"I don't do decaf"

The title of this blog comes from a quote on one of my coffee mugs...and it's pretty true for me. When people drink decaf coffee I just think "What's the point?" Coffee has been a part of my morning routine for a solid 4 years, and even though that's not ALL that long, I don't function without my morning coffee boost. I don't drink it throughout the day...just one cup in the morning Monday-Friday. (I recently bought a Keurig, and I make the 10-ounce size.) The exceptions are Saturdays where I drink a few cups throughout the morning as I deep clean our apartment, or some rare days in the winter where I have a cup in the middle of the day for the pure warmth. In addition to the caffeine in the morning, I usually have either a Diet Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper in the afternoon as a litte bit of pick-me-up between personal training sessions or other work.

So all in all, I wouldn't consider myself a caffeine junkie, but I feel REALLY deprived and sluggish when I don't have either the coffee or the diet coke.

However, with my increased running as well as what I'm referring to as the "dehydration run" last weekend, I'm trying to be more aware of how much water I'm taking in because I really don't think it's enough. Despite the fact that I always have a big water bottle with me at work that I constantly drink out of and re-fill, there are still times where I find I'm SO thirsty I can't stand it a second longer. I'm thinking that an easy substitution for the afternoon diet soda would be Crystal Lite mix-ins or light lemondae...anything to give some flavor without caffeine, carbonation or calories.

The morning cup of coffee will never get nixed, but I can certainly decrease the amount I drink on weekends. Or consider a switch to decaf if I just really want to enjoy multiple cups.

As far as my diet, I've never been what I would call "strict." People at work sometimes ask if I'm super strict with my diet, and I don't know how to answer that question. I don't ever really feel like I'm being deprived or forcing myself to be hungry. I NEVER count calories unless I'm just curious on any one particular day. There are some things that are just assumed for me: I never eat things like potato chips, snacks like cheetos, or full-calorie soda. I rarely eat french fries, red meat, pork, and I'm not much of a candy person. So some people may call that strict, but that still gives me plenty of room for other foods that aren't so great for you but sure are tasty!

Senior year of college I went through a vegetarian-ish phase. Not for any moral reasons, but just to cut down on cholesterol in my diet. I completely eliminated red meat and pork, and I only had other meats (turkey, chicken, fish) maybe 1-2 times each week. I found that I LOVED things like veggies and hummus, pitas filled with those 2 things, veggie wraps, veggie chili, and even grilled veggie sandwiches. I knew I wasn't getting enough protein, but I felt more healthy than I had in a long time.

My real food weakness is desserts...the more homemade things like brownies, cheesecake, cookie dough, etc. Also, ICE CREAM--of any kind. I don't keep these things in the house, but I love going to places like Cheesecake Factory or Coldstone Creamery. I did one big "No sweets" stunt that started 6 weeks before my wedding. I inadvertently lost 4 pounds, which wasn't the goal, but apparently that shows how many calories desserts had been adding to my diet! Beyond the weight loss though, I felt healthier in a "clean" kind of way...the bloated feeling that comes with sugar was gone, making me feel leaner. Best of all, I felt empowered that I COULD say no to desserts--that was a first.

Now, I'm looking for just a healthy, maintainable, clean diet. I don't believe in completely eliminating any foods--there will inevitably come a situation where I will want to eat one of those "never" foods, so I'm not so much worried about getting rid of all the unhealthy things so much as being more choosey about what I eat and learning moderation. Ideally I would eat sweets only 1-2 times each week. Some weeks that is the case, others it isn't. A few months ago I was in a phase where I always had wine with dinner, usually about 2 glasses. Again, I'm shooting for about 1-3 times a week for alcohol---although we all know wine is good for the heart, VERY high in sugar. And really with any alcohol, talk about emtpy calories and dehydration!

So just my thoughts out loud on eating, drinking, and just being more aware of what I'm putting into my body; considering whether I'm giving my body energy or dragging it down; creating the parameters for a healthy, lifelong diet.