Baby it's cold outside!

I took Duke for a little walk this evening to fulfill my goal of walking with him every day for at least 1 mile.  I had to pick him up six times and carry him while holding one of his paws in my hand to warm it up.  He was getting snow and ice melt stuff packed in there, which happens during this time of year.  As I carried him, he was shivering so hard since he wasn't moving to warm himself up.  I decided that I need to revise this goal.

New goal:  Duke and I will walk at least 1 mile every night -- as long as the weather is not dangerous for either of us.  Monday they are forecasting a high temperature of -3 degrees F.  Neither of us needs to be out in temps like that.  I want to get healthy, not kill myself or my little dog. 

I've been trying to be more cognizant of what I'm eating the past couple of days.  At my youngest brother's recommendation, I watched a documentary on Netflix called "Hungry for Change."  WOW!  It was quite an eye opener.  Of course, I realize that some of the viewpoints are slanted because of those who produced the movie, but a lot of the stuff they talked about with regard to the chemicals in our foods and drinks is spot on.  I'm trying to move away from processed foods, but it's very hard when you have come to rely on certain convenience foods.  I know this is not something that is going to come to me instantly.  It's something that I will have to work on and make the changes as we go. 

So thinking about what I've eaten in the last couple of days, if you look at the bottom line, I was under my calorie goal, I had a good calorie burn from exercise, and it appears that I should experience weight loss when I weigh in on Saturday.  However, looking at the nutritional value of the foods....well, I could have done better.  This morning, for instance, instead of the eggs, bacon, and apple that I normally have (don't hate on my bacon - it's low sodium turkey bacon and I love it), for some stupid reason, I grabbed a package of S'mores Poptarts and ate both of them.  I don't really care for Poptarts of any flavor.  And after eating them, I did not feel that I'd done myself any favors. 

However, I still worked those calories into my day and made them fit.  Does that mean I did a good thing since I was under my goal?  Numbers-wise, yes.  Health-wise, no.  I want to lose weight, don't get me wrong, and the "eating less, moving more" idea will help.  But I also want to gain optimal health, and eating those types of processed foods - even if they fit into my calorie budget - just isn't going to work.  I'm not going into this with the idea that certain foods are off limits, though, because that is the easiest way to make myself crave something.  The forbidden foods are usually the most desirable.  I just need to limit my intake of those foods.  With regard to the Poptarts, that's probably the one time this year I will eat something like that because it's not one of my favorite foods.

One step at a time!