I received an e-mail from a reader who pointed out to me
that I often talk about living a healthy lifestyle myself as well as for the
furballs. But recently my posts have included ice cream for the dogs and beer
and donuts for me. Oy. This person, who chooses to remain anonymous, isn’t
calling me out as a hypocrite but instead just asking me to explain how I find
the balance. So today’s post will be just that.
I’ve enjoyed eating healthy foods since I was a kid. Thankfully
I truly like fruits, veggies and whole grains so making these choices on a
daily basis isn’t usually difficult for me. I was an athlete when I was younger
so my exercise was built into those activities. In high school I ate my fair
share of junk on the weekends with friends but at home my mom kept lots of
healthy foods around so I was still mostly eating nutritious meals. I didn’t
work out but thanks to a fast metabolism and good genes I stayed slim. And then
there was college. My metabolism slowed and I was constantly stuffing my face
with late night pizza, calorie laden cocktails and hangover breakfasts. I
noticed I had to buy my jeans up a couple sizes and I was basically a fluffed
up version of my former self. Enough was enough. I joined the gym, read up on
nutrition and changed my thought process when making food choices.
Now, at 28, I am fairly strict with myself during the week. I
keep all my meals healthy, pack lunch for work every day, count cardio as
walking the dogs and add in about 20-30 sessions of strength training 3-4 times
a week. My rule is, if I want something bad for me during the week I won’t eat
it but if I still want it on the weekend, bring it on. Special occasions like birthdays
and holidays are a free for all. When Friday night comes if I want a beer I
have a beer, or 3. Saturday I will generally eat healthy, at least for breakfast
and lunch. But from Saturday night on I eat and drink what I want. Sometimes I
still choose healthy foods and sometimes I don’t. Same goes for the dogs. They
get their portioned breakfast and dinner of Blue Buffalo dog food and only small
treats for training during the week. We walk every day that we can, including
Saturday morning, but take Sundays off. During the weekend regular meals are
still on the menu but more exciting treats make their way in as well just for
fun.
What about Chris, you ask? Well, he really loves his junk
food. And when he was still single, he ate it all day every day. He has the metabolism
of a 2 year old. My husband is not fond of fruits and veggies but I have found
easy ways to get them into his diet. Toss veggies in with eggs, chicken tacos
or whole wheat mac n’ cheese and he’ll eat them right up. Put berries in whole
wheat pancakes or muffins and they will be gobbled. When he travels he eats
whatever is available but at home, he will eat healthier meals.
I firmly believe in living a healthy lifestyle, for both
people and dogs. But I also believe in cheese fries, donuts, cocktails &
ice cream in moderation. It keeps me sane. We don’t ever feed our dogs off our
plates but we do let them indulge in made for doggie treats now and then and
the very occasional human food treat, like ice cream. If you don’t ever give
into a craving or reward yourself for something good, I think that’s when you
feel like you’re on a diet. This is a way of life so it can’t feel too
restrictive. Every month at work we celebrate all the birthdays of employees
for that month with free cupcakes. I’m talking about the bakery cupcakes with
the giant piles of icing on top. Normally I can pass because I know I can have
a cupcake on Saturday if I really want to. But there has been a time or two
that I just really wanted a damn cupcake. So I ate one. And then I went home
and worked out and ate a healthy dinner.
So, finding the balance isn’t always easy, and it won’t be
the same for everyone. This is just the way we live and what works for us. I
don’t have any training on nutrition or fitness for people or dogs, just
knowledge acquired over years of my own research. The goal is to keep myself
and my family healthy from the inside out so we can have long, happy lives. If
anyone would like to see future posts on this topic, please let me know.
Now put down that cupcake and go eat some carrots! Just
kidding, eat the cupcake and then eat the carrots later J.
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