#Mamavation Monday: Food Label Fear

It’s my third week as a member of the Mamavation Sistahood and DANG! My booty has been kicked and I’m sore in places I didn’t know could be sore, but I haven’t felt this good in a long time. This week is all about learning healthy eating habits and reading food labels for what they really are. Make sure to join Mamavation TV tonight at 7 pm PST / 10 pm EST on Mingle Media TV.

For the past few weeks, I’ve taken a different approach to the Mamavation Mondays posts than most other members do. I’ve been telling you all about the Challenges and Triumphs from the past week and the Goals of the upcoming week. While I still think those are important things to keep in mind, this week I’m going to talk about the actual topic presented by Mamavtion for discussion.

What are your latest healthy food discoveries?

I’ve been struggling with identifying “healthy” food lately and really reading food labels and understanding what’s on my plate. Thanks to many of the amazing women in the Mamavation Sistahood, I’ve learned a ton about what is and isn’t healthy. I’ve been eating things for years that I thought were “healthy” that simply aren’t.

Now that I’m officially done with the Special K Challenge, I’m forced to face the reality of food again and actually find 2-3 healthy, balanced meals each day instead of depending on the Special K protein bars and cereals to get me through. I have to admit, when I opened the fridge this morning to plan out my day, I had a little bit of a panic attack. My scale has been continuously moving in a downward direction for the past two weeks and I’m scared to death to make the wrong choices and see it going back up. But, I know that I can’t live on 900 calories a day forever (yes, I know that’s less than the plan suggests to eat also) so I have to start making wise choices.

• It’s not just about the calories. While I do want to avoid eating tons and tons of calories, I’m learning that it’s more important what kind of calories go into my body and not just how many. That means that I need to start checking where the nutrients are – less sodium, less carbs, more protein, more fiber, less sugar. This is something I am going to struggle with, I’m sure, but it has to be done.
• NOT eating will hurt just as much. When I get freaked out about eating too much, I have a tendency to just not eat. I need to remind myself that not eating can be just as harmful on my weight loss journey. Not eating kills my metabolism and will sabotage me in the long run.
• Don’t drink my calories! You’ve probably heard this one before. It’s kind of a mantra for Mamavation’s fearless leader, Leah (aka @Bookieboo) and it’s a trap that I’ve fallen into too many times. One soda is 150 calories. That’s 150 calories with no nutrients taking the place of something that can actually fill me up and give me nutrients that my body needs. Nothing tastes good enough to steal that away.

I’m fairly certain this is going to be the biggest part of my battle in the coming weeks. Deciphering what I can and should eat versus what I shouldn’t. I’m finding that I’m not nearly as hungry as I was two weeks ago. My body seems to finally be coming to the realization that it doesn’t need 2000 calories in a day to function properly. My stomach is shrinking back down to a normal size from where I’ve stretched it out.

The battle has just begun, but I plan to stay and fight!

Starting Weight: 176.2 lbs

Current Weight: 166.4 lbs

Weekly Loss: 3.0 lbs

Total Loss: 9.8 lbs

Goal Weight: 154 lbs (officially healthy weight)

This post is sponsored by The Chia Co and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women” at the bottom of your post.