Hail, Hail, the gang's all here

So, here's a new venture for me (us!). I'm still the historian and posting there, but I'm also the Reformed Nothing-atarian here at Move Over, Naked Chef with my very dear friend (and ex-roommate) the Mad Food Beastie. 

The term nothing-atarian is a term my mom invented when I was a kid, and an extremely picky eater. I would try to tell people that I was a vegetarian, which at the time seemed like a respectable term for someone who ate nothing at all. My mom would laugh (bitterly?) and correct me, stating that I was a nothing-atarian. And she was right! I ate nothing. Or, at the very least, nothing help me. Nary a fruit nor vegetable passed my lips from the time I moved to solid food for a very long time. I mean, I ate potato chips, but do those really count?

Anyway, by the time I got to college I was a bit more varied in my diet, but by varied I mean I would eat a bit of salad, or pasta, or dumplings, or cold cut sandwiches, etc. Combine this with the all-night snack sessions that come from all-nighters, soda being cheaper/more freely available than water, and driving everywhere you get . . . me at my senior year of college. A lifetime of bad habits, twenty to thirty pounds overweight, what looked like a tire wrapped around my waist, and a rapidly slowing metabolism.

I could've easily fallen into some sort of dietary pit of despair. I'm NOT a major fan of exercising, particularly not in public places, and I don't like denying myself the tastier things in life. I could have resigned myself to never wanting to see myself photographed ever again, to all the health issues that my diet/lifestyle created. Or, on the opposing extreme side, could've been an exercise-orexic or done some fad diet that is more harm than good and just leads to a more massive weight gain. 

But I didn't! And it's largely due to the Mad Food Beastie, honestly. Now I have a very basic set of rules that I can follow, without falling off the bandwagon:

1) no soda
2) no snacking after 9 pm
3) portion control, portion control, portion control
4) drink plenty of water
5) at least 5 days of activity, 1-2 days of rest
6) fewer processed food
7) you want dessert? bake it yourself!

Now, mind you. I indulge. I drink alcohol (I'm over 21!), I have dessert. But I am ALSO steadily losing weight at a healthy pace and creating a habitually healthy lifestyle. For me, it's essential to allow some flexibility. But it's a challenge to find new, interesting, healthy things that I want to eat/cook for myself. I'm constantly hunting for new ideas and recipes. This new blog is an arena to explore my fledgling lifestyle of being sustainable, environmentally-friendly, and healthy. I consider this . . . extra motivation, perhaps?

photo credit: design*sponge