It's a New Year!

Hello lovelies! I hope everyone is doing well.

Wow... I haven't updated this blog in nearly 2 years, I think? I figured I would sort of share what I've been doing recently and how I've been eating. (Spoilers: Not Well.)

Here are two pictures of me, one from 2014, and the other from 2016. It just occurs to me how much better phone camera are now...

On the left, I was getting ready to walk a 5K. On the right, I was at a Tiny House festival here in Jax.

The comparison really shows how much weight I've gained in the last two years. Obviously I've gotten older too, which probably means I won't look exactly as I did 2 years ago, but that's okay.

Looking at these pictures makes me realize that I really need to take control of my diet again and actually eat healthy foods. Not the crap that I eat every day.

Recently, my mom and I have been discussing all the foods that make me sick. Almost every meal I eat now affects me negatively in some way. Chinese food gives me a headache, I think it's the msg or something. Pizza gives me stomachaches (bad ones) and I think it's because I'm probably lactose intolerant. A tiny bit of cheese isn't a problem, but once it's on pizza it makes it hard to gauge just how much I'm eating. And I've also been getting heartburn, which I never used to have.

I'm only 22! I should feel great and energetic but instead I always feel sluggish and get out of breath walking up stairs.

So I've decided to make a change. Along with my dad and my grandma, we're going to start eating healthier. I'm going paleo/primal because I'm most comfortable with it. Save for a few changes.

I'm going paleo basically, but I am allowing myself a serving of rice, once a week. While technically I could have rice on a Sunday and then a Monday, because those are two different weeks, it's not in my best interest. But it's there if I need it.

I'm also going to allow myself one serving of gluten free noodles, once a week, but I haven't decided if I'm going to count that as my rice that week, as the gf noodles I like are made with rice. I know it's not the healthiest thing, but I really don't want to give up spaghetti. So I'm going to try to make it healthier by either removing the noodles or just having LESS gf noodles.

I also need some exercise, as I'm doing nothing right now. So I'm going to start off by walking 3 times a week. Probably Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but I might have to tweak that once I start school again.

I need to look up more exercises that I can do, and some that are fun to do/easy for me to do at home because if not I know I won't keep up with them.

Since I'm doing this with my grandma, I want to make sure it's fun and easy to keep up. I told her that if one of us cheats, it's not the end of the world. Just to make sure that it doesn't ruin the rest of our day. The next meal after a cheat meal should be healthy. I feel like this is the best way to do it because then it's just about putting the stuff into your body that makes you feel good, and if you cheat it isn't like your whole diet is ruined. I definitely want to make sure I'm as good as I can be, but just know that I may occasionally cheat. It's not making a habit of it that is tough for me.

I'm also trying to work on portion control. So far, I've never really been able to control my eating. I always end up eating too much. If something tastes good, I will eat it until I'm sick. Since paleo has a lot of vegetables and meats, I don't think this will be a problem for me, but when I do have rice or pasta, I need to make sure I only eat a serving. No more.

Finally, I just want to say that I'm doing this diet for me. I don't like how my clothes fit and I don't want to struggle to take a good picture. I want to lose the fat around my gut so that I'm healthier too. One of my goals is to live to 100, and that's not gonna happen if I keep eating the way I do.

Oh, and we're starting on the 26 of December, but I wanted to write this ahead of time.

I'd love to hear from y'all, so leave a comment and let me know if you're starting paleo too! Or if you've been doing it. Maybe it'll help keep everyone on track, especially in the first few weeks of the New Year.

Good luck, and be excellent to each other!
Peace, Sam