Wednesday, January 16, 2013

acid reflux and food choices


When I got fat a few years ago, I was always eating tums.  I constantly had acid reflux issues.  Since I’ve begun my weight loss journey, something I’ve discovered is that my acid reflux issue has gotten better.  More specifically, I’ve noticed a “pattern” in how it works.  So long as I don’t eat processed junk food, I don’t get any reflux.  If I stick to eating clean with lots of fruits and veggies and lean meats and whole grains, I don’t have a problem at all.  The other day, a coworker gave me ONE Oreo and about 8 goldfish crackers.  A couple hours later, I had some reflux going on.  I was amazed that that small quantity affected me the way it did. 

I was reading one of my fitness magazines the other day.  There was an article about how to liven up what you’re eating…like if you’re in a food rut and are bored with your food.  Anyway, one was if you were bored with your tuna sandwich.  Well, while I’m not bored with eating a tuna sandwich every day for lunch, I am looking to cut out as much processed carbs from my diet as I can.  I already cut down my lunch from 2 tuna sandwiches a day (on the sandwich thins that are half the calories of regular bread) to one.  Well, their idea to liven up a tuna sandwich is to put it in a bell pepper!  Oh my goodness what a fantastic idea!  I get extra veggies AND I’m cutting out all processed carbs from my diet.  Also, since I would be eating it in a bell pepper instead of on bread, I can go ahead and eat the whole can of tuna again instead of just half like I do now.  That’ll add about 20 grams of protein to my day…and with all the weight lifting I’m doing right now, that’s a good thing!  So, when I finish up my sandwich thins I will buy some bell peppers and have at it.

Overall, I’m making way better food choices than I have in the past.  Sure, I count calories, but I’m making sure that the calories I’m eating are nutrient rich.  I’m eating about 120 grams of protein a day right now, which is excellent.  I’m eating about 100 grams of carbs, but the majority of that is fruits and veggies.  At the moment, because I’m eating hamburger steaks, my fat intake is a little high, but about half of it is definitely “good” fat (almonds).  I’m feeling satisfied with what I’m eating and I’m staying full.  I eat every 3-4 hours, so my blood sugar isn’t dropping at any point during the day, causing me to be sluggish or lethargic in any way.

Another thing that helps with me not feeling sluggish or lethargic is that I exercise almost daily.  And let me tell you, I LOVE to work out!  It is seriously one of my most favorite things to do.  I don’t like taking a rest day, but for right now, this week and next, I am taking a rest day solely due to working some extra hours at work.  However, the following week, I don’t have any overtime planned to work at this point after that.  So, what I’m probably going to do is go and buy Zumba Rush for my Xbox Kinect and do that on day 7 of the week for an hour.

Something I did recently that has helped me out a little bit was to add a snack to my afternoon.  When I plugged my daily food into www.sparkpeople.com the other day, my daily calories only came out to around 1050.  Totally not okay with that.  So, I went to the store looking for a dark chocolate bar to eat.  I didn’t find one that fit what I was looking for, so I moved to the nuts.  I found dark cocoa roasted almonds.  Jackpot!  300 calories for ½ cup.  Perfect. 

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