Pursuit of Excellence: Develop healthy eating habits and patterns.

Last time I posted about the Pursuit of Excellence the goal to work on was Develop a program of Regular Exercise. I hope everyone has been working on their goal. Some of my friends and I have been getting together and working out together.  It has been highly motivating! I think working out together strengthens your relationships and I feel like I definitely push my self much harder.  The best part is every time you exercise, you know that you are making your body that much healthier! Here is the link to the Pursuit of Excellence pamphlet. 

This week's Goal is:

Develop healthy eating habits and patterns. You should have guessed if the last goal I posted about was Regular Exercise, then this month's would be about nutrition.  They go hand in hand, if your goal is to have a healthy lifestyle. So, the goal is to choose now that you are going to start having or continue having Healthy Eating Habits and Patterns.  In this month's Ensign there were two articles, which discussed the issue of nutrition.

The first was titled, "Nourishing Our Bodies and Our Spirits" BY BEVERLY HYATT NEVILLE.  One of the things in the article that stuck out to me was, " In societies where excesses are the norm, we need to apply wise judgment and moderation." She goes on to talk about how it doesn't mean we can never have a treat, we just need to use wise judgment. We know what foods are good for us and what foods are not good for us.  We need to use our judgment and choose the better food.  I can be an emotional eater at times.  The funny thing with emotional eating is you are not choosing to eat the foods that are good for you. At least I don't anyways.  When I emotionally eat, I go straight for the sugar filled candy, especially if it is chocolate.  That food does not make you fill better, it makes you feel worse, because now you are also filled with regret.  Beverly suggests that instead of emotionally eating to fill that emotional hunger we fill it with service instead. Portion size... okay so my family likes to have pizza every now and then.  Pizza is not the best choice, but if I only eat one slice, then I will still be okay. Especially, if I have that one slice with a plate full of yummy salad! We can have a piece of chocolate here and there just not the whole box in one sitting.  I hope you are getting what I am saying.  It is best to use wise judgment and choose real, whole foods. But at times it is okay to have a treat or a piece of pizza as long as it is done in moderation and the portion size is controlled. 

The second article is titled, "A Principle with Promises" BY G. CRAIG KISER.  Isn't it wonderful that our Heavenly Father back in 1833, through revelation to our Prophet Joseph Smith, gave us a diet plan.  It is simple and strait forward. It tells us exactly what to avoid and exactly what we should eat.  I am not going to go into much detail, because I think this article says it all, so I'll let you read it.

Here are a few of the recipes I like to use for my meals throughout the day:

I figured the calories for each of the recipes by using the food search at  Fatsecret. ***Disclaimer:  I am not a nutritionist.  These are my opinions and what I try to follow in my own life.  Talk to your doctor or dietitian about what nutrition plan is best for you and your health.