Healthy Eating is time consuming!

So, it’s been 3 weeks since I made a conscious commitment to healthier eating and I must say that I spend much more time in the kitchen! The fruit and vegetable prep alone take 45 minutes a day. In the past I have pre-prepped all of the veggies and fruit for the entire week on Sunday, but I find they feel less fresh when I go to eat them. The way I am doing it now requires me to think – multiple times per day – about what I am actually choosing to put in my body. Now I understand one of the components to my repeated failure at losing weight: I get lazy about food prep. It’s really, really simple to grab something prepared and pop it in the oven or microwave, but then you have no control over the ingredients. I am not sure I will never choose prepared food again, but I am one step closer to understanding how I might succeed in the long term.

Too glamorous for mundane tasks...

                I know my mom didn’t like to spend time in the kitchen. She was such a talented human being and she was regularly preoccupied with her latest painting or sewing project or writings. To her cooking was an interruption in her otherwise interesting day. I do not claim even a quarter of her creativity, but I fully embraced the “cooking is a chore” attitude. It’s funny, because holiday meals were more of an art project for her and the results were delicious and beautiful. I, too, make really terrific holiday meals and I work on them for days. So…I guess the challenge is to start viewing each day as a day to create a delicious and nutritious meal.

               Selfishly, as I am trying to gain control of myself again, I am not cooking for the rest of my family. I feel selfish because, somehow, I feel like my love for them should extend to their healthy eating. However, Collier works in the restaurant industry and eats there most days and when he’s home he already eats responsibly. My husband, on the other hand, makes some poor choices due to work stress and when I make healthy meals for him he eats those AND something else. I feel defeated and frustrated about that and, often, I let that frustration trigger me into overeating. So, no meals for the men until I feel much improved.

               Another odd thing I have noticed is that I am now very reluctant to eat outside my home - I worry I will make poor choices or overindulge. I read an article about “orthorexia” – which I don’t have, but the symptoms include fear of eating outside your control zone. A week ago we had dinner plans with family from out-of-town and, honestly, I was a little panicked before we went. But guess what? I made an awesome dinner choice! I chose a meal with lots of veggies and a yummy pickled egg. Dessert came and I had ONE spoonful of a chocolate budino. It was the perfect taste to complete the meal. It was encouraging to be able to enjoy a night out AND come home feeling good about what I picked. It really is one meal at a time in this process. One meal at a time. I can do this.