10 things that keep me sane on a diet

I don’t know about you, but when I’m on my ‘diet’ game I owe a lot of it to being organized, planning ahead, and knowing what works for me.  My grocery lists become a little more static as I ensure that my arsenal of ‘safe’ and ‘helpful’ foods make their way into the house each week.

I thought I’d share a few of my favourite things to keep on hand to help ensure a less snacky, satisfied and healthy me.

Fresh lemons and limes

Not only do they make my water more enjoyable but I’ve been squeezing lime on all sorts of things to give it a fun, fresh kick.  Watermelon. Avocado. Salad. Turkey burgers. And fresh lemon in tuna salad is the best.

UVAB

Best thing ever for smoothies, oatmeal, and homemade cafe au lait. There’s a reason this is so popular…low calorie that doesn’t taste like low calorie!

Avocado

I put that shit on everything!  Who needs cheese when you’ve got avocado?

Triscuits + avocado + lime squeeze + salt = delicious snack!

Watermelon, grapes, berries

I save these fruity snacks for my after dinner treat.  They are perfect for keeping my hands happy when they might otherwise reach for chips, M&M’s, or some other such snacky badness.

Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt

The ONLY chocolate that satisfies my sweet tooth with a small portion.  When I crave chocolate, I crave a family sized KitKat.  But somehow this particular dark chocolate does the job for me most days.

Light Laughing Cow

Is there anything it can’t do?  Substitute for cream cheese, mayo on sandwiches, sauce for chicken, dip for strawberries.  Eat it up.

Soda Water

When everyone else is drinking beer and cider I can fake myself out with a fizzy glass of soda water as long as it’s snazzed up with lemons, limes, oranges or a splash of pineapple juice.  Or if I do want to partake in the boozing then I kick it old school with white wine spritzers or a icy cold flavoured vodka and soda.

Apples with cinnamon and nut butter

This one works for any meal or snack as far as I’m concerned.  Just slice, sprinkle and dip (measured of course!).  Nom.

tuna, pre-cooked chicken, boiled eggs, canned beans

Taking the time to make a bigass salad doesn’t seem so bad when the protein is already prepped.

Pickles

Next to no calories and satisfy most crunchy, salty cravings.

Obviously there are other foods that work for me too (but I thought hummus and veggies seemed pretty obvious!). 

What are your favourite go-to groceries to help make a healthier, happier you?

Some Life Rules

Randomly I gave myself some new life rules this week.

• No more computer in bed.  I have developed a bad habit of catching up on missed TV shows and Google Reader after I crawl into bed each evening.  This leads to staying awake until 2-3am. 

For the last three nights I’ve gone to bed by 11pm and read until no later than midnight.  The result:  I’ve slept SO WELL.  Duh.

• No more late night snacking.  You know what happens when you stay awake until 3am?  You are starving at 1am.  And then you eat cereal, or crackers, or cheese, or all of the above.

For the last three nights I’ve been asleep so no wee hour snackage. 

• No more hitting snooze eleven thousand times.  Yeah.  That whole staying awake until 3am thing makes it really hard to get up when my alarm goes off at 8:30.

For the last three mornings I’ve been up, walked the dog, and poured my morning coffee by 9:15.  Yes, I do realize I have it good but hey man, that’s part of the reason I wanted this whole work-at-home gig.

• No more waiting until 11:30 to eat breakfast.  I always eat three proper meals each day but my timing has been ABSURD.  Eating in the middle of the night, combined with getting up late, and my usual sleepyhead bleary-eyed morning funk leaves me not wanting to eat right away.

For the last three mornings I’ve made a point of making breakfast as soon as I finish my first cup of coffee, then eating lunch by 1pm (instead of waiting until like 3pm after my workouts) and making dinner at a normal time.  All this with a couple of light snacks in between has left me completely satisfied.

• More reading, less TV. 

By not watching TV in bed I’m now behind on some of my shows but I’m not missing them too much since I have a couple of good books to read.  (Hunger Games anyone?)

None of these rules were on purpose really.  I had a good weekend and woke up on the right side of the bed this past Monday.  I felt motivated and my brain just formulated these plans for me without me having to really think about it.  I guess sometimes your body really does know what’s best for it!

Ever just wake up one day and feel like instituting some healthy new life rules?  Feeling motivated about life in general these days?  Share with us!!

Flowers Make Me Happy!

No food porn here.  Just a whole lotta feel-good flower power!!

I admit it.  I was grumpy yesterday.  And Mom got the brunt of it because she’s here and it’s easy to just be myself and not hold back.  Booo to me. 

The half hour that I wasn’t grumpy?  (aside from the 10 minutes I had that iced Americano in my hand…haha) It was the time we spent walking around the gardens at The Blomidon Inn.  Gorgeous.  Thanks Lynn for the heads up on this awesome spot.

Even though it’s the end of the season, there is still lots to look at.  I love gardens/flowers/gardening.  It’s always an instant pick-me-up for me.  And this was no exception.  I can only imagine how fantastic this garden would be during a more flowery season.  I’m so going back in May/June to see the dogwoods in bloom.  (BC girl must love dogwoods!!)

   

Intuitive Without Even Trying (well, sorta)

I don't regularly weigh-in anymore. I don't really count points or calories anymore either. Not on purpose, it just sort of happened. With all of the working out I've been doing over the last few months, and the generally healthier choices and knowlegable grasp on portion control things just have a way of balancing themselves out. Well I just sat down with my coffee and while I was checking my email there was a newsletter from Weight Watchers. I don't really read those anymore, but it did remind me that I haven't stepped on the scale in a while...and since I haven't eaten yet and only had two sips of coffee I decided to check it out.

Wouldn't you know it ----- ALL TIME LOW! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaa!

What a fantastic feeling to know that what I'm doing is truly working. Just living life and paying attention without obsessing or denying myself anything I truly want, balanced with a regular level of activity and my body is cooperating! Healthy living is apparently agreeing with me.

Truth be told, I wouldn't want to weight any less than this. It's only .4 lbs lower than my goal weight, and about 2.4 lbs lower than my "happy" weight...the place my body seems to like to hang out...but it's on the border of too low. I'll be watching to make sure it doesn't drop further...but first I will enjoy this MOMENTOUS OCCASION!