I thought it would be fun to include a post where I share the hilariously bad foods we had been eating on a regular basis:
First and foremost, let me just go plum off about good ole homestyle cooking. Both Brad and I have wonderfully gifted-in-the-kitchen families, specifically his mom and my grandmother. It gives them a creepy pleasure to feed us... a lot. Often and in mass quantities. A homestyle dinner just isn't complete without tons of fried meat and at least 4 side dishes. And dessert. Why do our loved ones want to feed us so much, then complain about our poor health? And they get mad at us when they make enough food to feed an army and we don't finish it off.
But let's stream-line this process a bit...
Ground Hamburger
Whether it was hamburger helper, tacos, meatloaf or actual hamburgers, hamburger played a major role in 80% of our dinners. What is the main cause of high cholesterol? Animal fat. Particularly red meat. Particularly ground hamburger. At this moment, in our basement, we pretty much have an entire cow. Of course, we also had a dead wildcat in our deep freeze for the first two years I lived here and I didn't even know it.
Box Dinners
Macaroni Grill, Hamburger Helper, mac n' cheese, frozen stoaffer's, etc. The sodium and fat content in these foods is astronomical. You know those frozen healthy dinners you can buy, like Lean Cuisine and stuff? Insane amounts of sodium. It is actually recommended you only eat 2 of these things a week, and Brad ate them everyday for lunch.
Crackers
I am obsessed with crackers. Town House baked with sea salt and olive oil? Yes, please. Half a box in one sitting? Thank you. Ritz. Chicken in a biscuit. Club. Crackers crackers crackers. Sometimes I have some soup with my crackers.
Cheese
What did we NOT put cheese on? After we discovered pepper jack cheese, we literally put it on EVERYTHING we possibly could. String cheese. Grilled cheese. Mac n cheese. Cheese on potatoes of any kind. Huge homemade pizzas with tons of... cheese. At least 3 different kinds. Just writing about cheese right now is making my mouth water. Eden told me last night that dairy is absolutely terrible for you. We pretty much quit needing dairy once we are weaned from the breast. As she put it, "We don't need that shit because we are adult mammals." It's probably a government conspiracy. We can get all the calcium and vitamins we need from much better sources, like spinach. The cholesterol and fat in cheese just isn't worth it.
Pastries/Sweets/Cake
All the time. Apple pie. Enough said.
Mashed Potatoes
This will be my last confession, because it is the most shameful. You know those cups of garlic butter sauce you get with your pizza from papa johns? Well, we set them aside and when we make mashed potatoes... we totally dump it in with them. I'm not gonna lie, it's delicious. But I must also confess that I also put about 3 tablespoons of margarine in there. Plenty of milk. And sometimes I would ALSO put in a good two tablespoons of cream friggen cheese. All at the same time. Eden called that 'strategic fattery'. This post is dedicated to her.
And, check out this website, I'm planning on trying out many of the suggestions: http://www.greatist.com/health/healthy-recipe-substitutions/#
Planning ahead always helps, and having small achievable goals. Even if it seems stupid, or "no big deal" to other people, it boosts confidence when you can check something off the list. Keep yourself distracted when you're feeling like a cheeseburger instead of a salad for lunch, and don't beat yourself up if it takes a few times to get back on the healthy horse. Keeping up with someone (like Eden) who is a good "role model" is also very helpful.
ReplyDelete