Fare Game

As mentioned in my New Year’s post, my second goal, nutrition, is something I’ve been working on for most of my life.

Going from diets to exercise regimes, to the never-ending search to find an eating lifestyle that’s easy to maintain and offers the results I seek. I’ve done it all. As early as 11 months ago, I started a diet program for the first time, and it worked great until it didn’t. I was desperate to lose weight but fell prey to the usual falling off the diet wagon and undoing everything. Well, almost everything. I lost 35 lbs. on it, then gained 20 lbs. back.

Every way of eating to lose weight has limits. It has to. To lose weight you need to eat non-processed foods, decrease sodium and processed sugar, consume fewer calories, eat certain carbohydrates, move your body (i.e. exercise) and most of all be consistent and disciplined. I’ve discovered with this diet that I can be extremely disciplined when really motivated, but I’m not so great at consistency. That’s probably due to my motivation having limits. And that’s not just with dieting. Staying motivated is a hard one for me. I’m working on that.

So, what do I want out of my healthy eating journey? For those of us who are interested in healthy eating and who are pursuing a lifelong path to wellness and nutrition, I feel that is a question we should ask ourselves beforehand. At this stage, I’m looking for something healthy for the whole family, especially my kids. Something easy to prepare (as with most moms, I don’t have an endless amount of time to prepare and make meals for the family), and food that’s super yummy and fun to eat. The last one is a personal preference. My husband and I are super foodies. We love food that tastes good but also looks good to eat. Who doesn’t like a plate full of colors, textures, and tantalizing aromas? We love trying different cultural dishes too.

And let’s not forget cost-effective. Now that groceries are more expensive than ever, it’s important to stay within a budget. It’s not hard to blow $400 a week at the grocery store for a family of five when you are buying fresh and healthy items. More if you go the organic route.

So, how do you achieve all that? Healthy, tasty, fun, quick to make, and cost-effective. It almost seems like an impossible achievement to make meals that consist of all those things. Fortunately, there are so many resources out there to guide you in any way of eating you can possibly imagine. Vegetarian, vegan, whole 30, clean eating, meat eaters, kid-friendly, organic, pescatarian, Mediterranean, gluten-free, low carb, low calorie, wholesome, high protein, 20 minutes or less, $20 or less, you name it.

Which one do you choose? I’ve probably already tried a lot of what I’ve listed, but at the end of the day, if it’s not sustainable (there’s that need for consistency again) then it may take some deeper diving into what can become habitual and what has a temporary appeal. It’s worth noting that I don’t eat seafood. My family does but I don’t. This adds another aspect to consider. What if your family can’t eat the same things? It would be counterproductive (and crazy) to make separate meals. But what about different variations of the same meal?? Problem solved…maybe?

Thus far in my journey, as mentioned, I’ve done the diet thing, which involves eating something different from my family. Not practical or cost-effective, however, it was only meant to be a short-term meal plan. Then, after taking a nutrition program I learned some good tips on how to decide what to eat and was introduced to the wonderful world of meal planning and preparation. It’s been a bit tough. I found it hard to find the time to plan and prep, but I know some families have had great success with it. I haven’t given up on it (yet). Instead, I’ve found a compromise to suit my schedule. I’m currently subscribing to a meal program whereby the company sends me ingredients for me to cook dinner for the week. That cuts out choosing what to cook, making a grocery list of what I need to cook it, and going to the grocery store to get the ingredients (although I still have to go for other items, but it cuts my time down by a lot), bring it home, and prepare it for the week. Cost-wise, it works out to about the same (with a discount) as buying all of what I need at the grocery store. However, time is also a commodity, and I am saving there.

This is what I’m trying and what’s working right now. That’s not to say that things may change, and I’ll have to figure out a new meal plan. That may be what healthy eating is all about though. That’s what makes it a journey. Finding what works within the parameters of your lifestyle. The only goal is to eat healthy. How you do it is a fluid process.

A xo