Health

Eat This, Not That

/ ktbuchs87

Eat This Not That | Life Healthfully Lived

Have you seen those articles/posts about what you should eat instead of the junk food you normally go for?  Or those articles that highlight restaurants worst menu items and then tell you what to eat instead?  Or have you ever tried to look up an ingredient or some other food thing online to see if it’s healthy or not and 3 hours later you have a pile of research saying yes it is and no it will kill you?

It’s really frustrating, isn’t it?

Eat This Not That | Life Healthfully Lived

How most people look when they try to start eating better.

Just the other day, I googled quinoa to look up the different varieties and was immediately met with headlines like: Quinoa: Is It The Next Superfood or Will It Destroy Your Gut? And: Quinoa Is The Seed The Acts Like A Grain And Could Be The Way To A Smaller Waistline. Don’t get me started on the back and forth over whether quinoa is “paleo” because that would take an entire day.

Eat This Not That | Life Healthfully Lived

They’re both fine, eat whichever makes you feel better!

While I’m sort of used to nutrition research and know that for every study published stating the benefits of some food there is another one that says it’s horrible for you, I realized that people just starting out on their healthy journey probably feel overwhelmed and confused when trying to figure out if something is good or bad.  I think that’s why I’ve started to move away from that idea.  Food isn’t inherently evil nor is it undeniably good.  It’s food and it either makes you feel your best or it doesn’t.  It helps you meet your goals or it deters you.

So what if quinoa isn’t paleo?  Does it make you feel good when you eat it?  Can you perform your daily tasks without hindrance?  Are you gorging yourself with only quinoa? No, hopefully you have a diet full of real foods like fruits and vegetables.  If you are subsisting on a diet of only quinoa, I’m going to bet you have other things to worry about….

Eat This Not That | Life Healthfully Lived

Anyone else feel like this?

So here is my advice for you health newbies out there and this is something that I wish I had realized early on in my journey because it would have saved a lot of time and stress: Stop worrying so much.  You can always find a reason something is bad or good.  Start looking to yourself to see whether what you put in your mouth is helping you or hurting you.  Start by cutting out processed food and move to whole foods and go from there.  Try new things and if they work for you then that’s all that matters!

Your diet will never be perfect and that is quite alright.  No one’s is.  Not the Instagram stars, not the celebrities, not the fitness guru’s, and not mine.  You aren’t striving for perfect, you’re striving for better than what you were.Eat This Not That | Life Healthfully Lived

Eat this OR eat that.  As long as it works for you, don’t stress it!

That’s Not Such A Good Idea

/ ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

You might think it would be a good idea to eat a bunch of broccoli while you’re feeling nauseated because “Broccoli is good for you, it can only make you feel better.”

That's Not Such A Good Idea | Life Healthfully Lived

I don’t eat broccoli anymore, I just wear it.

You would be wrong.  That’s not such a good idea.

You might think it would be a good idea to workout ONE DAY after laying on the couch the whole day before due to feeling like death.

That's Not Such A Good Idea | Life Healthfully Lived

Totally ready for this workout guys…

You would be wrong.  That’s not such a good idea.

You might think it would be a good idea to try and work at your standing desk right after being knocked out by some stomach virus for a few days.

That's Not Such A Good Idea | Life Healthfully Lived

Bed desk > Standing desk

You would be wrong.  That’s not such a good idea.

You might think it would be a good idea to buy a bunch of vegetables with the hopes of eating it in the next day or two even though you can still barely stomach brown rice cakes and baby carrots.

That's Not Such A Good Idea | Life Healthfully Lived

Immediately regret all the vegetables!

You would be wrong.  That’s not such a good idea.

The moral of the story?  I didn’t have many good ideas in the past few days and I’m still trying to listen to what my body is telling me.  It’s ok if I can’t eat as many green things or exercise as much as I’m used to when my health clearly isn’t at 100%.  I shouldn’t feel bad or like a failure.  When you’re sick you need to forget all your reason and do what feels best because that will get you healthier faster.

And for goodness sake, DON’T take a walk down to the lake just to “get some fresh air” when there isn’t a bathroom in the near vicinity.

That's Not Such A Good Idea | Life Healthfully Lived

At least I got a workout sprinting back to my apartment….

That’s not such a good idea.

Healthy Fast Food: Is There Such a Thing?

/ ktbuchs87

A few weeks ago, I posted this article over on my Facebook page.  A reporter for Business Insider decided to eat a fast food diet for an entire week.  The catch?  She would only choose the healthy options at each place.

More and more, fast food restaurants are adding things like kale salads, quinoa, and overall healthier items.  Their customers are demanding better food and they’re trying to deliver.  But are they really? Sometimes the healthy option is actually worse than their regular fair.Healthy Fast Food: Is There Really Such A Thing? | Life Healthfully Lived

I totally understand how it sounds complaining about fast food.  Everyone does it.  They are an easy target.  It’s simple to point at McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King and say, “You’re what’s wrong with our health and obesity problem.”  There have been countless documentaries, news stories, articles, and research dedicated to this theory.  I don’t want to add more noise to the crowd with this.

I just want you to really think about your own life and your food choices.Healthy Fast Food: Is There Really Such A Thing?

Is a McDonald’s kale salad really fulfilling your nutrition needs or are you getting it because it’s convenient and you think it’s what you should get?  How often are you getting fast food, healthy options or not?  Does your body feel as good as it possibly could?  Do have energy to get through your day, exercise in some form, and enjoy your hobbies?

These are the thoughts that should go through your mind each time you sit down to a meal and yes, please try to sit down for your meals.  More often than not, I’m going to guess eating anything at a fast food joint isn’t going to leave you feeling as satisfied as a homemade meal.  Like the reporter in the article found, she actually wasn’t eating enough at each meal and she was eating way too much salt.  Fast food isn’t meant to really nourish your body.  It’s meant to be, well, fast. Healthy Fast Food: Is There Really Such A Thing? | Life Healthfully LivedHealthy Fast Food: Is There Really Such A Thing?

If you get the majority of your meals in the form of fast food, I’m not saying you’re a bad person or unhealthy.  I just want you to think about your options.  Could you possibly make some of the things you’re eating in your own home?  Making your own food is always going to be better for you than getting it from somewhere else.  It doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated, just a little meal prep and you could be eating your own kale salad for lunch instead of relying on McDonald’s. Healthy Fast Food: Is There Really Such A Thing?

I get it.  Fast food is easy and cheap.  You don’t have to think too much about it.  But maybe you should.  You might see a big change, not only in your waistline, but your whole well-being.

 

3 Health Rules I Routinely Break & 1 I Always Follow

/ ktbuchs87

3 Health Rules I Routinely Break & 1 I Always Follow | Life Healthfully LivedI’m not a person who usually breaks the rules.  I hate conflict and I’m a huge people-pleaser.  I don’t like anyone to be mad at me and I really hate being called out for doing something wrong.  I was the kid in class who would raise my hand because I knew it was expected but pray the teacher would never call on my because what if I was wrong and everyone would hate me?

Welcome to the life of an introvert.

As I get older I’m getting better with the people-pleasing thing because it is literally impossible to please every person in your life at one time and it’s not my job to make everyone happy.  But there is one area of my life that I’m really good at breaking the “rules”.

My health.

I know, my health seems like the one place I should ALWAYS follow the rules.  Why mess with something as important as my health?  But here’s the thing:  There are so many rules that it can be mind-boggling.  One person says to do this but another says that will actually kill you.  One expert has found the key to success but another says that will literally destroy everything.  So I’ve given up trying to follow all the rules and made up some of my own.

Here the top five rules/advice everyone has heard before and what I actually do.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying these rules are bad.  They just don’t work for me.  And that’s what’s best for your health, finding what works for you.

Rule #1: Eat five to six small meals throughout the day instead of three big meals

I like food so you would think I would love to eat six meals in a day.  But here’s the thing, I like a big plate of food.  I tend to eat with my eyes first and if I see a small plate with a small amount of food, my brain and stomach get sad.  My brain is already telling my stomach that won’t be enough food to feed me and I start plotting what I’m going to eat next to fill that void rather than enjoy what’s in front of me.3 Health Rules I Routinely Break & 1 I Always Follow | Life Healthfully Lived

What works for me: Eating when I’m hungry.  Sometimes that’s three square meals a day and sometimes that’s two really big meals.  Listening to my body allows me to enjoy the food on my plate at that moment instead of worrying about where I’m going to get more food to fill me up.

Rule #2: Don’t eat after 6 or 7 p.m.

If I followed this rule, I would never have dinner.  Adam usually doesn’t get home until after 6 and we usually have dinner between 7:30 and 8.  That’s just what works for us.  Now I get that this “rule” is meant to curb after dinner eating but I think a lot of people take it as somehow calories matter more at a magic time of night.  They don’t.  350 calories at 6 a.m. are the same 350 calories at 6 p.m.  How your body uses them will be different because you’re generally more active in the morning than at night.  But you get what I mean.3 Health Rules I Routinely Break & 1 I Always Follow | Life Healthfully Lived3 Health Rules I Routinely Break & 1 I Always Follow | Life Healthfully Lived

What works for me:  Eating dinner at my normal time and not worrying about closing my kitchen at a certain time.  I also generally don’t snack after dinner because we eat later and I’m just not hungry.

Rule #3: Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day

Let me make this clear: water is good.  You should drink water.  But I have a hard time sucking down all that water every day.  Believe me, I’ve tried.  I feel bloated, uncomfortable, and have to pee every five minutes.  I’ve done all the tricks.  Gotten a water bottle, set timers, added fruit to make it taste better, but at the end of the day, I just don’t stick with the water program.3 Health Rules I Routinely Break & 1 I Always Follow | Life Healthfully Lived

What works for me: I do drink water first thing in the morning because I’m usually thirsty when I wake up and right after I workout, also in the morning.  Then I listen to my body and drink when I’m thirsty not just because I have to.  I also drink a lot of tea and eat a ton of vegetables and your body will get water through those means as well.

The Rule I Always Follow: Portion Control3 Health Rules I Routinely Break & 1 I Always Follow | Life Healthfully Lived

Portions get me every time.  Remember how I said I eat with my eyes?  I tend to fill up my plate and then eat every last bit of that food and sometimes go back for seconds.  So I have to be good with my portions.  Now, that doesn’t mean I get out my measuring cups and spoons and make sure everything is perfectly portioned.  I have switched to smaller plates and bowls because our regular dinner plates could feed a small army.  And on some things (cough peanut butter cough cough) I do measure it out or else I would eat the whole jar in two days.  No joke.

There you have it, how I’ve changed a few of the rules to work for me and not make me feel bad about my decisions.  It’s better to make your health your own rather than following a set of rules that make you feel restricted and guilty.3 Health Rules I Routinely Break & 1 I Always Follow | Life Healthfully Lived

What are some of the health rules that you break?

 

Do This One Thing To Lose Weight and Be Healthier

/ ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

Stop looking for one thing to lose weight and be healthier.  There is no one thing.Do This One Thing To Lose Weight and Be Healthier | Life Healthfully Lived

No one diet.

No one exercise.

No one magic pill.

No one superfood.

No one philosophy.

No one anything.Do This One Thing To Lose Weight and Be Healthier | Life Healthfully Lived

The path to being healthier is not a straight and narrow path.  In fact, it’s rarely just one path at all.  There will be twists and turns, changes and modifications, things your body needs now but won’t in a year, and there is never an end point.Do This One Thing To Lose Weight and Be Healthier | Life Healthfully Lived

That’s right.  This doesn’t end.  I don’t tell you this to discourage you but to let you know that making the decision to be healthier is an ongoing process, day in and day out.  You get to wake up each morning and make a choice.  Are your actions going to further your healthy goals or not?  You’re not a horrible person if they don’t nor have you failed.  You just made a decision in the moment and now you get to move on.

Losing weight and your health are going to be a series and combination of things that will ultimately bring you to where you need to be.Do This One Thing To Lose Weight and Be Healthier | Life Healthfully Lived

You’ll experiment with different ways to eat and adjust to what you need.

You’ll try a bunch of different exercises and workouts and fine tune what works for you.

You’ll sample lots of different foods and see what your body wants and uses.

You’ll start making up your OWN healthy life and figure out what it means to be the best version of you.Do This One Thing To Lose Weight and Be Healthier | Life Healthfully Lived

And it will change and grow and develop over time and that’s good!  We all change and grow and develop.  I’m not the same person I was in high school (thank goodness) and I hope twenty years from now I won’t be the same person I am today.  Why should you expect what you do to keep yourself healthy to stay the same?Do This One Thing To Lose Weight and Be Healthier | Life Healthfully Lived

So stop looking for the ONE thing because it isn’t there and you don’t need it.  All you need is what works for you and what makes you shine from within and feel the best you can.