Healthy Eating - 2.5 Months In

On January 1, 2016, I decided to make some dietary changes to improve the quality of my life for both short and long term results. I didn't look at it as a New Year's resolution or a diet to follow until I lost XX about of pounds. I went in looking at it from the perspective of health and an example for my daughter. After a couple of days in Andrew realized I was being serious this time and not just looking to cut calories for a week only to fall back to old habits yet again. He decided to join this journey and lifestyle change and let me tell you, having a partner and someone with similar goals makes it SO much easier and more enjoyable. It also helps since he makes almost all of our home-cooked meals :) While Andrew and I have similar big picture goals, our methods and reasons are slightly different so I won't speak for him in this piece.

We are now 60+ days into the "New Year, New Me" campaign and things are going great. We've stuck to long enough to become mostly habit. I was juicing (making fresh juices at home) twice a day, but produce is quite costly so we've dialed that back. I try to have one juice a day but lately it's been more of every other day. We both use My Fitness Pal and log our calorie intake, which is the main tool that has helped us be successful. I've also stopped drinking sodas, which was huge for me. I was a 2-3 diet cokes a day kind of girl, now I only have soda when I'm drinking my bourbon and coke, and that isn't very often. Maybe once every week or two. I could do better at drinking more water, but I'm still a work in progress.

Because I was smart and married a wonderful cook, we've been able to eat healthy meals when we are home together (which sadly isn't often enough). We've replaced pasta with spinach, bread with smaller portions of rice, and tried to work in healthy choices in all of our meals. Because we most always have fresh produce for our juices, we also have fruit around for healthy snacks.

I'm proud to say that Hannah is a big fan of most healthy foods, and even prefers fresh produce over processed foods that most toddlers love. Her favorite foods right now are steamed broccoli, pears, tangerines, blueberries, green beans. She won't even touch macaroni and cheese (say what?!). Not to say she eats perfectly or doesn't like cookies and crackers, but she truly does love fruits and veggies. Go Baby!!

With all of these lifestyle changes we have both seen big success in our weight loss goals. I'm down 15 pounds, but still have plenty to go to get to a more ideal healthy weight. Andrew has lost even more (I'm not certain of the exact number). What is it with guys having an easier time?! But he has worked hard for it, so I'm proud of us both! Stay tuned to see how far we can take this journey!