Picture this…I know you’ve been here before.  I know I have been here more than once.

Headed to an event which starts at 6:30.  6 pm babysitter arriving so must get kids ready before she gets there.  Hurry to event, get there, relax and realize as you drink your glass of wine that there isn’t much food here and guess what.  You didn’t eat before you left the house. 8:30 the event concludes which leaves you 30 minutes to get home for the babysitter who you is expecting you home at 9 pm.  You would like to go out and grab a nice bite in the restaurant but decide against it  – no time.  Instead you grab a horrible sandwich and french fries ”curbside” and head home.  To eat cold, greasy sandwich and soggy french fries.  Halfway through you think “this is not a good idea”  You stop eating and throw the rest away.

Well that was one of my nights recently!  Great example of an unplanned, typical life event that gets in the way of your regular healthy routine.  And such is life. 

So the question is “Was it worth it?”  I must say absolutely not. 

I am not used to eating this way anymore and was quite uncomfortable with my choice the majority of that night and part of the next day – feeling blah and fatigued.  Am I beating myself up for it?  No, but definitely reminded me of a valuable lesson – planning ahead is essential.

During times of change, support is essential.  Who has your back?   Of the favorite people in your life, who are the ones that support you as you move towards your optimal self.  Any life change involves significant commitment from you.  A group of supporters rallying you on significantly increases your odds of success. 

So take the time….make your list.  Tell these people what they mean to you and ask if they will support you through your changes.  Don’t be afraid to tell them exactly what you need from them.

Life is filled with choices.  Choose people you can count on to build you up, have fun and help move you in the right direction.  Get the encouragers on your team as you move forward.

Increase your odds of success, by getting your encouragers to join you in my healthy lifestyle challenge.  More info at http://yourdietdesigner.com/are-you-up-for-the-weight-loss-challenge/  Time for signing up is ending soon!

This well versed dietitian fell right off the wagon last night.  Latest challenge – pizza bingo at the school.  And I flunked out.  First mistake: went hungry.  Played bingo and did raffles with the family all while eating pepperoni (not thin crust) pizza, candy and pop.    It was fun for all of us, however, one hour after the food fest, I was ready to go to sleep.  Too many processed carbs and not enough protein.

I needed to be reminded of  what this type of food does to me.  Lesson learned.  I am back on track today.  My lesson: what I eat definitely makes me feel either awesome or tired.  I know which one I am going with – how about you?

If you don’t like the way you look in some of your clothes - don’t keep them.  This advice from an organizational seminar I attended last year.  Today as I worked on cleaning out my closet, I tried to follow this advice.  Donating the clothes that didn’t make me feel like I looked my best.

So if it works for clothes, what about food?  Remove those foods that don’t make you feel good.  Those foods that have over 10 ingredients or contain things you have never heard of.  

Replace them with wholesome, closer to nature foods.  Your goal:  Keep foods with less than 10 ingredients.  The less ingredients the better you will feel.

Since we are on the topic of processed foods, I wanted to see what someone else says about them.  So I spent some time recently reading Michael Pollan’s book, “In Defense of Food” where he discusses fortified processed foods.  Basically these food items are robbed of their original nutrients through processing and then fortified to contain whatever the trend is at the moment  - no trans fat or saturated fats, more omega 3 fats, vitamins, minerals, etc.  This results in a fortified processed food which is at times plugged as being a healthier choice than it’s original whole food?   Confusing! 

We see this many times throughout our TV commercials or shopping in our grocery stores.  When you go shopping, how do you decide which one is best?  We need to put less focus on specific nutrients, instead looking at the big picture of whether these food items are whole foods or processed foods.

So keep these little tidbits from Michael in your nutrition kit to help you choose wisely: 

 *Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.

*Don’t eat anything incapable of rotting.

Here’s to the rest of your weekend filled with foods your grandmother would recognize!

Processed foods.  The unfortunate side to most of our days that can mess up our attempts at good health and nutrition.  As we try to ”keep up” with our day to day routines, it seems that choosing processed foods becomes our regular choice.  This will continue to threaten our health until we really get a grip on it.  Remember, the choice is yours.  Adding weight, increased cancer risk, more inflammation, increased heart disease risk, more fatigue and the list of problems goes on and on.  Processed foods rob us of essential vitamins and minerals, that protect us from illness.  I challenge you to take a look in your pantry, fridge, desk drawer, kid’s lunchbox, snack drawer and make some decisions about how you can un-process your diet.

I had the opportunity to walk through our local fair last evening – in the horrid heat and humidity!  And it truly amazes me how the color pink is so pegged with breast cancer and how it just brings the crowds out.  I had the opportunity to meet 4 young men who were working within a booth devoted to making more people aware of breast cancer and working to provide opportunities to cancer patients and their families.  How great to see men so involved with this disease – really made me smile.  If you would like to learn more about this group, check out Mrs. Dudes funds – it’s a tribute to his mother-in-law.

So as this new journey continues, I find myself succeeding.  Finally!  This dream of getting more information out to people who find themselves concerned over their future either as breast cancer patients or as people who want to prevent cancer, manage weight and work through nutrition concerns.  And this new blog journey will hopefully find its way to the people who need support and encouragement.  But also a way to look completely at their treatment so they are able to use the power of nutrition with traditional medicine to help in this battle. 

When starting this journey, I knew that breast cancer was my focus however I did not want to miss others who are looking for a nutrition resource.  Remembering that all the steps we take to move towards better nutrition improves our health whether we are looking at weight loss, cancer protection or other health protection. 

So use this to your advantage.  I am hopeful that you will learn more and identify ways in your life to improve your health and sense of wellness.  Also while realizing that I am a real person with real nutrition struggles just like everyone else. 

I look forward to great things with this new adventure of helping you customize your style of nutrition.