Weddingbee Blog

We’ve talked about a few of my more minor issues… but the biggest issue for me to face is one that affects every aspect of my health: my eating habits.

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I’m a pretty healthy person in a lot of ways. I don’t smoke, I’m not a big drinker, and I try to make it to the gym 3-4 times a week. I do pretty well at watching my caloric intakes and I generally keep my weight within 10 lbs of a healthy range for my height.

So what’s the issue?

Well, I really do not like healthy food. I don’t like fruit, and I don’t like vegetables. I can tolerate a lot of different types of fruits and veggies, but I do not like them. I only eat them out of guilt and obligation. I don’t think I’ve ever craved or looked forward to eating a piece of fruit, at least not in the last 20 years. I don’t even like fruity desserts (pies, tarts, and jelly-doughnuts make me wanna ralph).

I laugh out loud when I read a magazine or online article telling me that fruit and yogurt are excellent replacements for candy and sweets, or that a delicious bowl of berries will quench a sugar craving. (I hate berries and I’m not a fan of yogurt either. Seriously. I’m losing my appetite (current craving: cake) just thinking about strawberries.) I don’t like melon, I’m not a big fan of citrus, and it would take a worthy bribe to make me eat a pear. The only way I’ll eat a banana is with lots of peanut butter on it. (There has to be more peanut butter than banana - it helps keep the nasty banana-flavor at bay.)

You have no idea how unappetizing this looks to me. [source]

What about vegetables? Well, I do like salads… with lots of cheese and dressing and croutons piled on. I like fresh tomatoes… on my nachos. (I know that’s a fruit, but whatev.) Carrots are probably my favorite veggie, but again, I’m not shouting from the rooftops, “I WANT A CARROT!” or anything. I can easily tolerate broccoli and asparagus, but you won’t catch me anywhere near a squash or a cucumber.

My parents were/are always big veggie and fruit fans. First of all, it’s their job as parents, but second, they actually like the stuff. My dad loves fruit, and my mom has been known to eat Brussels sprouts (Willingly! by choice!) for supper. When I went to college, I didn’t eat many healthy things at all. Why would I? I was free from parental control! But now that I’m older and on the verge of marriage, I see more clearly that I really need to make healthy choices now to prevent health problems later. But all I really want to eat is pizza, cake, nachos and ice cream. Ever my partner in crime, Mr. Mary Jane feels the same way. Far too often, we eat popcorn and candy for supper. In the summer, it might be Blizzards and sodas. Sometimes we have Perkins fried “App Sampler” for breakfast with an Oreo milkshake and a slice of chocolate or peanut butter pie. We’re bad.

This is much more my style. [source]

As with my other issues, I feel like my wedding is a good catalyst to make a positive change in my health. It’s not THE reason, but it’s a great, solid date to have as a goal. A wedding is the creation of a family. Though Mr. Mary Jane and I live life as a family already, our family will become reality on our wedding day. We owe it to each other to take good care of our bodies and invest in our future well-being. We want to grow old together. And while we’re not planning to have children soon, it’ll be easier to be positive role-models for them in the future if we don’t have to make drastic changes in our attitudes about food after they’re born. Change comes slowly, but I’ve made a few strides in improving our diets:

• We take a multi-vitamin. I know we’re not getting our daily allowance of some important vitamins and nutrients, so this helps.
• When I go to the store, I buy fruits and veggies. And we eat them - we don’t let them sit and rot for a week. Even if some of our salads are just lettuce and dressing, and even if our “fruit” for the day consists of one Cutie split between the two of us, it’s still a step in the right direction.
• I bring some of that healthy stuff to work. And I make myself eat it for lunch.
• We don’t eat out as often as we used to. We eat lunch at work 3-4 times a week, only going out once or twice. For dinner, we eat at home at least 5 days a week. Even if we don’t have healthy stuff in our packed lunches or home dinners, it’s still often less greasy than eating out. We save money this way, too.
• When I cook at home, I try to be health-conscious. I use less butter or oil than directed. I use low-fat milk. I not to over-cheese things as much as I once did. (But, but, I LOVE cheese!)

These are baby-steps, but it’s a positive change. I’m not overweight, but I know that my calories aren’t coming from the right places. I also know that if I were a healthier eater, my workouts would be more beneficial to my body. My overall body makeup would probably change for the better, too. (Great for my wedding-day look!) And, it would help my acne stay away too.

Are you using your wedding day as an excuse to make positive changes in your life?