One important fact about me: I am not a dieter! If it's good for me, I try (really hard) to simply incorporate it into my lifestyle the best I can, and not beat myself up for occasional slippages. The fact is, while I have my food weaknesses, I really love healthy eating and a mostly vegetarian lifestyle, and I really love to exercise. We have a fantastic farmer's market here in our Midwestern college town that goes all winter. Yes, you are just as likely to find pie and pastries as you are healthier stuff in the winter, but still, it's an enjoyable outing and keeps me eating greens and squash all winter. In the summer it is sheer, delicious, beautiful abundance! Makes it so easy to eat vegan, vegetarian, and even raw in the summer.
That being said, my diet has slipped in the last couple of years. More wine, more carbs, more sweets...I could "blame" a lot of factors, from work stress, to slipping deeper into my 50's, to losing my best running buddy (he moved, nothing worse, thank heavens!). But the truth is, I've just been pretty lazy with my diet. I keep active and am not overweight, but I've gained 5 or 10 stubborn pounds (depending on the week) that I think would melt off if I simply ate more mindfully than I have been. So that's why I'm doing this challenge--to regain a bit of control over what I stuff in my pie-hole, as a friend of mine likes to call it (and I'll tell you that I am a damn good pie baker, which DOES NOT HELP). My goal is not to count calories as much as to make most of my calories really *count* towards a healthier me.
And if any of you dietbet folks are reading, I'll share this recipe I begged a friend to share with me. She swears it is really good, and she is a regular person like me (i.e., not kale crazy! ha!). I haven't tried it yet, but since I have a weakness for pizza, I'm going to soon.
http://www.perrysplate.com/2014/07/let-eat-kale-review.html
Happy challenge, friends!