I went grocery shopping today to stock up on a few things to use in some of the recipes I have found and got very frustrated as I searched nutrition labels to make better decisions. I have figured out why we as a nation are overweight! You ready for this....the culprit is located inside the grocery store. And no, I don't blame the owners of the store, or even the manufacturers of the food, I blame the shoppers in the store. This includes me (oh yeah I am definitely part of the problem). We live in such a fast paced society that we demand fast and easy when it comes to our food items. In order to be fast and easy, most food is processed and things like salt, sugar, and preservatives are added to it to help enhance flavor and extend shelf life. Even the stuff labeled "fat-free" is often chocked full of sugar. We as a society buy it by the ton, myself included.
When I get home from work during the school year I don't have long to cook supper before it is time to put MacKenzi in the bath and then bed. I often turn to frozen pre-made items, boxed meals that I need only add meat, or pasta since it is fast. Those things are full of sodium and other junk that is awful for you. Now, I am not saying that those things don't have their place. I just don't think that place is probably on our dinner table night after night. Just like pizza or greasy fast food burgers shouldn't be an every night thing. I am really hoping that this whole experience will give me some new tools to use when I go grocery shopping to make better, more informed choices.
So, my second day has gone pretty good. The fiber drink went down a little harder just because I am not a huge fan of peach flavored drinks, fortunately I only have tomorrow then I get a break from it for a couple of days. I had some eggs and watermelon (it is really in season right now...mmmm) for breakfast, raw almonds and frozen grapes for a snack, leftover chicken fajitas from last night for lunch, and found a recipe for sweet potato chips (which were delicious by the way) and made some T-Bone (only ate a little of it) and steamed peas to go with it. I have been so glad that I haven't felt deprived at all (drinking tons of water all day helps with feeling full too).
Every time I want to cheat the thought alway crosses my mind that I invested money to do this and I am not going to throw that out the window just for some momentary satisfaction. I heard a good quote a while back and I am not sure who said it or exactly how it went, but it was something to the extent of "If you really want to take an interest it always helps to have a horse in the race." (I know I am a redneck at heart). The lay man's translation would be if you really want to have some motivation it doesn't hurt if you have money invested, and for me so far that has seemed to help ; ).
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