Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog, Reforming Rob! Thank you for joining me today. In today's video I'm going to share my journey trying to put together a big food puzzle.
All of My Senses Love Food!
Food is so great, isn't it? I love to smell it, hear it sizzle, and I love the way my knife feels cutting through a big fat porterhouse steak! I even like to watch people cook and eat food for entertainment. Guy Fieri, Mike Chen, Andrew Zimmern, then there's Food Wars, Iron Chef, Barbeque Wars, Best of Pizza, Best of Cheeseburgers...on and on.
Then there's sweets! For me that especially means Bunny Tracks Ice Cream, Peanut M&Ms, and fresh apple fritter donuts. If you've never had a fresh from the fryer apple fritter then your life is lacking goodness! Sweets are defintely my diet kryptonite!
We Live In Willy Wonka Food Land!
I enjoy reading about history. History and biography make up the bulk of what I find myself reading. In all of my reading, I've come to the conclusion that we're in one of the most unique times in history. We are absolutely surrounded by food! Within three miles of my home I have four major grocery stores, countless convenience stores, and restraurants for just about any taste you could have. Not to mention, I have an app on my phone that I can order almost any kind of food I could think of, and within about 30 minutes it will show up, ready to eat, at my front door. I can imagine the look on our ancestors' faces if they were to see how much food we have around us all the time!
One of the most important points in my blog today is going to be this: within the city limits of Chandler, Arizona where I live, there are 194 pizza restaurants on Google! Now I know why there's so many happy people in Chandler!
You Can't Always Eat What You Want--sung to a Rolling Stones tune
One of the things I've learned in my 51 years of life so far, is that it is impossible for me to exercise my way to fitness alone. During my first marathon training, I gained 10 pounds in that 24 weeks, all the while thinking I could eat all I wanted because hey, I was running and deserved it! Well, not so fast Rob!
My Food Puzzle for Health and Wellness
At the beginning of this post, I called this food conundrum we're in a "food puzzle". That's exactly what it is! And what makes it even more complicated is that my food puzzle, once solved, will be different from your food puzzle. I've come to the conclusion that figuring out this puzzle is going to take a lot of that four letter word I keep using in this blog: WORK!
The only advise I'm going to give you in this post is "keep it simple". Once you've figured out your puzzle into something that you think will work for you, be a little loose, be gentle on yourself. Think long-term in working your puzzle. And of course, write it down! Everything else I share today is just going to be parts of my food puzzle. You're welcome to steal any or all of it, but that shouldn't replace the work you're going to need to do to figure out your own puzzle.
My plan for controlling what I put into my body has two main components. These concepts really form the foundation of my whole health plan. The first is the Word of Wisdom as shared with us in February 1833, and you can find it in Doctrine & Covenants Section 89. I'll put a link here you can use to access and read it. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/89?lang=eng
The second is me creating a mindset to see food as medicine to heal and fuel to help reach my fitness goals.
Simple Food Plan for Simple Rob
I shared my food plan with you in another blog post, and I'll share it with you again here. It's very simple. My bulk of my diet is made up of whole grains, legumes, fruit and vegetables, and supported with portion controlled meat, dairy, and eggs. I restrict my sweet tooth to one or two per week maximum. Portion control is critical. I will pound a 40oz porterhouse in one sitting. Just to add a bit more color a few more details include: I do not drink calories, and I eat three meals a day with 1-2 snacks (from the produce shelf).
Today marks six weeks since I started on this journey of Reforming Rob. That journey includes a written plan for physical health, mental/spiritual health, and my food plan. In those six weeks, I'm happy to say that although weight-loss hasn't been my primary concern, I have experienced weight loss on my plan. I started six weeks ago at 190 pounds, and today I weight at just under 179 pounds. More importantly for me is that I just have more energy, like lots more energy. I'm in bed and the recliner less, and I'm able to spend more time with my kids. I've also noticed that my desire for snacking all the time has gone way down.
Restauranteurs in Chandler Are Gonna Cry
I quite accidentally learned a lesson this past week that I'd like to share. We rarely eat out. We have a large family with ten children and a tight budget. Eating in restaurants just isn't something we do more than a few times a year. Last week we had a crazy week and a few time-sucking activities that threw us off normal and we ended up ordering pizza one night, and then Panda Express another night. My chronic pain flaired up like you can't imagine! I was hurting! I hadn't had pain like that in months. It may have been coincidental, but the timing of the pain and the restaurant food bugs me. I'm going to make a point of no restaurant food for a long period of time and just watch the results. (Good think I have a wood fire pizza oven in the backyard!!!)
Six weeks is only six weeks, not long at all considering all things health and wellness. But I'm happy with the results so far. I'm building this program with a long term vision in mind...like a for the rest of my life health plan. I know I've made mistakes, and I'm sure I'll make more. I'm doing the work. I'm learning all I can. I'm going to keep going. I invite you to join me on this journey. Work on your own food puzzle. Share your experiences in the comments or email me directly. I'd love to hear from you.
Until next time...
PEACE!
Comments