Living Healthy
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I read a lot of blogs on a regular basis and some of my favourites are healthy living – or “food” – blogs.
When I first started blogging I would post a lot about healthy living and occasionally I would even post my eats for the day. As I actually got an audience for my blog – a mix of 20sb, runners, college students, and food bloggers – I kind of stopped blogging as much about healthy living. I’m not sure why, I guess it’s just because I hit a point in my life where it wasn’t work anymore.
I’ve pointed you guys to my weight loss posts several times now, so unless you’re a brand new reader, you probably know the story about how I changed my eating habits around and lost 25ish pounds a few years ago. I did this by counting calories and tracking every. single. morsel that went into my mouth. For two years.
Last year, when training for my first half-marathon, I quit counting calories, assumed I could eat more because I was running so much and gained about six pounds. 10 months ago I freaked out about those six pounds. These days; not so much.
I’ve finally given up on the last 10 pounds and I’ve given up on calorie counting. I’ve learned, slowly over time, how to eat intuitively. And I haven’t tracked my food intake since November.
I eat healthy. I usually have oatmeal or a smoothie for breakfast and I incorporate fruits and veggies into every meal. I’ve been working on kicking my evening sweet tooth by having tea with milk or honey. I actually enjoy the way healthy, nutrition-filled foods make me feel. And I like the way they taste too. Nothing beats a green monster smoothie!!
Would I love to be 10 pounds thinner? Be two sizes smaller? Of course. But I’m not going to kill myself trying to get there. I’m going to enjoy my food and eat what I’m craving. I thought that I’d never be able to stop counting calories completely but I have for the past four months and while I haven’t lost any weight, I haven’t gained any either.
On the exercise front, I still workout 5-6 times per week. I’m not “training” for anything right now (other then building a base for marathon training) but if I don’t get my daily sweat-session in I feel off. Last night was a 2.25 mile tempo run followed by a 45-minute spin class! Right before leaving for Europe I’m doing a fun, hot yoga challenge, so stay tuned for that. I also registered for a B.C. Athletics number last night so I can save money doing races this summer. I already have at least 8-10 races planned for the summer. My first race of the season is a 10k next weekend in Oliver, B.C. (which is the wine capital of Canada, FYI 
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In the future I may be doing more food, healthy living, exercise related posts as it is something I’m extremely passionate about! Hope you readers don’t mind!
Also, check out this amazing new group blog – In it to Gym it - I am a contributor, but haven’t contributed yet! I will though, just you wait 
What’s your take on healthy living? Any calorie counters out there? (I don’t knock calorie counting at all, in fact, I think it’s the BEST way to lose weight. When it comes down to losing weight it’s a simple science after all; calories in vs. calories out!)
I love your outlook on healthy eating – eat what you are craving, and enjoying your food. I 100% agree. I intend to enjoy life, and eat the foods that I like (in moderation). I wish I was as active as you though. In the summer I am always so active because I don’t have to work, and then it dwindles as the year goes on. I am sort of an all or nothing person when it comes to exercise. Not good, but so true.
I have never counted calories before. I would never have the patience to do that!!
I love your take on how you live healthy! I used to calorie count to maintain or lose a few pounds- but at some point you do realize how absolutely crazy you are making yourself. That’s not a lifestyle for me- it’s too miserable!
Intuitive eating is something I struggle with, but like to think I’m getting better at- and I feel so much less restricted while doing it, so I’m happier that way!
Im with you. Two years ago I was on Weight Watchers and lost about 25 pounds. Then I just stopped. Mostly because I knew the routine and what points were what. I gained some of that weight back, but as muscle. To get to my goal weight I would like to lose another 10-15 pounds, but its nice to not worry all the time.
i definitely am an intuitive eater – i tried the whole 6 small meals a day, and that was a HUGE fail. then i went back to basically just eating my 3 main meals, occassional snacks. it just worked for me.
I’ll say it’s quite awesome reading some of these blogs because I’ve been able to be more experimental with my food, and I learn so much more about what may be better for me. my goal right now is to really improve on having more protein — that’s hard! that’ll help me build my muscles better!
My background (degree in Nutrition) lends itself to healthy living, obviously, but I’m not one to ignore a craving here or there! I don’t calorie count (anymore – def did in the college days), I just try to balance meals and make sure I’m eating well to complement my running/training
I agree that Calorie counting can be a good place to *start* with weight loss, but it’s certainly not something to obsess over – as things are never exact and you can’t kill yourself over a number. More importantly, you should eat intuitively. Know when you’re hungry and know the right stuff to fuel up with! 
I love eating well and being active, but I’m not extremely serious about it. On any given week my weight goes up and down a lot and after obsessing about it when I was younger, my new approach is to roll my eyes at the scale and just do what feels good. Being vegetarian means I stay right within the same weight range anyways, and until my metabolism slows down that’s my method. =)
I have bursts of being that person who runs regularly, but in general I set myself up to fail! I feel like I’m meant to do it four times a week, and then I always fail and stop. I’m thinking of starting up again, but I need a more moderate method.
Your approach to healthy living is really good. I’m really skinny and I have been my whole life. I’m now trying to find a way to gain about 10lbs…
I wish I could eat healthier. It’s hard though on a college campus and meal plans. I usually just eat what I want and don’t count calories.
Yessssssssssss! So glad to have you on board, lady friend!
You are definitely a healthy person
I am totally on board with healthy eating and fitness posts- obviously, since “technically” thats what my blog is- although I really enjoy how your blog changes every day- I always want to see what you right about each day, it’s like my suprise every morning!
I agree with the idea of intuitive healthy eating once you have that solid base. I know it has taken me a while to get there, and in the beginning calorie counting really helped. Although you can totally calorie count and eat crappy foods, so the eating healthy, whole foods is a much more balanced approach!
Have a great race next weekend, I’m off to Oliver this weekend… mmmm…wineries….
I am working on being healthier more intuitively. Currently (as in, I just started yesterday!) I am significantly reducing carbs, counting calories and getting off sugar (AAAHHH!). I tend to love working out once I have a schedule. I’m really hoping that someday, it will all just feel natural and easy and I won’t think about it so much anymore. This post inspires me to get there.
You will get there! It’s been 3 years since I first started losing weight and I’m JUST NOW reaching this point where I don’t have to obsessively monitor everything I eat and I actually *want* to work out!
I am a sucker for food, but I just try and take everything in moderation! I cry a little when I polish off some random snack and realize that the calorie count was HUGE for 1/4 of the serving I just gave myself. I’m trying hard not to be so gluttonous.
I’m not a calorie counter but maybe I should be? I’m more of a portion control/aware of what I’m eating kind of a girl. That helps and makes a huge difference.
Currently I’m excercising about four to five times a week; two days running, one long run day and then two days of other cardio or weights. Some days I squeak in more runs, just depends on the school load
I lost my weight by tracking what I ate and running. Now that I am pretty much at or close to my goal, I have stopped tracking. mostly because when I was at my last job, I worked so much I Didn’t have time to log onto the weight watchers site and log in what i was eating….
But, I have gotten to a place where I know what I should or shouldn’t eat. I know about portion control. I have the basics down, and as long as I keep up with the running/working out, I know i will stay at this weight. I would ideally like to lose another 5-10 pounds, but if I don’t, I am happy with the weight i am at.
I think that tracking is great for that learning-how-much-to-eat phase, but once you get passed it you’re ok. Unfortunately, I know I’m not passed it yet, so I still track food. I don’t, however, track calories. I just find that to be too complicated. A lot of the foods I eat are home cooked from scratch without following a recipe 100%, and it’s a real pain to calculate the calories for that kind of food. I have a GI-diet pocket-book with calorie info, but even the stuff that isn’t home cooked often isn’t the right portion size or cooked the same way. So, I can calculate, but it’s still just a guess. A guess that can be anywhere between 1000 and 2000+ calories. So where’s the true value lie? God only knows.
Yeah, so calorie counting doesn’t work for me, but being mindful of what I eat does. And isn’t that the whole point of calorie counting anyway?
I go on these kicks where I’m very careful about what I eat (but I never bothered counting calories) and exercising. I got off of that for awhile thanks to a huge amount of stress going on, but now that things are calming down I’m back to going for walks when it’s nice out. Next I’ll have to focus on eating properly.
I don’t have the time or patience for calorie counting. I’ve tried it before just to ball park when I eat in a day, but I don’t know exactly how many calories are in my applesauce or cottage cheese or cereal servings. It was all guesswork to me anyway. I’m much happier eating healthy food when I’m hungry and treating myself to sweets every once in a while.
I am a fan of counting calories every once in a while to make sure I stay in check. Similarily I weight myself often to see how I am doing. It keeps me in check and also reflects my monthly cycle which is key because sometimes I will feel like crap then jump on the scale, see the increase in weight and be like oh yeah i am getting close to that time of the month! lol so its not so much about losing weight just making sure I stay at the weight I want to be at and helping me to eat smart so I feel good!
I dont really count calories anymore but I used to when I was first trying to lose weight. I learned a ton about calories, weight loss, and portion sizes – it definitely was the most important tool that I had. Now Im still trying to lose weight but I can not get back into the calorie counting stage!
as always, your dedication to exercise and eating healthfully amazes me and inspires me. I meant to go to the gym tonight and didn’t. damn it! going tomorrow. I am I am I AM!
and I should count my calories, too. I pay attention to them, read nutrition labels and all, but I don’t actually count them. I’ve been thinking of doing a food journal but I haven’t actually done it yet. I guess because I know I really have to track every single thing and find out the calories for it to mean anything. I feel like I’m too busy to do all that! ha! I’m so bad…
This was all very inspiring to me. I’m happy with the way that I eat – it’s fairly healthy, and I do a majority of my own cooking at home, but I don’t count calories or deprive myself of things that I like. Moderation is key for me. I had to laugh a little when you mentioned how you incorporate fruit and veggies into every meal; I do the same thing, and my husband always complains about how I “sneak” veggies into everything. He’ll pick them out or not put any on his plate, and I have to fuss at him, lol! He loves smoothies and fruit, though, so I have a lot of those as well.
I do, however, need to find an exercise routine that works for me. I’ve never really liked gyms, so I stick to working out at home, and sometimes, it’s easy to get distracted. I used to be a runner in high school, and I’ve gotten way out of the habit. I’d like to train myself again, so that I could try running some races (probably not a marathon, but I’d like to try a 5k and a 10k one day.)
And P.S. – thanks for sharing that quarter life crisis article with me! It was great, and I could definitely relate to some of the points.
I just recently started calorie counting for the first time in my life. It’s SHOCKING how quickly they can add up. I doubt I will make constantly counting everything I put into my mouth a long-term habit, but I think just doing it for a while will make me much more aware of what I’m eating and am willing to put into my body in the future…
I have counted calories in the past just to see HOW much was going in and to see if it was THAT bad.. it wasn’t but I know I need more fruits and veggies. (Plus I need to workout.) I have been doing better in the month of March and was actually down 4 pounds before I went on vacation. But after a week of eating Southern food and drinking waay too much, I know I need to jump back on the wagon. Which I will after I go to the grocery store on Sunday morning and load up on fruits and veggies. But until then, one last weekend of spring break and cheering on my MSU SPARTANS! Oh and I would love workout posts, meal posts.. I love reading them and incorporating healthy ideas others have into our lives.. I have however learned how terrible our area is for healthy food since I can barely ever find the stuff other people talk about.. but it is getting better.
I love health, fitness posts!!!
I’m so excited about your upcoming post ideas! Hope all is well! I missed reading your blog while I was gone!!! 
I lost around about 25 pounds 9 years ago, back when I was 21/22, by calorie counting and a little (not a lot) exercise. I managed it in about six months and it’s impressive that it’s taken until now for it gradually to all come back, consider how unhealthily I’ve been eating and drinking. I am someone now who tends to look at the calories and then eat it anyway (think of the cafeteria scene in Mean Girls where Regina asks how much fat is in whatever she wants to eat, then decides to get cheese fries – I’m like that, only fatter!
I’m currently trying out the Harcombe Diet though (I’m on a break from it this weekend) which is basically food combining – you don’t mix carbs and animal fat. So you either have meat/fish with veg, or potatoes/wholemeal pasta/brown rice with veg. You don’t count calories – I find it hard to get out of that mentality but it’s pretty good – I’ve not been eating my usual chocolate and crisps during the day , I’ve been eating just dark chocolate as a treat, I’ve lost a couple of pounds and I just feel a bit healthier as a result. I’d definitely recommend it, although I can’t see myself sticking to it longterm!
I can’t wait to get to the point where eating healthy comes from inside me. I totally “fell off the wagon” (I hate that term, though!) this week, since I’m not weighing in (Easter means no Weight Watchers on Sunday.) Right now, the only thing spurring me to eat healthy is these weigh-in’s. I don’t like that but as long as I keep eating healthy, I’m going to be OK with it. One day, I’ll get there.
When I want to lose weight I log what I eat and watch the calories. Not strictly though. I find the act of logging it makes me aware of what I eat. If I’m not trying to lose, I try and still watch what I eat but I admit I eat too many sweets.
I really strive to be a companion to my body, as strange as that may sound. I question when I go for a meal whether my body would be happy with the choice, whether it would strengthen my body or make my body feel crappy. This year has been a huge one in terms of growth in my eating and excercising. I work out six days a week and love to switch it up. I am big lover of Yoga but also lifting weights (my first love). Strength training has changed my body drastically. As far as eating goes, I don’t eat fried or processed foods anymore (unless I am indulging in a desert once in a while). I am all about the fruits, veggies, organic and natural foods. Trader Joe’s is my best friend and I adoreEEEee Whey Protein. I have smoothies every single day with a scoop added. My journey has been incredible but I have seen such amazing results and I have so much more added extra energy and I can tackle any workout no problem now. I never imagined that changing my diet so much would work so well in my favor. Oh, but I neeeeed to drink more water! That is the goal I am onto.
Best,
Hannah Katy
I like to say I live a healthy lifestyle, but in reality I know that’s not quite the truth. I like fruits and vegetables, but I’m really picky about only eating perfect ones so I don’t eat them a lot. I played soccer throughout college, but since then I’ve done fairly little exercising. So I guess I like to say I live a healthy lifestyle, even if that isn’t quite the case.
I count calories and have for many years now…not sure how to shut the calculator off, really! But I generally eat pretty intuitively too, so now the counting is more of an obsessive-compulsive habit. One that not very many people know about.
I really enjoy quite a few types of exercise! Walking, running, yoga, tennis, etc. I don’t really like team sports though because they often involve hard balls being kicked or thrown at my face. :0) My husband and I are opposite that way but we both like running, walking and tennis.
It feels so great to move my body and I feel bad for people who never exercise. They are missing out on a lot of fun, you know? And health!
Great post!!!
I still want to lose weight too, but I realized (today actually!) that if I was at this weight forever, I’d still be happy. And I think that realizing that will probably help me lose the weight in the long run!
Can’t wait to hear about all those races!