Going from Carb Lover to Good Carb Eater

It is not a secret I <3 carbs. I want no I need to make a shirt that says it and wear it to the gym as a reminder at why I need to work out more and giggle at the fact that I'm wearing the shirt, but I digress...carbs. So over the last two weeks I've gotten conscious of the carbs that I intake, what kind of carbs, and noticing how I feel when I don't eat them. So newsflash - I feel better - duh! Before WLS I never felt the change when you removed or added something to your diet, but now I am super sensitive and feel it. I feel lighter in my body, I feel less bloated, I feel like food is processing better, and the best thing is I have more energy.

In my path to be healthier and to live a good lifestyle I've had to return to educating myself for this phase of weight loss on my path to the goal weight. I've had to research good carbs versus bad carbs. I didn't realize that there were so many good carbs in foods and those are the items I should be eating. One of the hurdles I had to meet was when my food tracker was adding up carbs. The numbers were scaring me so I had to educate myself and not feel bad for eating fruits and veggies and beans. I was scared when the protein I was eating was blowing my carb "totals" out of the water, but after I did some research I feel more empowered and feel reasonable when I eat my black beans, kidney beans, or add beans to a meal. Easy protein, easy digestion, and working toward my 70 grams of protein daily. Though it still shocks me when I see the numbers, I know mentally that those are good carbs and to not feel like I am a failure all day.

I've also been adding a lot of fruits and veggies to my diet in a more intentional way. I feel good about this and I feel for the first time in a long while I'm eating a balanced diet even if it is me planning ahead. I've been experimenting with food a lot and recipes and I've found you can do so much with veggies and they are a low calorie filling addition to my food source with lots of vitamins! This week I'm experimenting with cauliflower and have found that it takes pretty good in a lot of things, is less "gassy" than broccoli, and can be a great substitute for mashed potatoes and other items. I found a recipe to take cauliflower and make a base for a pizza. Again low carb, high flavor, and veggie filled.

Can I tell you how good it feels to have a stove back! My stove and oven was down at the apt and I felt because I love cooking, its a stress relief, and it takes away my anxiety to be able to control food and stick to a diet. So now that it is back I am spending lots of time assembling recipes, trying new things, utilizing my cabinet, and learning to feed me in healthy ways.