Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Baby Steps

Eating healthy can be a major challenge in this day and age. What to eat, what not to eat, this makes you fat, this is actually good for you... It can all be VERY overwhelming and confusing. There is so much different information out there, it is often hard to know which pieces to take into consideration and which to discard.

I'm not going to tell you I have answers. On the contrary, Lovie and I are making our own baby steps to finding a healthier kitchen, and each step is a process to finding what works for us. By no means do we cut anything out of our diet entirely. Maybe we should, but that's not a step we've reached yet. I personally do not drink soda on a regular basis, only as a treat every once in a while. I drink a LOT of water on a daily basis. It's not even something I think about anymore, except when I have not been drinking enough water and am feeling dehydrated.

Recently, we've been really good about not eating premade, frozen or boxed meals. The only frozen items we purchase for our pantry are meats, and ice cream (one of our truly guilty pleasures). We try to not even get frozen vegetables. It has gotten to the point where I even feel bad about occasionally using a rice side 'mix' (did you know that the 'rice' is more often small pieces of pasta???), and I want to start making my own pasta, or at least switching to whole wheat, because the amount we use is crazy. This is another thing we are trying to move away from.
When we first started trying to make all of our dinners (as opposed to frozen or boxed meals), pasta was an easy go-to dish. There are so many different ways to make it that we probably could have gone for years without getting bored. But we realized that we were eating waaay too many carbs, and not enough vegetables.

These are our baby steps.

We will fix one part of our diet, only to realize there is another part, or something we picked up in the process that needs changing. But as long as we do not become complacent, we will continue to re-learn how to eat, and how to be healthy. We also work out multiple times a week. Lovie is much better about consistency than I am, but I'm trying to keep up with him.

With all of that in mind, I am trying to progressively feel better and better about the things I am putting on the table for Lovie and I.

Last night, I made chicken and broccoli with rice. The rice was one of those 'mixes' I told you about, so I was not super thrilled with putting that on our plates. But while I'm all for changing the way we eat, there are things already in our pantry that need to be used. And my momma did not raise me to be wasteful.
The chicken I cut into strips and seasoned with kosher salt and lemon pepper. I tried to keep my hand light with the salt and let most of the flavor come from the ingredients in the lemon pepper, and then cooked it in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil (instead of butter).
For the broccoli, I brought about a 1/2-3/4 inch of lightly salted water to a boil in a pot, before putting the chopped broccoli florets directly into the water, covered it, and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. Normally you would want to use a steamer, but I don't have one, and this works nearly as well. You want to be careful not to cook it too long, or you will end up with green mush. After I drained it, I stirred about 1 tbsp of butter in, and served it.

This was not the richest, or most delicious meal I've put together, but it was tasty, and Lovie and I felt good about eating it. With a glass of wine on the side.

The moral of the story is; find the baby steps that work for you. Sometimes baby steps are better, and easier, than an all-at-once-cold-turkey method of changing your diet. Because you don't want a fad, you want a lifestyle change, one that will last for years. And Lovie and I's goal is to establish a lifestyle now that will keep us healthy and happy for the next 40 years, so that when we reach retirement we are healthy enough to enjoy it.

Until next time,
Broccoli and (a little) less butter.

2 comments:

  1. I don't know if you're a big tea (or coffee) drinker, but one of the things I did in this vein was switching to using only honey instead of sugar in drinks. And in baking and cooking, if I can make the switch (sometimes it can screw up the dry/wet ratio, but usually you can sub honey without too many problems.)

    And I find that I LOVE salads to death if they're filled with good things like fruit and nuts. I grew up eating horrible salads of just, like, carrots and onions and iceberg, but there are so many good dark lettuces out there (and SPINACH) and piling them up with slices of mandarins or pears or dried blueberries, and maybe some pecans... so so good. I'm like horribly passionate about salads now. Ha!

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    1. When I drink tea I only use honey to sweeten it, but when it comes to coffee, I'm horrible. I loooove flavored creamers. Which I know is terrible, but it's my one of my few guilty pleasures. I'll definitely have to start trying it in baking, too!

      But I totally agree on the salad thing! I won't even eat iceberg lettuce salads anymore, they're pointless. I prefer romaine and spinach, but I've also been wanting to try kale. I love adding fruit and nuts too!

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