HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! Looking forward to spending some time at the boys school for the Valentine’s Day parties. Then later a date night in with my husband, putting the kids to bed then having baked spaghetti and oven roasted mushrooms and wine. Going to be a fun day!
Started the day with a 4 mile run and a 2 minute plank. I also tried out my new Lock Laces. They were a a gift for signing up for the Spring Bootie Buster Challenge through Run to the Finish. I really liked them, I could tighten them easily and they didn’t loosen up and no need to worry about my shoe coming untied. (may have to order some for the boys)
I participated in another tweet chat last night, this time through Best Body Bootcamp. I liked all the questions and discussion but one question was very interesting.
What is easier to do diet or exercise? I would have expected it to be 50/50 on this answer but it wasn’t, a majority of last nights participants said diet.
I know that eating healthy at times is harder for me then exercise. One of the comments was why is it easier to make exercise a routine but not healthy eating.
As I thought about this comment while we were all chatting I completely agreed. I, somewhat, easily made the commitment to my early morning workouts. It energizes me and makes me feel good to start the day. But, at times, as much as I have committed myself to eat healthy, if there are cookies, chocolate or yummy desserts, I can’t stop myself (On and Off the Wagon.)
I also recently had an experience at a local restaurant. They were having baseball sign up there so we decided to eat dinner there as well. This restaurant had a salad bar but that particular day the lettuce looked pretty wilted and I am not always a fan of salad bars (something about the stuff just sitting out for long periods of time). I looked at the menu to find something healthy to eat. A lot of restaurants have a healthy options portion of the menu, but unfortunately not this one. They had other salads on the menu but they were either filled with foods I don’t care for or had breaded chicken strips on top. Most things on the menu were pretty heavy and I wasn’t in the mood for that. So I settled for over medium eggs. They did have multigrain bread and turkey sausage so I ordered that along with hash browns (I know I could have skipped the hash browns but I love them). My dinner came and my eggs took up one quarter of the plate, I had one round turkey sausage, and over half the plate was full of hash browns. Those hash browns were easily 3 servings worth. I enjoy turkey sausage almost more than regular sausage, however, this turkey sausage was the worst I have ever had. It was tough and tasted like cardboard (not that I have eaten cardboard but if I did I predict it would taste that bad). So in my attempt to be healthy, I wound up with a plate of potatoes and a little egg.
I feel as though many of as have experienced this at a restaurant. I do not want to not go out to eat, or be that person who takes 20 minutes to order because I have to take off and add items to my entree to make it healthy, but maybe that is the way it has to be in order to get the meal I want and will feel good about.
So as I was participating in the chat last night I realized yes, I think for a majority of people diet is harder than exercise. Exercise is up to you and you alone, so if you decide to commit to it then you are in charge of your own destiny.
But diet can often be affected by external factors. Such as lack of time, eating out, or limited choices at your local grocery store. Here are some ways I have started to make some of these external factors affect my healthy eating a little less:
- Prep foods for the week on weekends when you may have more time-I make a batch of Quinoa or make ground turkey/kale burgers to have for lunch during the week
- Make grab and go snacks-I have been pre-bagging nuts and berry trail mix in snack bags, this way when I am hungry I am not just scanning the cupboard, I have a healthy snack ready to go
- Pre-wash fruits and veggies-I pre-wash and cut my veggies and fruits, again for grab and go. I am more likely to grab for fruit when I am in a hurry if it is ready to eat
- Plan your meals ahead of time-I have started planning breakfast, lunch and dinner for the week while making my grocery list. I used to just plan dinners. I found these great menu planning printables on Pinterest that I am going to try this week
- Try new things-Use Pinterest and other recipe sites to find new things to try. I know if I start to get bored I can easily go back to some of my unhealthy choices because they are easy and I know I like them.
- Talk with friends-ask friends and family what healthy snacks and meals they have tried and like or use them as a support system to stay on track
What is easier for you diet or exercise?
One last thing before the question of the day, I FINALLY remembered to make overnight oats. I have been wanting to try them for a good two weeks now but always remember in the morning, which defeats the purpose because you are supposed to make them at night, hence the name.
I tried Chocolatey Overnight Oats (I am sure you are not surprised I started with the chocolate option)
I substituted strawberries for the banana and added flax seed. They were very tasty and I am looking forward to trying other recipes. So glad I finally remembered.
Question of the day
Our first vacation
Since it is Valentines Day I will discuss my first vacation with my husband rather than first family vacation.
It was a quick weekend get-away. He knew I loved live theater so he surprised me with a trip to Toronto to see the Lion King. It was wonderful! We had a great dinner and saw a tremendous show. The part we still laugh about is that when we came out of the theater there were a bunch of rickshaw’s waiting there. We thought it would be fun so we hired one and agreed upon a price. We misjudged the distance to our hotel from the theater however and the poor guy ran us for at least a mile more than we had told him. Needless to say he got a nice tip and we have a funny memory.
What was your first vacation?
Ohhhh…what a great reflective post on last night’s topic! I don’t know if I’ve really thought about the fact that diet is more affected by external things than exercise. Great thoughts, tips, and so glad you got something from the chat to share. I’ll be sharing this post in my link love round up this weekend. Happy V-Day!
Thanks, that means a lot Tina. I really enjoyed the chat last night. Happy V-Day to you too!
I totally agree with you…for me diet is harder than exercise for the same reasons you do! Nice post.
Thanks!
I actually think diet is easier, but exercise to me takes up so much more time. You have to have the right clothes, the right shoes, a decent amount of time, money for equipment or the weather has to cooperate. I find healthy choices are fairly easy to find — you just have to CHOOSE them when you see them (that’s the hard part! hehe!).
very true. IT is all about making good choices, which I do not always do
You kindly stopped by my blog yesterday on my featured blogger day, thank you. Wow, your very good with your running etc. I’m naughty, have yet to get back to exercising this year! Bad girl, eating not to bad though. I will definitely check out more of your blog to see if I can get some tips
It has been easier to get back on track after joining the Best Body Bootcamp and signing up for races, keeps me motivated to exercise. Good luck getting back into it.
Exercise is definitely easier for me. I love exercising but I love love love food and I LIVE TO EAT… I workout so hard so I don’t have to sacrifice all my favorite foods, no matter how unhealthy! Of course I eat it in moderation but to me, what is life about good food?
I actually eat really healthy during the week and I usually go out to eat on weekends but I always just order what I want (usually not the healthies) because I’m paying for a meal and I want to get something I normally wouldn’t or couldn’t make at home. I eat healthy most of the time anyway so going to a restaurant and not worrying about the ingredients is a well-deserved treat!
I completely agree, I do not want to eliminate foods from my diet which is why I exercise. I just eat the junky stuff in moderation and focus on making sure a majority of my foods are healthy and I am finding some great healthy alternatives to foods I love
My problem is planning!! I just seem to not be able to plan the planning.
Visiting from sits
I have found doing it week by week works. Thanks for visiting
I think controlling my diet is easier than exercise. I’m just lazy at heart! As for restaurants, my family and I went out for lunch the Saturday before Mother’s Day. We ordered and when our food came, I made a comment about the size of the plates. They looked small, but in reality they were a good portion size and I didn’t feel like I had to push myself to eat too much just because it was there. We use small plates at home too to help with portion control.
I think plate size is a good trick to use, easy to fill up a large plate with a bunch of stuff you don’t need.
Our first vacation as a married couple was our honeymoon. We went by car ferry from Washington to Canada through the San Juan Islands just before Christmas. The snow was falling, Christmas lights were glowing and believe or not when we were close to one island we could hear Christmas music. It was magical. Thanks for the blog and the question.
Sounds like a great trip!
Hi there, can’t find your name anywhere but I imagine that’s the way you want it
Happy SITS day. As a group fitness instructor and avid fitness junkie, I have to say I agree with you. It is much easier for me to get up and exercise. It’s a no brainer. Nothing gets in my way. However, it’s not so easy to maintain the most healthy diet. I think I cheat a little because I go to the gym so much. I will have to try to join in those chats if they are still going on.
I agree, exercise is a no brainer for me but sweets are my healthy eating nemesis:)
I try to keep some of my personal info personal but I guess with the internet it is not always possible
Hi there, can’t find your name anywhere but I imagine that’s the way you want it
Happy SITS day. As a group fitness instructor and avid fitness junkie, I have to say I agree with you. It is much easier for me to get up and exercise. It’s a no brainer. Nothing gets in my way. However, it’s not so easy to maintain the most healthy diet. I think I cheat a little because I go to the gym so much. I will have to try to join in those chats if they are still going on.
Thanks, I do my best to keep some personal information off but I suppose it is almost impossible with the internet these days. I agree, exercise is a no brainer for me, it’s those darn sweets that sabotage my diet:)
For me diet is easier. Staying at home with 2 small children makes it hard to find the time to exercise.
2 small kids does make it hard, I used to get up early early before mine did to get it in
It is easier for me to watch what I eat than it is for me to exercise. Although I love hiking, skiing and tennis, I cannot engage in any of them more than once or twice a week and I detest going to the gym.
Rachel recently posted The 16 Habits of Highly Unsuccessful People
The gym is not my favorite place either, I would much rather be outside but during the cold winters I have no choice