I have been trying to be more healthy in general in my life lately. Last semester I started working out four days a week which felt amazing. This semester, I wanted to commit to a healthier eating lifestyle without having to sacrifice every food known to man. I asked my sister some advice on how to eat and what to eat since she’s older and basically knows everything, right?
She told me I should eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, and protein in every meal. Maybe going lighter on one meal would be more helpful. Eating only one portion of food on the label instead of just trying to guess what looks like a good amount. Pick foods with less fat, less sodium, and less sugar. Sounds pretty straightforward from the way she explains it. You should generally have three different colored foods on your plate. For example last week I ate potatoes, sausage, and broccoli. I really loved that meal, it was delicious, and I made it right at home.
By trying to follow advice and eating things that were healthier in general, like vegetables and less sugar, I decided that I should start cooking to save money, time, and to keep along with the new parameters I had set for myself. I absolutely love to cook but have never really felt like I had the time, motivation, or money to do so. Come to find out, it really isn’t that expensive. If I bulk shop at Costco and get cheap vegetables or other items from Walmart, it really is easy to only spend ten dollars on groceries a week. I set time into my schedule to just cook once a week, and keep food on hand for when I don’t have a planned meal. Eating canned vegetables is easy because I can add it to my normal plate of food, and feel at least a little better.
I have really been trying to plan my life lately and it’s been a huge positive factor in how I feel about time management, the stress about the week, and sorting how I plan my meals. Adding in which days I have time to exercise and which days I can plan a meal feels great. Cooking is so therapeutic, even though it can be tough to eat more healthy some days. Tonight, I’m getting Taco Bell. But tomorrow, I am making a home cooked meal.
Now I realize that I’m not perfect, this may not help me lose weight, but I’m working on my life slowly but surely. Cooking more in my apartment, real meals not just ramen or mac n cheese, has made this semester off to a great start. I haven’t gotten back into exercising which would obviously help too, but I’m planning on it. Even though I’m going to Taco Bell, I’m gonna go run/walk two miles and work some ab muscles in the gym tonight too. I feel like I’m starting to get a sense of where I see myself in the next ten years, really thinking about adult things here. I never thought that I would be writing this articles in a million years. But here I am. I hope in the future that the choices I make now will have a positive impact on my future, and right now I’m starting to feel like they will.