The Food I Eat: December ‘09 vs. December ‘10

I haven’t posted a lot recently about my clean eating lifestyle, but I am definitely still on the bandwagon! I was thinking today about how utterly different my food habits are from last year at this time, and I thought it would be interesting to see the comparison all typed out: 

Here is everything I ate today, December 2nd, 2010:

Breakfast:
2 whole-wheat buttermilk pancakes {with real maple syrup and real butter}
1 egg with 1/2 slice American cheese
Organic skim milk

Snack:
Handful of Snyder’s pretzels {all-natural}

Lunch:
Egg salad {with mayo and mustard – I promise it’s really amazing and not gross like it sounds} on 2 slices of toasted Ezekiel bread
Sliced green peppers with 2 Laughing Cow wedges
Water

Snack:
Coffee {half and half, 2 raw sugar packets, cinnamon}
1/2 of a huge Granny smith apple with some Cabot’s cheddar cheese and all-natural peanut butter

Dinner:
“Nacho Spuds” {a Rachael Ray recipe containing potatoes, beef, black beans, tomatoes, and cheese; topped with sour cream, lettuce, and salsa}
Sweet corn
Water

Dessert:
3 mini lemon poppy-seed muffins and 1 oatmeal cookie {my mom and I were baking tonight, for two different reasons, and I definitely caved and had some sweets.  On a normal night, I definitely wouldn’t be eating this.  If I was hungry after dinner, I’d probably have some pretzels, Greek yogurt with raspberries and honey, or some Stonyfield frozen yogurt. I’m just being honest with you. :) }
Organic skim milk

Here’s how that menu would have looked a year ago, when I was on on the Weight Watcher’s/typical American mindset of fats-are-bad and paying no attention to chemicals in my food:

2 whole-wheat pancakes {topped with Lite Aunt Jemima’s and Smart Balance spread}
2 Egg Beaters with cheese
Non-organic milk {I never thought the extra cost was worth it}

Barbeque baked potato chips
A few sugar-free candies

Egg salad with lite mayo on low-cal {heavily preserved} wheat bread
Peppers and Laughing Cow wedges

Coffee with flavored creamer and Splenda
Apple with reduced-calorie PB, probably no cheese

Dinner would have been the same except I would have been terrified to eat the potatoes and corn {because of carbs}, the cheese and sour creams would have been low-fat, and I would have used msg-laced taco seasoning instead of making my own with spices

Dessert would probably be the same…who am I kidding. ;) If it hadn’t been a baking night, either some lite yogurt with sugary granola on top, or maybe a Skinny Cow sugar-free fudgscicle

I want to shudder when I think about my old eating habits.  And the crazy thing is, I really thought I was healthy!  (Here’s a tip for you: NEVER buy anything that has the word “Lite” in front. Seriously.)

My old diet was loaded with chemical after chemical after chemical.  I ate sugar all.day.long and never realized it.  I tried so hard to eat low-cal foods, and was so nervous about certain carbs. 

Well, do you want to know the irony of the whole thing?  I am several pounds LIGHTER than I was at this time last year! I eat full-fat, delicious and nourishing foods that keep me full longer.  Don't get me wrong, I would love to lose 9 pounds (and honestly, my tummy area isn’t toned and it really should be), but I have a healthy BMI for my height.  (I still don’t exercise – I know, I really, really, really need to – so really the only thing different is my food.) 

Please don’t misunderstand me – I am certainly NOT a perfect “clean-eater,” as evidenced by my desserts tonight.  For instance, I don’t use flavored creamers anymore on a daily basis, but tomorrow is our monthly Moms group and someone keeps bringing Toffee creamer so I let myself have it once a month or when I’m at a friend’s house.  The key, remember, is always moderation. 

A year from now I’d love to look at my current menu and make even more improvements to it – like learn how to sprout my own grains, etc.  I certainly have a long way to go still.  Like, I know I shouldn’t eat American cheese because it’s so heavily processed, but I really like the taste of it on eggs and haven’t found another cheese that I like as well for eggs yet. 

It’s all a journey and the more I learn about food additives and preservatives, the more inspired I am to keep eating this way. 

So, what about you?  Have any of you made some drastic changes in your diet?  Or maybe you’ve just tweaked a thing or two that you never thought you’d be able to give up? (For me it was coffee creamer – and I’m seriously considering giving it its own post. :)