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Friday, October 20, 2017

unhealthy habits i've given up this month

If I'm being honest, I've felt a bit sluggish lately. It's been a pretty tough semester, and as much as I try to get to the gym at least 4 days a week, it can be difficult to light that fire under my butt. Unfortunately, my overall health has taken kind of a backseat...which I didn't notice until I realized my jeans, scrubs, and t-shirts were fitting a little differently. WHOOPS. We don't have a scale, and I'm a firm believer in the whole "as long as my clothes still fit" thing. Wellll, they were fitting a little less comfortably, so this month I've been changing up some of my habits, and giving up/swapping the little things that weren't doing me any favors:

Coffee creamer

Remember how I was all about Nestle Coffee Mate's Natural Bliss creamer line? I loved it because there weren't any type of weird chemicals or artificial flavorings - just straight up whole milk, sugar, and natural flavor. At 30 calories and 5-6 grams of sugar per tablespoon, I initially thought, "that's not bad, I'm hardly using any creamer, anyway! TREAT YOSELF." But then I started going through about one small carton per week, and I figured out that I'm not actually using one tablespoon - I'm using roughly 3 per cup of coffee...YIKES. Even small stuff can add up quick, right?

Instead: I would love to get into almond milk or even almond milk creamer for coffee, but I just can't do it. Instead, I swapped for Silk's Original Soy Coffee Creamer (only 1 gram of added sugar per tablespoon!). I add lots of cinnamon, and if I really think I need more sugar, I do one teaspoon of sugar in the raw. Bonus if I use this coffee because it is heaven.

Daily fruit snacks (or any kind of daily "treat mah-self")

When we were preparing for Hurricane Irma, I picked up a giant box of Annie's Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks. And by giant, I mean like 40 packs of these delicious little gummy fruit snacks in the form of tiny bunnies in tropical fruit, berry, strawberry, and citrus flavors. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. SO GOOD. But even with the "organic" label slapped on them, they're still not "healthy." Which is totally fine, of course...but having one to two packs per day? Probably not my best plan.

Instead: I throw a fruit snack in my lunch box maybe once a week, and every time I want to snag one out of the pantry because I'm bored, I try to think about my upcoming plans that weekend. I would rather keep my sugar intake on track during the week so that on a Saturday night, I can "treat myself" to a real treat - like a margarita the size of my face. You know, just trying out that whole "balance" thing.

Excessive portions...aka seconds & thirds of dinner 

Even if it's a healthy meal (looking at you, quinoa stirfry), too much of anything leaves me feeling sluggish later. I'm still not great at portioning my meals (I do care a bit, but probably still not enough...) but I try to be more conscious about grabbing a second heaping bowl of homemade lentil and sausage soup.

Instead: I think about how I really don't want to make lunch for tomorrow, so the less I eat now, the more I have for leftovers for the next couple of days! I can still have my seconds and thirds, but they'll actually be my firsts. Ya get it? Ya get it?

Ordering fancy sugary drinks every time I go out

Like I mentioned above, I have zero problem treating myself to a giant margarita at my favorite restaurants (Green Lemon? bartaco? HEYYO) but if I'm at a random restaurant that isn't necessarily known for their craft cocktails, I avoid syrupy drinks. 

Instead: I go for a glass of white wine (I know red is better for you, but I'm still working on that...) or prosecco. There are probably better options like a vodka soda or what have you, but unless I'm actually out at a bar, I'm certainly not enjoying that as my beverage of choice. Wine > everything.



When you're trying to be healthier overall, what habits do you try to kick? What do you start doing instead?





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