So here I am. After a day of eating delicious (albeit crappy) food, I got food poisoning. I just can’t do this anymore. I am sick of having my stomach upset, feeling bad about how I eat and the relentless sugar cravings. I need a change, but more importantly to be kept accountable for this change. So, I signed up for this article with no plan, and a few bell peppers in my fridge. Here we go.
With just about no plan, I decided to do some research. The most common suggestion is have a plan. Off to a great start.
Many articles preached prepping meals and making everything fresh, but with my schedule that isn’t really an option not to mention how expensive buying fresh food and ingredients are. They don’t take into account dining hall food as well that has limited options and most of them aren’t very good for you. Feeling a little nervous, I decided to set some goals:
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No artificial sugars. No candy, no pastries, no pop tarts.
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No carbs? I’m not really sure what that is supposed to mean, but I really need to stop eating everything bagels multiple times a week. I will miss them dearly.
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Drink at least two bottles of water a day. I already do this, but I needed an easy goal to meet.
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Swim/exercise this week.
A quick disclaimer: I love my body and I am proud of my curvy figure; this is not to lose weight. I also want to be clear that I am not willing to completely give up my favorite foods just because they are bad for me. I just want to have more balance in my diet and teach myself moderation. I also do not believe in dieting so although I am cutting out certain foods, it is to break the initial habit so I can start fresh.
Sunday Night
It’s around 11 pm and my sugar cravings are kicking in. I had a large late lunch as well as a bag of white chocolate covered pretzels so I didn’t have anything for dinner. My solution is to drink a cup of limeade because it’s fruit juice and fruit is healthy.
Monday
Breakfast: oatmeal with raisins and walnuts.
I have this for breakfast everyday so nothing new here. I usually put a dash of salt, some cinnamon and a little bit of honey. I finish it off with a cup of coffee with a splash of half and half, and some water.
Midday: I am starving. My class starts at 3 and I am getting shaky from low blood sugar. I have a packet of nuts, a banana and cheerios — still starving. I end up eating a NutriGrain bar in desperation.
Dinner: I decided to have a salad for dinner: arugula with blue cheese, red onion, cranberries, farro and balsamic vinaigrette. Not too bad, but it needs some sort of nut/seed. I definitely put way too much blue cheese on it and the dressing is really sweet. I finished everything off with a banana.
A little later: I am still hungry. I ate some plantain chips, but they didn’t really help. I’m sick of this gnawing feeling in my stomach; I make a small bowl of pasta to fill me up and have some strawberries for dessert.
Tuesday
Breakfast: same oatmeal as always. I forgot to put my coffee mug under my Keurig. Great start.
Lunch: My salad from last night scarred me a little bit and I don’t want to rely on salads for the rest of the week. I opt for a caprese sandwich which isn’t the best, but my other options were mozzarella sticks or pizza. I top it off with a banana.
Dinner: Dinner was rough. I ate a bunch of red peppers and watermelon. I tried the roasted snow peas and spicy rice–yuck. I ended up eating a couple nachos and a small soft pretzel to fill me. It is opening day of the Red Sox so the desert bar was decked out. I decided to cut up a banana and a little bit of hot fudge (about three-quarters less than I normally would) a pit of whipped cream and some M&Ms. Healthier-ish than ice cream and it satisfied my sweet tooth.
Later: I did some intense yoga so I was pretty hungry afterwards. I cut up some bell pepper and called it a day.
Wednesday
Midday: I hate a late breakfast because I have Wednesdays off so I was feeling hungry around 2:30. I went grocery shopping and got salted popcorn and Naked fruit juice. I ended up eating a carton of raspberries as well.
Dinner: My boyfriend and I were both feeling down so we decided to go out to dinner at Tasty Burger. Now, I know this is definitely not healthy, but I got my Buff-Chick Sammie without the onion rings and Fresca like I normally would. Like I said, I’m not willing to give up my favorite foods, but cutting out the extras gives it more balance.
Thursday
Lunch: Today the Fens had hummus and tabouleh so I grabbed a bunch of that and some pita. They also had fresh berries so you know I had a huge cup full.
Dinner: Roasted carrots and a salad. Not sure it really filled me up, but it works for the time being.
Later: While watching Rupaul’s Drag Race I had some Swedish Fish and did not feel well afterwards. Normally I would be fine, but going a week without sugar made me feel gross. Definitely an improvement on my eating habits.
Friday
Breakfast: Last day! I have an interview today so my mom came in to Boston to bring me my blazer and take me out to breakfast. Instead of pancakes, I went for the eggs with toast and potatoes.
Dinner: I ended up getting Blaze pizza, but it is Friday night so it’s fine right?
Overall, I do think that this experiment was effective in helping me learn restraint and not succumbing to my cravings. I didn’t feel so guilty about my eating this week and it definitely helped me learn balance.
That being said, I was hungry all of the time. It is extremely difficult to find healthy eating options in the school cafeterias and I didn’t know what to do. I resorted to buying food at the grocery store, but it was super expensive and I should be able to get healthy options on my meal plan.
In all, eating healthy can be small things such as choosing water instead of soda and not eating the chocolate that you really want. Balance is the most important part.