How This Blog Started

So let me start this post by telling a little bit about myself. I’m Cat, a 23 year old desk jockey and lifelong athlete. I absolutely adore my dog even though she’s a bit of a brat, and would rather watch a 4 hour documentary on the benefits of farting in a jam jar than a 4 minute news clip from any of the major news networks. Why? Cause that’s just how I roll. Don’t get me wrong, I like reading the news….it’s the commentary I hate. (Also, who wouldn’t want to watch a documentary on farting? Narrated by Morgan Freeman? That delicious smell is Oscar award my friends…)

But let’s move on. Health and fitness have always been something I’ve thought about but hadn’t really followed through. Fitness was the easiest for me since I was a pretty serious soccer player growing up and ran track in high school. By the time I got to college, it was all about rugby and rugby-specific fitness. That was when I finally learned to lift, which has been incredibly helpful (and fun) since focusing specifically on losing weight and getting in shape. But healthy eating was another matter. I had it in my head—like so many do—that as long as I worked out and stayed within a certain weight range, or BMI, (about 110-145lb for 5’4 women) that I was healthy and didn’t need to worry about what I ate.

VS.

I was wrong. And here’s why: The term “calories in; calories out” sounds fantastic on the surface but not all calories are created equal. Sure that entire box of Reduced Fat Wheat Thins I ate while walking the half mile home from class one day (true story) was delicious, but I was still hungry after. That’s still hungry after 1,960 calories. Oh, I made sure to have an intense work out later that day that I had consumed almost 2,000 calories of processed grains with artificial preservatives and who knows what else. What I should have had that would have filled me up and replenished the healthy micronutrients every healthy body needs was some fruit and nuts. Not only would I had gotten all the vitamins & minerals, protein, and healthy fats every healthy body needs, but I would have felt full thanks to the fewer refined carbs that stretch your stomach and make you feel hungrier sooner. (And I wouldn’t have had to take in nearly as many calories). I’ll have a whole post later on micronutrients and why grains aren’t as good as they’re made out to be.

In the last year or so, diet has been my major focus. I had the fitness part down, so there was only one thing left unattended. To be honest, it wasn’t my idea to think about my diet. It was my dad’s. Or rather, it was his amazing weight loss of over 80 lbs and counting! Sure, his diet wasn’t (still isn’t) perfect but his continual effort and non-stop talk about diet, weight loss, and fitness inspired me and got me thinking. I started by cuting out all sugary juices, packing my own lunches to keep track of what I was eating (mainly sandwiches), and cooking at home more (often pasta). But while this helped a bit in losing weight, I felt I was being held back and couldn’t figure out why. Finally, I did what every 21^st century Internet guru does: I started Google-ing. I’d heard about and seen some Paleo books in my homes away from home bookstores but hadn’t really thought about giving it a try until I stumbled across this awesome post. Things just clicked. Not because of the science behind it necessarily (of which I’m still learning the finer details of), but the history and just plain common sense of a diet focusing primarily on meat and veggies.

So that’s what got me started. A slow, gradual movement from being not so healthy, to sorta healthy, to Paleo. No, I’m not a perfect Paleo; that bagel and pizza I had over the weekend proves that. But I’m TRYING. I’m moving to the point where I know that what I’m putting into my body is going to contribute to my health and well being without having to count every calorie or worry about what or what isn’t processed, what has added sugars, or the amount of transfats, etc. I know that what I’m eating, I’m supposed to be eating and that I’m thriving because of it.

And being a young professional and recent college grad, I have to figure out how to eat on a budget. In my next post, I’ll be uploading my receipts from my local Safeway’s $5 Friday, the local German deli, and Trader Joe’s that cost in all (including a little treat for my girlfriend) under $130 dollars. And the best part is, it will keep me going for at least 2 weeks if not more with some thoughtful planning.