Happy Wednesday everyone. It has been quite the past few days. McKenzie is not feeling will and doesn’t seem to be getting any better. I took her to the pediatrician and found out she has an ear infection. She has been miserable, poor baby. I will warn you now I am not sure how this post is going to turn out. I am functioning on 3 hours of sleep, I have no idea how I am still awake.

It’s time for another What I Ate Wednesday, but I am going to do things differently today. Since, I started waking up at 5:30am to exercise, I have also been focusing on me diet. But, I will admit I haven’t been as strict as I would like to be. As you know I do practice everything in moderation, but I had been eating too many small meals and they were too indulgent for my goals. This week I decided I am going to begin to change things slowly. As always thank you Jenn for hosting.

1. First thing I am doing is testing my dairy intake. I think I may be having some issues with have too much of it in my diet, so I am starting to replace some of it with almond milk.

I have replaced my cows milk with almond milk in many of my recipes and you cannot even tell. In my peanut butter protein shake I replaced the yogurt with almond milk and it is delicious. I have been so afraid of trying it, but I am glad I finally took the plunge. I have also replaced the cows milk with almond milk in my single serve chocolate cake. As I make different recipes I am going to continue to switch my milk.

2. Since, I am working on cleaning up my diet I have been doing some research so I can be informed. One of the things I have been reading about is adding more Omega-3s to your diet. I have read that our modern diets are too high in Omega-6, but we do not get enough Omega-3. Besides, tuna I am not a big fan of fish. Therefore, I have been researching other foods that have Omega-3s. Almonds is one of the foods I read about and since I love them I thought that would be an easy add in. I do typically eat them daily on my salads, but I wanted to start eating them more often. Since, I have always wanted to try almond butter I thought this was the perfect time. Again, I started to research and found out most almond butters have too many extra add ins. Therefore, I decided to make my own and it was a success. I will say at first I wasn’t too impressed, it wasn’t bad it was just pretty bland. But the more I ate it the more I liked it. This simply goes to show we can acquire a taste for different food. So, don’t give up on food after the first attempt.

I realized since almond butter doesn’t have a strong flavor it would be a perfect nut butter to cook with. So, I found a few recipes that use it. I am obsessed with this almond butter pancake recipe. What a great way for me to add in more almond butter and really enjoy it. Like I always say you have to love what you eat. I will not eat something just because it is healthy, it has to taste good as well.

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4. I have been cutting up a bunch of fruit at one time; this way it is quick and easy to grab. I love that a big bowl of fruit can really satisfy a sweet tooth.

5. I have also been making sure that we always have carrots and hummus; this is one healthy snack I love. Seriously, I could eat this all day long. It is so much better them reaching for a bag of chips and actually I prefer carrots and hummus.

6. I have been making sure to carefully measure out my food. I got out of this habit for awhile, but I feel my best when I know how much of something I am eating. I also make sure not to eat out of a bag or a box. Basically, I always try to get a bowl or a plate and portion out my servings. By eating this way I feel better mentally and physically. Everyone has to figure out what works best for them.

7. One thing I do that really helps me stay on track throughout the day is to eat a salad at around 4:00pm. I find this helps me not snack on unhealthy treats before dinner. This is the time of day I typically want to snack, but if I eat a salad it’s fills me up with something healthy and then before I know it we are eating dinner.

8. I have been paying more attention to eating protein at each and every meal/snack. Some of my protein packed snacks that I have been enjoying are, egg whites with Ezekiel bread, poached egg with an English muffin, almond butter pancakes, pumpkin protein pancakes, Greek yogurt waffles, peanut butter and crackers, peanut butter protein shake (with almond milk) or a handful of peanuts.

9. I have been experimenting with new recipes. I finally whipped up a batch of banana “ice cream”. I am sure you have seen this floating around Pinterest. Well I loved it. I think this will really help to curb an ice cream craving and of course there is nothing wrong with ice cream in moderation, but if you can have something healthier why not try it. I add a scoop of peanut butter to mine. Next time I might try caramel or almond butter, the possibilities are endless. Seriously, all you do is take a ripe banana, cut it into chunks, freeze it, then you simply put it in your food processor and turn it on. Before you know it you will have creamy “ice cream”.

In the Comments Below:

1. What was your favorite food from this week?
2. Do you like trying new recipes?