Cutting The Crapola

The last couple of days, I have been re-reading a lot of my healthier cookbooks, trying to revamp our eating habits to clear out the unhealthy bits and add in more healthy ones.  For the most part, we eat far more healthfully than we did for years, but my recent bout with breast cancer has made eating even more fruits and veggies a priority.

Not just for me, but for The Peanut as well, for obvious reasons.

As I'm trying to plan a menu for all of us for the week, I find myself making excuses and trying to come up with ways to continue serving the same old easy stuff, because we can all agree on it and I know it will be mostly eaten, even by the pickiest among us.  But that is ridiculous, because if the same old, same old was acceptable, I wouldn't be trying to revamp things, now would I?

It's time to cut the crapola when it comes to diet and exercise and be honest with myself:  we can, and must, do better.

Some of the cookbooks I've been perusing are:

-- The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged: Lasting Fat Loss That's Better than Ever!

-- The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook: Great-Tasting Recipes That Keep You Lean

-- Eating for Life: Your Guide to Great Health, Fat Loss and Increased Energy

-- The New Sonoma Cookbook: Simple Recipes for a Healthy, More Delicious Way to Live

-- The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook: 200 Delicious Recipes Ready in 30 Minutes or Less

-- The South Beach Diet Super Quick Cookbook: 200 Easy Solutions for Everyday Meals

For me, though, it really isn't about knowledge.  I know what I ought to be eating and doing.  What I lack is actually DOING things properly, instead of just halfway and hoping it is enough.  It isn't.  And I know it.  Which means it is time to get off my rear end and do something about it.

So, henceforth, the following will apply:


There will be far more fresh produce in my cart, and far less of the processed junk that is far too easy to find these days, but not very good for me or anyone else in the house. 

There will be more daily exercise, in whatever form I can muster (which at this point isn't very strenuous, considering things are still healing from the radiation singe, but I'll work up to something better as I can do so).

There will be more salads, and they will be filled with lean proteins, lots of veggies and fruits, and topped with homemade dressings that do not contain a lot of additives, preservatives, or other assorted bits of ick -- just fresh, healthy and yummy, thank you.

There will be better planning, so that being caught hungry and without something healthy to eat will no longer be an excuse to drive thru or pig out.  Because I now understand the full meaning of "if you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail," and it lives around my waistline.

There will be more attention to portion sizes.

It's a start, anyway, but one that is necessary after all of the comfort eating during my breast cancer treatment.  I need to get back on the healthy eating wagon, and do so with a vengeance.  What better day to start than right now?

(Photo via Frank Lindecke.)