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Monday, May 4, 2009

First comes Exercise then comes Marriage!!! .... wait WHAT!?! that's not what I meant, I meant to say Eating Healthy! :)

I wasn't paying attention and that's what happened to the title. I'm not engaged so stop freaking out ;)

ANYways, I decided that if I was going to run a marathon or even a 5K for that matter I would need to stop eating Ramen, or at least eat it less,
**Mom, Dad, I heard that gasp, I know you never thought your daughter would fall into the college trap but I did and yeah, I like it (I bought A whole case of it a while back BUT it's ok because I got it for 14c a package)**
and go back to my healthy eating habits from home. So I made a list of things I needed and wanted and went to the store.

Have you ever paid attention to the layout of a store? First they have the bulk items right inside the door for all the food storage junkies and then they have the friendly reminders for men (flowers and big signs reminding you that it is in fact mothers day this Sunday). After that they normally have something to tempt you, things like cookies, doughnuts, other things you really don't need but taste OH SO GOOD!!! But, if you're strong enough to make it past all that you get to the best part of the store, the outside ring. The outside is were you can find all the essentials, Vegetables, Fruits, Meats, Dairy and most of the time Bread/grains. Picture the food pyramid or look at the more recent food diagram, you can satisfy all of those needs without spending an hour going up and down the inside isles! Notice sugars/candy/sweets/fats aren't listed as a seperate need, you can get the healthy sugars from your fruits and fats from your dairy and meats so you don't need the candy bar although I will admit that they are good every once in a while.

When picking breads/grains go WHOLE WHEAT, if you can't decided what to get look at the ingredients, if it says Enriched Flour or Enriched anything put it back, those nutrients aren't naturally there, which means that it's synthetic AND synthetic is practially pre digested food. It does your body no good. If you find two good types of bread, go with the heaver of the two, not only is it more filling but it's not fluff it's real whole wheat bread.

You can't forget your greens, fiber is essential for proper function of your body, if you can't stand them plain sure, add a little dressing or dip but take it easy and try to get a tofu dip or at least one low in fat. Salads are great too, you may be suprised at the assortment of flavors you can find with just vegetables, add some cheese and an assortment of nuts ( my favorites are Flax, Sesame, Sunflower, and Pumpkin seeds and you can't forget the Almonds :) ) Did you know that fresh lemon juice makes a great dressing AND when you put pumpkin seeds with it it kinda tastes like bacon... :D

Fruits! I love fruit! Natural sugars that wake you up and keep you going! One of my favorite breakfasts is Bananas, Strawberries, plain yougurt, granola, and flax seeds. It's filling but not heavy so when I'm having a hard time waking up this gives me the boost I need and doesn't make me feel tired or groggy. Apples also make a perfect snack, when put with cheese (I always use string cheese because it's easier to pack) and almonds you have Sugar, Protien, healthy Fats and carbs, it'll give you the boost you need while getting rid of your hunger and it's light so it WONT make you tired!

With meats just go lean, don't get me wrong it may sound like I'm saying 'don't eat fat!' but I'm not. Cutting all fats from your diet could actually kill you. You need fat but get it in healthy ways not from the pre digested potato chips.

So next time you go to the store start on the outside, get your Grains, vegetables, Fruits, Meats, and Dairy. Then venture to the isles for canned goods and other things like jam, peanut butter, or whatever you may need for cooking but by this time you should have what you need and the other things are not only much more expensive but they're not as pleasing and your cart or basket may already be full or at least should be ;)

Today I spent a little under $40 and I brought home tons of stuff! Not just a few bags full of cereal and pop tarts, I brought home real food! Good, healthy, and might I add happy foods.

I've probably bored you to tears by now and you probably already noticed this about the grocery store but I was excited that in one trip around the outside of the store I got everything on my list and for a good price too. Now with that I'm going running :) Day one of my 8 week 5K program, wish me luck!

Loves!
~Kylie Ann

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