifestyle. He also wants to lose some weight and get in shape, so we'll be doing this together.

So we cleaned out the fridge and the cabinets yesterday. Actually Ed (yes, the boyfriend has a name) did. I made the grocery list. And off we went to Trader Joe's. They offer up reasonable prices on healthy and organic food. This is a great deal since you can even buy quick-fix frozen meals that aren't loaded down with fat and preservatives, so even when you're busy you can eat healthy.

The idea here isn't to go on a diet. I've been on many diets. I spend most of my time on diets thinking about my next meal and feeling deprived and hungry. When I'm just eating normally, I think about food a lot less. Bizarre, but true.

So I'm hoping to eat normally, just better. This morning for breakfast I had a crumpet with a tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter. The crumpet's only about 60 calories and the peanut butter about 100. I find eating protein at each meal is a big help. I feel a lot less hungry.

I'm also working on increasing my calcium intake, not easy for someone who is a known milk-hater. My mom still has PSTD from our family dinners. Again, I'm not forcing myself to drink milk (ugh!) or eat yogurt (too sweet), I'm just trying to find ways to get the same nutrients in a tasty way. I've taken to drinking lattes instead of coffee with cream in the morning. A large skim latte will give me two servings of milk for less calories than the cream in the coffee. Another good source of calcium is Cracker Barrel's cheddar cheese made of 2% milk. One ounce has about 90 calories, plenty of protein and a serving of calcium.

We also bought some whole grains and plenty of veggies yesterday. We're going to try Belgian endive. The goal is one new vegetable each week. Hopefully, we'll keep from getting bored and add some new tastes to our meals.

We're off to a good start!