My Dirty Little Secret.....

Hello and happy happy Saturday to you all!!!

I have now finished my first week at Farrell's (which I am now going to abbreviate as FXB).  Today I would like to share my thoughts on nutrition.  One of my most LEAST favorite subjects since I was a teenager.  I hate nutrition!!!  I hate counting calories, carbs, grams of protein, sugars, fats etc. etc.  It overwhelms me.....as I just want to grab something to fill my stomach and I don't honestly care about the carbs or protein grams.  Unfortunately, with this new body challenge....nutrition is a HUGE part of it!  (sigh)  When I first signed up for the program, my initial thought was I would work out and "try" to eat better.  Cut down on the wine, cut down or elliminate fast foods, but still fix the meals that I'm used to preparing.  However, after forking out all of that dough (money, not flour....), I feel pushed to try and put forth as much effort to this program that I can.  (and I can't believe that I just said that!) 

Here's my secret:  I almost flunked Nutrition class in nursing school.  I struggled through an entire semester of kilo-calories, legumes, and carbohydrates.  I not only thought that it was boring, but who cares what a pizza is made of?  It's delicious....plain and simple!  My mother gave me a hard time about it too; but isn't that what mothers do?  And I was pulling a D in the class until the final exam.  But by the grace of God, I passed.  I couldn't even imagine  repeating the class during summer semester.  Bleh!

So, I am slowly but surely trying to read labels, measure my portions and pay attention to carbs, fat, protein and vegetables.  This is truly a culture shock for me.  I only like green beans, asparagus and broccoli for the most part.  I can do the occasional zuchini and yellow squash, but never, NEVER put a brussel sprout in front of me.  I will faint dead away, I promise!  I am learning to "enjoy" (enjoy, being the operative word here, folks),  to eat more veggies without any yummy sauces or cheese.  The nice thing about FXB is that you have one free day a week.  Free day means eat your heart out baby!!  How incredible is THAT????  I can close my nutrition book, and experience true culinary deliciousness.  I can have my wine and eat with it too!!!  Woot woot!  So today is my first free day, and I'm hitting up a wine festival in Omaha with my brother and his wife.  Afterwards, it's dinner out on the town!  Wonder if I will choose Mexican or Italian??  My body quivers with anticipation.  Then tomorrow, it's back to "healthy" eating and reading labels.....again!!!

So, last but not least, I am to "keep" a food diary.  (I hate a food diary.....)  I am still rebellious at this point in the game.  I am NOT writing down what I put in my mouth.  No, I am not trying to be a stinker, but this first week of the program was pretty overwheming for me.  I unfortunately tend to "over-react" sometimes.  My family and co-workers will vouch for this.  I knew that if I tried to keep track of every calorie, carb and protein this past week, I would have perhaps "freaked out."  So, my goal for the next week is to try and put my intake down on paper.  If it was only the items I chose to eat, I'd probably be "ok."  Unfortunately, they want me to count every carb., protein etc. and total up the day.  (This is too complicated for me, I think.)  I am SO not good at math.  It took me 3 whole days, just to figure out my total calories for the day!  (I am not good at maneuvering on web sites.)

I have survived the week!  I am sore, have a headache from caffeine withdrawl and I have to pee too often, but I am proud of myself.  I haven't worked out 6 days in a row for the last 10 or 11 years.  This is a big step and I know it's a step towards a better future for me.  I am going to continue to fight for my health....I want to see my grandchildren grow up, get married and have great-grandbabies for me!!  What more could I need???  (maybe just a little slice of pizza?)

Here's to our Free Day everyone!!!