I'm new...again. Finding my healthy eating balance.

cwellington

Jumping back on track with a little more structure. I sure need it.

My weight history:

Grew up the chubby one. Was 285lbs out of high school in 2001. Dropped to 167.5lbs with a more active lifestyle and better eating throughout my 4 college years and a year or so after college back in 2006. At that time, felt that 160 would have been an ideal weight to stop my cutting and pack on a little more muscle/physical strength/tone up (but not too big as I'm only 5'7). Since then (2007-2012), I've gone up (quickly in about a year) and plateaued at 200lbs with the occasional 193-209. My cardio shape is pretty good and I don't mind being active. I just have issue with motivation when I am not eating right (feeling lethargic and not wanting to be active).

My current approach:

Right now I am focusing more on cleanER eating with less processed foods (stay away from the center aisles type approach). I love veggies, especially spinach and focusing on frozen fruits and veggies. Almonds, bananas, protein, fish oil supplements, black beans, tuna, lean ground beef/chicken/turkey, oatmeal, shakes (like fat free skim milk, whey, fruit, natural peanut butter, spinach, etc). Trying not to eat out AT ALL anymore (no more quick burgers that take up half or a whole day's worth of calorie intake). Focusing on light meals when I am out with my wife, etc.

I have a sweet tooth and a love for kettle chips, but I love all the healthy stuff. I just find balance (regular salad dressing vs low fat, fat free skim milk vs no milk, shredded cheese over something like spinach vs no cheese, vanilla frozen yogurt vs specialty ice cream like cookie dough, brownie, etc, oatmeal with a little butter, skim milk and splenda vs oatmeal with just water.

In a way one might call it a "diet". But I am trying to take more of a "find your balance" and finding alternatives (that I like or don't mind) for everything I have a craving for (can of diced basil-garlic-oregano tomatoes, packet of splenda for that sweet tomato sauce quality, heated up with shredded mozzarella cheese wrapped in a jumbo leaf of romaine lettuce VS a margherita pizza of Lord only know what kind of oils, dough, sodium and extra cheese). That's one of those examples where fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella may technically be better, but the balance is the ease of preparation with canned tomatoes and bagged/shredded cheese. In a rush I can just throw a full can in my lunch bag and take care of quick prep at work. I tried canned spinach for a couple of days and couldn't stomach the canned taste and dealing with all of the draining. It's been easier to throw some frozen spinach into my container with a sprinkle of Adobo, pepper and mozzarella, then heat at work during lunch.

So I think this is working for me so far. Not buying premade, processed meals full of fat, carbs, and sodium. But not stressing about every element having to be completely organic, raw and fresh off the farm where costs and prep time become an issue when dealing with everyday life schedules. My focus is high protein and fiber, with good fats, carbs only from necessary sources and not eating heavily later in the day (evening, night).

I am just in the mindset of finding your balance where you can eat as healthy as possible and be creative without going crazy over every single number and "studies say" fact.

MyFitnessPal app is helping me know how quickly those calories, fat, carbs, sugars, etc can add up based on portions and over snacking. Places like Men's Health is helping recognize just how bad eating out (fast food, Cheesecake Factory, Chilis, etc) really is. Not just "oh it's fattening" bad, but "oh, that crispy chicken spinach salad (with the sauces, oils, additional toppings and bread can be twice as bad as that burger at 1500 calories and 50g of fat, 1200g sodium, etc" bad. And Bodybuilding.com helps with motivation, seeing what supplements are good accents, the real deal when it comes to working out and fitness tracking, etc.