"Health Foods" You Shouldn't Be Eating

When I first started trying to eat healthy about 5 years ago, the very first thing I did was give up fast food, soft drinks and sweets-all the obvious things that I knew were bad for me. I started eating things like Lean Cuisine meals, protein bars, granola bars, baked chips, reduced fat crackers, diet soft drinks, flavored yogurt, fat free hotdogs,etc...all those things that sound like they are good for you....but really are not.

At the time, I thought I was eating really healthy. The thing that I didn't realize was that I was still eating too many processed foods. Even though they may have been fat free or sugar free, they were not the healthiest choicest because of all the artificial ingredients that they put into those foods to make them taste good. I didn't know back then about high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, and artificial sweeteners being bad for you.

What I didn't realize is that the key is to focus not on sugar free or fat free "diet" foods, but on foods that are natural and have minimal ingredients. Things like lean meats, nuts, fruits, vegetables, fish, eggs, etc. All of those things only have ONE ingredient. They don't need a label on them saying, "Fat free" or "Sugar free" or "Natural"! Usually, if something is fat free it is full of sugar and vice versa.

Over the past few years, I have slowly taken those foods out of my diet. No more granola bars, no more Lean Cuisines, no more sugar free pudding cups, no more reduced fat Pringles! Those are NOT healthy foods. My diet now revolves around lean meats(chicken, turkey, tuna, lean beef), eggs, nuts, oats, Ezekiel bread, vegetables, fruits, and some dairy. I also have a protein shake twice a day for the extra protein, since my goal right now is on building as much muscle as possible. I don't eat anything that comes in a box(besides my Kashi cereal) or anything that says, "fat free" or "sugar free".

There are still some things I am working on changing in my diet. Protein shakes are controversial because MOST of them do have artificial sweeteners in them. I also eat a yogurt called "Carbmaster" from Kroger that is low in sugar, high in protein, BUT does have artificial sweeteners and other ingredients that are not the best for your health. (I hope to be able to transition to Greek Yogurt at some point, but I just can't do it yet!)

So if you are trying to lose weight or just be healthy(which is my main goal), just remember to focus on eating foods that GROW, or that have a mom and dad! Give up the granola bars, flavored yogurts, "100 calorie" snack packs, most cereals, frozen dinners, sugar-free fat-free pudding cups, and fat free salad dressings, among other things.

Another things to remember is that not all fat is bad for you. When most people go on a "diet" they completely eliminate fat, which is not healthy and can actually go against your fat loss efforts. Actually, you NEED healthy fats in your diet from foods such as almonds, walnuts, seeds, avocadoes, fish, and olive oil. Of course you don't want to eat fatty, greasy foods like bacon or sausage, but don't be scared to eat a handful of nuts or use a salad dressing made with olive oil.

Check out this article for some other "health foods" that aren't really so healthy:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22915259/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

Quality of Life

"I don't lift weights to add years to my life, I lift weights to add LIFE to my years."

(A quote I heard today at the gym-I just changed the wording around from 'run' to 'lift weights' because I don't run, but I loved this quote!)

I don't necessarily exercise to live longer. Honestly, the last 10 years of most people's lives are not very good years, and I really have no desire to live to be 100!

It's about quality of life. I exercise because I don't want to waste away, or be weak and fragile, or have heart and health problems when I get older like so many people do. Hopefully the lifestyle I live will prevent that. I want to be strong and active, even when I'm an old lady!

I had a couple of people today at the gym tell me that I'm an inspiration to them. Watching me workout and lift heavy weights has inspired them to start challenging themselves and to try to lift heavier, too! That is so awesome. It makes me happy to know that I've had somewhat of an influence on some people's lives. :)

DONUT Burgers and Other Stuff

I took a week off from the weights last week, so it felt GREAT getting back into it this week. I felt strong and refreshed. It's definitely good to take a break from weightlifting every so often. I did some bench presses, barbell shoulder presses, bar dips for triceps, and a couple of other exercises thrown in there. I was SO sore the next day, but it felt great! Today was back and bis.

Yesterday, my husband and I went to the State Fair. I just love the fair! The smell of all the yummy fair foods, especially!! This year there was a Krispy Kreme donut burger booth!!!! Ugh, talk about GROSS! I passed on the donut burger, but I did have some nachos and a corndog(my cheat meal for the week), and split a small piece of peanut butter chocolate fudge with Matt. It was delicious. Then we had a icecream from Culver's on our way home! Chocolate ice cream with Reese cup pieces mixed in...YUM!!

Anyway....the past couple weeks we have gotten a lot of stuff moved into the house. We emptied out the things we had in storage, now all we have to do is rent a U-Haul and get everything here at the condo moved over. Then we'll be ready to move in! Hopefully we won't have to move right back OUT....

Moving Again??

Well, I think we've decided to move back into our house. We rented it out for about a year when my husband lost his job; now it's just been for sale since the renters moved out. But we haven't had any offers yet. We're living in a condo right now, which we are also trying to sell.

I'm not really excited about moving again, but I think our house will show better with the furniture, and Asher will have a little more room to run! Since Matt and I have been together, we have moved 5 times(in 6 years)!! I am tired of moving. I hate it. I want a place to really be able to call home, a place that isn't just temporary, We have never been anywhere for longer than a year and a half!

Soo this weekend we are going to start slowly moving things back into the house. We are going to do it gradually, so it's not so overwhelming. Hopefully we can get moved in by winter, but we're in no rush. I just hope we're making the right decision! I really don't want to be moving again if we sell in a few months...but I guess we just gotta do what we gotta do.

New York Trip

We got back Sunday night from a wonderful trip to New York. We had a great time with Matt's family, and our 2 day trip to New York City was awesome!! I loved it and would definitely go back!

Sooo now it's back to the regular routine. :( I'm trying really hard to have a good week, but it's always just kind of depressing coming back from a relaxing week off. But I'm trying to be positive! It could be much worse-I am really lucky to have a job that I like and not have to work full time!

Well, the weather here has been in the upper nineties with high humidity, of course. It's definitely not fun coming from 75 degrees in New York to 100 degrees here! Today's heat index is supposed to be 110!! You can't really enjoy the summer much when it's this hot. But I can deal with this over the winter, so I'm in NO rush for it to get here. Winter will be here LONG enough!

Matt and I were sooo happy because we got to meet our new little nephew, Noah, before we left! We weren't sure we were going to be able to see him because he was scheduled to come by C-section a few days after we were leaving, but her water broke the night before we left! So we stopped in at the hospital to see him before we headed out. He is so adorable! I'm really glad we got to meet him.

I had such a great time in the city; it even was better than I expected!! It was so surreal being there-I almost felt like I was in a dream the whole time or something! It was an awesome experience. Being in Times Square was my favorite, I think-there is a buzz and energy in the air, and it's just so cool! I couldn't believe I was really there. It was the busiest place I have ever seen! But I loved it.

The first thing we did when we got there was take a cruise around the island. We got to see great views of the city skyline and the Statue of Liberty. Then we took a bus tour of downtown and went to the top of Rockefellar Center for an awesome view of the city! Later that day we took a night tour of downtown Manhattan and some of Brooklyn. The city is sooo pretty and night, and we got to see some stunning views. I loved Times Square at night!

The next day we went on a tour of Uptown NYC, which goes all around Central Park. We walked through parts of Central Park, but we just didn't have time to see all of it! It was a LONG 2 days, but I really did love every second of it!