Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

One thing I have discovered about myself over the last year is I am an emotional eater. I eat when I am happy, I eat when I am sad, I eat when I am angry and I eat when I am calm.  Basically anytime I feel, I feel the need to eat.  And I have to say I truly love food.  Anyone who knows me knows how I love to try anything a restaurant adds to a menu, let alone how much I love to cook, and cook all kinds of things.  I am truly a lover of food.

Now when I said in my last post I understand nutrition, I was being honest.  I have studied, learned and know the things I need to do.  Over the past year I have made many changes a part of my life.  For example I now eat fish two or more times a week.  I have also given up many of the white starchy unhealthy foods.  I almost never eat potatoes or those many foods we make from them.  I have also given up white rice, and white bread.  Not that I never have these foods, but it’s very seldom.  I have also cut way down on the Diet Mt Dew and donuts which I made a daily staple for years.  

As I get ready to start this run of Power 90 I know I will make even more changes; some perhaps for 90 days, many more for a lifetime.  I am looking forward to this in many ways, over the last year I have learned how to correctly broil fish, and grill chicken without burning in the least.  I have learned how to make a variety of amazing salads and learned to cook and eat a number of vegetables I never would have touched like Kale and Swiss chard.  I’ve even taken up eating mushrooms which I wouldn’t touch.  I actually started eating them because they reminded me of meat in my omelets.  

On the other hand, I know I will miss some of the foods I will be giving up.  Greasy Hamburgers have always been a favorite of mine.  I am also a fan caramel - one of the few sweets I will miss.  Perhaps one of the biggest things I want to cut way back on is cereal.  Even with skim milk, there just isn’t much value in a bowl of Coco Krispies.  Sad to say with all the amazing food’s I eat on a regular basis, it may be Coco Krispies that I miss the most.  

Tonight I said goodbye to another old friend, the White Castle Hamburger.  I carefully worked my calories today so I could say my goodbye.  But I did have a couple just the same.  Over the next three months I will try to post my daily diet, and feel free to call me out on it if you see me eating these little gems, because today I am saying goodbye to my old friend.  

You know none of us are perfect, even with the best of intentions, we may still find yourself with a grilled cheese or Oreo in our hand.  I think it’s important that we don’t beat ourselves up over it.  That being said, I also suggest we set our standards high. I am going to try to take the advice of a good friend of mine and set my menu a week in advance looking at each meal each day and putting together a comprehensive picture my daily nutrition and my daily calories.  

In a few short days I will be bidding goodbye to several old friends.  But the new ones will be much, much better.