Boom. Week from the crazy life, has hit the weekend.  There are so many things I want to blog about.  New favs, hitting the gym, changing routines, events, family… But time isn’t always my friend and before I know it I’m like HUH it is Feb. what?!  Well, I know it is winter time, and actually I’m over it, yet Chicago just keeps slapping us with, “WAKE up friends, snow, and lots of below zero days… you can handle it… You are Chicagoians”

Anywho, one thing I want to discuss is eating and things we are loving right now and my journey with eating.  Several years ago I took a nutrition class.  It changed my life.  Had I taken this class early in my college experience and not as a final prerec, I honestly would have likely become a dietitian, personal trainer and worked on opening a fitness/heath/Mind Body wellness center.  Who knows maybe I still will!  Possibilities in life are endless if you work hard and reach out and grab them.  When I took the class I immediately jumped on the health food train.  I was all about eating things good for my body and my body thanked me!  I felt good, dropped weight (about 30lbs), kept it off, and started training hard.   Knowledge is power and even though the media is very health centered (not always in the best ways…) it can be a very overwhelming and a major information overload.  Different things work for different people, but I do not think you can ever go wrong with drinking TONS of water, getting in green tea, and eating clean.  Those are my simple rules.  Eat clean, drink water and sweat as often as you can.

Even though I ate clean, I was also a crazy calorie counter.  When I say crazy, I mean it.  My whole life was encompassed by counting my calories and obsessing about food.  This clearly was not mentally healthy.  I looked great, and felt great physically but I had a lot of brain fights:

Then I got prego!

Being pregnant (after lots of weeks not being able to eat ANYTHING) made me throw out calorie counting and just focus on healthy eats.  100% I contribute this to a healthy, mostly happy pregnancy.  I gained 23lbs and felt great and never counted a calorie.  I had fat days, days when I was like this is the worst thing on the planet…  Days where I was so over it but when I look back I had no aches and pains that come with gaining too much weight (I also have a great build for carrying btw, small frames I’m sure are diff, but this about MY journey).  When I was done being prego, I started breastfeeding and once again, told myself I would NOT count calories.  This was so much easier said then done.  Even though the scale said I didn’t have much to loose, and everyone told me I looked great… I did not feel great.  I felt soft and smushy even though I worked out throughout my pregnancy.  The calorie demons were sneaking in, but I fought them as best I could because I knew  I couldn’t provide nutrition for my little guy if I restricted my calorie intake and so started our six months of exclusive breastfeeding and zero calorie counting journey.  After he was 6 months, and I decided to keep up the relationship but also knew he was  getting other forms of nutrition, the thought of calorie counting crossed my mind once again but I decided not to and this time it wasn’t as hard of a decision.  I was working out, my clothes fit and I stayed away from the mental things that would force me to want to calorie count, mainly the scale.  That scale, I tell you… I think it hurts more then it helps on a weightloss journey but that is a story for another blog.  That six months helped me realize how much I respected my body.  It gave me my perfect healthy baby and recovered beautifully.  Over my pregnant/new mom year I finally gained a respect for not only being healthy physically but mentally. I respected my body more for all it had done and I need to treat my brain with the same respect.  I want to bring up my new family with a healthy relationship with food because as much as I wanted to deny it for so long, I didn’t have a healthy perspective when it came to food.  Six weeks post baby, right before the doctor’s appointment:

Finally a year and a half later, I can tell you I don’t count calories.  I still look at labels and calories are visible, but because I eat clean, most of my daily eats DO NOT have a nutrition label.  They are what they are: apples, eggs, greens…  Physically speaking, once again, I feel better when I eat right.  I have cheat days and I eat mayo.  I have crazy heath days and take vitamins.  I keep it simple, don’t beat myself up when I have a French fry or a slice of French bread.  But I do always prefer the whole grains, they fill you and keep you going.  Part of my food journey is experimenting with getting in as much fresh produce as I can. With that said, Hector and I have jumped on the juicing/smoothie bandwagon again.  My father was always into juicing and I was always into smoothies.  My dad likely bought the 1st Jucieman machine ever made and worked a few to machine heaven.   We are not a juice family in the sense of apple juice or Capri sun or any of that crap.  Never have been, I will not buy it and Evan will never get it from my hands but I will offer him carrot and beet juice or his favorite green drink: kale, apple, spinach, pineapple, celery, and lemon.

With everything in life… eating is a journey and I’m finally at a good place with my habits.  My body journey is also always evolving but I make sure to get in yoga, weights and cardio. Even if weight lifting these days is sometimes just tossing around my 27lb baby.

Happy Saturday!  Off to prep for a black tie event tonight and wrap some special birthday gifts for a super special little man in my life. EEK! need a card!!

Love,

Jen

xo