a healthy part of a balanced day

breakfast is your friend
I have learned that breakfast is one of the most important parts of my day. I used to skip out every morning without it and survive on coffee until around 11am when we ordered food at the office. I was feeling sluggish all the time in spite of the large amounts of caffeine I was intaking. I also tended to eat more later in the day to compensate for the missed meal.

I've been getting up every single morning and eating a healthy breakfast. Sometimes I eat a bowl of Cheerios and other times I might cook oatmeal. I've started to relish that part of the day when I have those 30 minutes to myself. I sit and eat slowly, thinking about what I'm going to do for the day. I try to center myself to tackle whatever comes my way. I find that I am more balanced during the day when I've eaten breakfast before leaving home.

Eating breakfast keeps you thin.

Researchers from the National Weight Control Registry, a database of more than 3,000 people who have lost at least 60 pounds and kept it off for an average of 6 years, found that eating breakfast every day was a weight control strategy for 78% of the people in the registry. People who kept off weight long-term also reported eating a low-fat diet and exercising for an hour or more each day.
- Mr Breakfast - "Why Eat Breakfast"

The other side effect that I am enjoying is eating less. I am not as hungry during the day. I've opted out of the ordering lunch process at work and have begun taking my own food from home in order to eat healthier. I find that I am bringing home about 50% of what I carry in my lunch bag. I usually take one fruit, a yogurt, a tub of baby carrots (I freaking love carrots but I need to dedicate an entry to them all of their own), sugar-free applesauce, sugar-free Jello (the applesauce and Jello are for those sweet tooth cravings) and a granola bar. Once I eat all of those carrots, my stomach is sitting so full that I don't get a craving for anything else.

We generally eat dinner around 5 o'clock and if I crave a snack later I go for it with something healthy and sugar-free. My habit of snacking on sugary sweets is gone. I don't even crave them anymore. Those first few weeks of knowing I had high sugar were pure torture. I would walk past the bakery aisle in the grocery store and want to go insane. I don't even notice it anymore. It's like a part of the store that I don't need or care about. The only vice I have is the coffee.

lord please don't make me give up coffee!
I got my coffee maker for Christmas 2001. It has an automatic setting to start grinding my beans and brewing my coffee at 6am every morning. I love waking up to the sound and smell of coffee getting started. I love coffee. I went to Starbucks and bought some of their sugar-free vanilla syrup and mocha powder to add to my coffee each day. It tastes wonderful and it has no calories. This from a girl who would order a Venti Quad Nonfat Vanilla Latte every single morning on her way to work. I think the biggest part of my weight loss has been due to the fact that sugar is almost non-existant in my diet. I've managed to cut down some on my caffeine consumption. I generally drink one cup at home and then take one cup for the road. Both are 16oz cups. You do the math. I was drinking an entire pot before.

I'm learning to take better care of myself and my diabetes. It wasn't as hard of a transition as I thought. I'm still allowed some amount of sugar, just not as much as before. I usually save it for the weekend when I know I'll be going out. The next step? Getting a regular exercise plan.

so i started going to the gym
And let me tell you, that first day I know I looked pathetic out there on that bike. I was sweating in buckets and having a hard time keeping it going for the entire time I set it for, but I did it. When I got off the bike I felt that "runner's high" everyone talks about and my heart was racing. It felt good. I've enlisted the help of a personal trainer. Standing on that scale and finding out I lost 15 pounds in one month was a huge boost, but I still have a long way to go. I've set small, attainable goals for myself and my outlook is realistic. I won't ever have the body I had when I was 18 or 19 years old, but I will be in shape. I'm not in a rush.

All in time baby, all in time.