Overwhelmed?

If I was reading this blog a year ago, I would have been overwhelmed.  I would have been discouraged by ALL the changes that I needed to make.  I hope that my friends & family that read this aren't feeling that way, but I am sure some of them are.  So, I want to encourage you, if you are considering a healthier lifestyle, to make little changes.  One or two at a time.

A year ago, I was drinking diet soda and dumping splenda or sweet & low in my coffee and tea.  A year ago, I was eating whole grain pasta and "low-carb" breads/buns.  These were all "healthy alternatives" to what I had been eating a year before that.  I'm a work in progress and you are too.

When I think back to when I lost 46lbs on a low-fat points-based program, I shudder to think about how much processed food I was eating (and drinking!).  I also shudder to think how that number on the scale became SO important.  However, I did learn some valuable lessons and habits!  I learned about portion control, the importance of fiber, water and exercise, and I learned to try new things!

That low-fat points-based program wasn't a lifestyle that I could maintain.  I was so sick of counting points that I was ANGRY.  And I gained back more than half of what I lost!  I tried low-carb and zone without being able to maintain them either.  I feel like eating paleo is something that I can do all my life (of course, this is still fairly new to me, and we are always enthusiastic when we first start something new, aren't we?!) Only time will tell, but I feel so good and to be honest, the idea of eating highly processed foods actually kinda repulses me.  I have no desire to drink a soda (diet or regular) ever again.  And unlike when I tried these other "diets", I don't feel deprived.  I mean come on, I eat steak and bacon and veggies!

So, wherever you are in your journey to become healthier, please know that the most important thing is that you chose to go on the trip in the first place!  While I wish that everyone I know and love would jump on board, I understand that most people won't go from eating fritos and coke to grass-fed beef and veggies.