Things I'm learning...

1.  I love cooking. 
There are days when I feel lazy or tired, but for the most part, I find nothing more rewarding than eating the meal I've just prepared.  It's a great sense of accomplishment to cook and serve a meal, it forces me to be creative, and I get to read or listen to music while I cook.  Excellent!  There are times when I have epic cooking fails (neither my husband nor I were fans of almond meal pancakes), but overall, I find my own cooking to be tastier than most anything I buy at a restaurant, especially chains.  I had this revelation when I went to the British Beer Company in December, and I found the meat marinade to be slightly gelatinous and bland, and the friend green beans were lackluster, at best.  (The waitress was kind enough to bring me a plate of steamed green beans, which was a great improvement).  Bottom line: I'm losing my taste for junk food.  Even Dunkin' Donuts donuts really aren't that satisfying anymore.
(Exception to the rule: really amazing bakery birthday cake, and fudgy brownies.  But I'm getting there.  I'll discuss this more later.)
2.  Aiming for color makes a diet healthy.  
I find that I'm happier and feel more satiated when I eat foods that are blue, red, yellow, orange, purple, and green.  It's the easiest way to get in produce, it forces me to try different foods, and I've found that as I adapt to eating more fruits and veggies, I find it far more satisfying than the beige foods I used to consume.
3. Advertisements will tell you want you want to hear to get you to buy their product. 
I'll be blogging more about this later, but one thing that I'm learning is that companies will tell you a food is "healthy" to get you to buy it so they make more money.  When I see product placement in "The Biggest Loser," or an advertisement extolling the virtue of the Special K two week diet, I have to remind myself that even if consuming these foods does help a person lose weight, it's only temporary, and these foods lack good nutritional value.  Just because a processed food is low in calories/fat/sodium/sugar, the chemicals in it still aren't healthy, no matter how you spin it.  And really, the latest baked chip isn't going to make me happier/fitter/healthy/mainstream/a better person.  My new favorite concept from food blogger Mark Bittman is "The truly healthy alternative to that chip is not a fake chip; it’s a carrot."

4. Make no excuses.  
When I fall off the Primal/clean food wagon (which, let's be honest, is most days), I don't list all the reasons why I'm vindicated for eating the peanut butter/cocktail/feta cheese/cupcake/ice cream with Oreos.  I don't say that I deserved it for yesterday's workout, that I needed it because I had a hard day, or that I had no choice because I wanted to fit in with friends.  Likewise, I don't justify why I didn't exercise (which, last week, was three days in a row.)  I'm a grown woman who makes choices about what I put in my body, and likewise, I am the person that drives to the gym or CrossFit and makes the time (or not) to make sure that I am active.  Before, I punished myself severely for putting junk foods in my body by feeling guilty, crying, or getting angry and then I just repeated the cycle the following day.  Now, I learn to deal with the consequences of my actions, and try to move forward.  Tomorrow's always a new day, and each day, I definitely learn something new about my food habits (I am falling in love with a clean food lifestyle) and exercise (I'm addicted to working out, and going two or three days without exercise is really, really hard on me).

5. My tastes in foods are changing.  
This goes along with number 1.  Example: on Thursday, I went out to a tapas restaurant for my sister's birthday.  My favorite food was not the gelato, peanut butter and banana desert that I consumed; it was the roasted brussel sprouts with kumquats, bacon, mint, and jalapenos that I could not get enough of.  This culinary combination was so delicious that I have not stopped talking about it to anyone who will listen to me, and I'm already plotting how I can recreate it in my own kitchen.  OMG, it was about the most delicious food I've eaten out at a restaurant.  Likewise, I found it easy to skip over the gluten-laden food items without feeling deprived or left out.  I've lost all desire to eat MacDonald's (or most fast food, for that matter), pizza makes me feel queasy, pasta doesn't excite me, Wonder Bread is terrifying, water is more appealing than Diet Coke, and I get giddy thinking about making a fruit salad or cooking asparagus for dinner.
6. I love feeling strong.  
I was the weakling who couldn't do a push up and could barely run half a mile.  Being strong was something the scary men who consumed protein whey and steroids in their sleep did; I, on the other hand, needed to stick to the elliptical and complete the occasional crunch.  But now, I love that I can carry heavy bags of groceries into the house, or help my husband move pieces of furniture.  (Yes, I'll admit this to him).  Doing push ups makes me feel powerful, handstands make me feel like a kid, and as much as I hate to admit it, trying for that elusive pull up gives me a goal to work towards.  In a way, it's a battle of wits; mind over matter, and I'm determined to win.  It plays into my Type A/perfectionist personality.  I've always pushed myself and challenged myself, but this is the first time I've ever done so athletically.  The hours I slugged away on the elliptical gave me nothing more than frustration, headaches, and the chance to watch some CNN and E!  Now, I get to challenge my body in ways I never even imaged.  I kind of feel like Wonder Woman!

(from live.drjays.com)

7. Learning how to eat is a challenge.  
I know, I know, I can definitely have a smug, "holier-than-thou" attitude about my food habits.  I take pride in the fact that I've been complimented by strangers on how healthy the contents of my grocery cart are.  I secretly love being the one to order a salad, although at times it can be awkward and difficult.  The food I eat is so much better than I used to eat, but it's no where near where I think it should be.  Example: this week, I've eaten peanut butter with bananas, feta cheese on my salads, string cheese for snacks, chocolate and peanut butter chips with mixed nuts (where the ingredients include soy lecithin), two ice cream desserts, and a few celebratory cocktails.  Some people might think I'm crazy for questioning these foods, but I also know that I'm not eating as clean as I want to.  Sometimes, I replace one bad food habit for another.  But I also know that relearning how to eat healthy, "real" foods is hard.  It's hard to undo years of what you believed healthy to be, especially when most people think eating a diet of protein, fruits, and veggies is insane.  But, I firmly stick to my number 4, with the hope that it will get easier for me to hold true to my principles.  I also feel that for now, the "80 percent clean food/ 20 percent non-clean food" will probably be a part of my life, and I believe that it will change for me.  I'm a work in progress.  I don't want to give anyone the impression that I'm a perfect, clean eater.  I certainly have flaws.  But it definitely gets easier and better with time.  And I have my ideals to keep me in line.  Changing my attitude towards food has been one of the most difficult, but most rewarding, challenges of my life.