The Better Body Blog Project - Day 1

Ok, so today was day 1, and I will admit, from the moment I woke up, I struggled. I also expected to.

Here it is, my starting photos with my starting weight. All glorious 145lbs of it. This is the heaviest weight I've ever been. I feel fat at times, it's true. I want to clear up right now that when I say that, I am NOT comparing myself to other people when I say "I feel fat", I am comparing me now, to previous weight in the past. So I am NOT comparing myself to anyone; skinny or fat. I am also pretty white. I sometimes joke that if I were any whiter, I'd be blue-ish, and they do not make a lighter foundation (make up) than I use. Sometimes I have to mix it with a white base, because the lightest is too dark. But I digress.

My first day happened to fall while on vacation with my in-laws, camping near Ocean Shores Washington on Labor day weekend. I was in charge of bringing snacks, and I knew that food would be temptation number one. I also knew that I would be beginning this project while on this trip and that it I would tempted with both endless grazing on unhealthy snacks and camp-fare (hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, beer) and opportunities to be lazy and do little-to nothing in terms of being active, as is the custom when enjoying a camping weekend.

So, before I even got to the campground, I went to the store. Again, I was in charge of bringing snacks, and while my first round of snack-choosing included three bags of chips, a meat-cheese and cracker platter, Milano cookies, Fig Newtons, goldfish crackers, several assorted Chobani Greek yogurts and then went looking for a fruit platter. While in the fresh produce section, I had to remind myself that I am taking small steps to change my life for the better, and working towards making smarter and healthier choices.

I put about half the items back, including the chips and the meat platter, and substituted them for a pineapple, a pint of blueberries, a bag of Fuji apples and a box of assorted grapes.

*Tip of the Day: Substituting fruit for cookies or other packaged snacks can help lessen your cravings for sugar or high fructose corn syrup-heavy snacks, lessen your daily caloric intake of surplus fattening calories and help you feel more full, plus, helps you get your daily 4 servings of fruits and veggies!

I figured that if we had fruit out to snack on, that that'd either be a more healthy alternative, or if they didn't want to eat fruit, then they may be less likely to snack on unhealthy foods like chips.

I did keep the cookies and the goldfish crackers because if you are going to be naughty, you might as well have a small portion (1 cookie) on the good stuff (Milano cookies are DARN good!) and my 14 month old nephew loves goldfish!

For breakfast, my in-laws prepared the food, and thanks to my foresight (buying greek yogurt, only 120-140 cals per serving, and the fruit) I had more healthy options available, over hash browns, bacon, sausage links, and pancakes.

Here's my breakfast; cut fruit, chobani peach yogurt, a little bacon, a little hash-browns and about a cup of orange juice; I am on vacation/camping and it is only day 1 - horrible mindset I know, but hey, I've got to be realistic.

Then, when my breakfast had settled, I went for some interval runs/sprints/boot camp like exercises on the beach. It took about 45mins, and we did interval runs, walks and sprints for about half the time, and then did intervals of walking and then duck walks, frog jumps and reverse frog jumps. I gave it my best effort and by the time I was done, I could barely walk back to camp.

Then, we went into the Quinault rainforest and went for a little hike. I had a medium Fuji apple for a snack :). It was about an hour of walking, then we came back to camp, packed up camp and I drove home (it was about three hours).

I always struggle when eating on the go. The conflict is quickness and convenience verses healthy choices (because salads are impossible to eat with one hand). My options come lunchtime were McDonalds, Dairy Queen, Quizznos and Subway. I chose Subway!! This is my number one recommendation for eating while on the go because they are everywhere and you can customize what you put on your sandwich.

McDonalds and Dairy Queen (and any other fast-food burger joints or places that have French fries) are poor choices, because unless half of their menu is mad up of healthy choices that you would actually order and eat, you will most-likely chose to get exactly what you want (for me, it's either a chicken basket from DQ or a Big Mac meal, both are around 1000 calories) and when you are making healthy choices, and sticking to a daily caloric intake of about 12-1500 calories per day, you don't want to have one meal take up the bulk of your allowance.

So, Subway is a great choice! I chose a six-inch ham and turkey on wheat (no cheese) with lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, pickles and onions with honey-mustard and oregano with an iced tea. Total calories; 310. I didn't get chips (I LOVE Lays Salt n' Vinegar chips), and it was really hard not to, but that is an additional 160 empty calories that I know I may want, but don't need.

When getting a drink at soda fountains or out at restaurants, I will only drink unsweetened iced tea. I used to drink full-sugar Dr. Pepper but this is one of my best simple swaps.

I will write later posts on how to make the switch from soda to tea, simple swaps for maximizing your positive calorie intake, and why not to drink your calories.


When I got home, there was very little food in the house, and I wasn't all that hungry, so I made a chocolate protein shake.

So, day 1 wrap-up. I made good, positive steps toward making healthier choices, I got in a great workout, and still could hang out with family on vacation, and didn't starve.

I feel very positive about day 1! It wasn't perfect (I did have orange juice, bacon and a little hash-browns for breakfast), a few chocolate bon-bons (my sister-in-law went to the Wizzarding World of Harry Potter and brought back exploding bon-bons) and drank my dinner (protein shake) but I got in a great workout, had no fast-food and considering the circumstances, I did pretty well and I felt great! I expect to be sore tomorrow!

In the future, I may not be so specific on what I ate, unless I am making a new dish and sharing the recipie, but I will share if I mess up, and how many calories I ate for the day. Please keep reading, and if you have any questions, suggestions for food or a new recipe for me to try, want to see a favorite dish made lighter, or anything, please leave a comment or email me at followmegfit@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!