I drove 20 minutes to one of my home gyms for a Spin class. Before Spin, I had a piece of banana bread. I had to get to Spin early to sign up, so before class I did some ab work. I really love my Spin classes at home. They are so much better than the ones at school, which I can basically never make because I have practice during the times they are offered.

After Spin, I completed the At home chipper from Tina‘s blog. It took me about half an hour. What really held me up were the burpees. I absolutely hate them! I had to break them up quite a bit, in contrast to the squats, where I just blasted through all 100 at once.

After Spin, I ended up stopping by home briefly to visit kitties and pick up a birthday present for my sister. While home, I ate a beautiful lunch.

Corn chowder with avocado, brussels sprouts (my favorite) and buttered European style toast. Plus some random things I found raiding my parents’ cabinets. 

I also had some super, super dark chocolate. My favorite! I don’t have a picture, but I made a coconut type candy (with no sugar-beware). I mixed baker’s chocolate with unsweetened coconut and coconut oil, and rolled the mixture in cocoa powder. So I have a zero sugar dessert! I wish I could say that today was a low-sugar success, but I cannot. Tonight I had a team dinner, which was pita chips and hummus, salad, and homemade pizza. Plus funfetti cupcakes and peanut butter frosted brownies. A) I’m totally stuffed. B) I think I’ve reached my trans fat quota for the rest of my life with those cupcakes. C) Halfway through the brownie I realized, I can’t eat this frosting, I’m allergic to nuts! 

Which leads me to the next topic of interest: my nut allergy. I basically cut out nuts for 2 days (today is my 3rd), minus a walnut chocolate ship cookie last night. I woke up this morning, looked in the mirror, and was shocked. This is the best my skin has been in like 8 months! I definitely have a nut allergy. How crazy is that? 

Ok, back to the topic of the post. In Dr. Robert Lustig’s book, Fat Chance, he really talks about the importance of eating real food in terms of our health, especially in relation to the obesity epidemic. He defines real food similar to Michael Pollan, in that it is “food your grandmother would recognize.” He believes that one of the biggest reasons for our nation’s health problems is the removal of fiber and the addition of sugar in all our foods. He describes fiber as nature’s “antidote” to sugar. This book really made me think about my own eating habits. Let’s be honest. My eating definitely hasn’t been as healthy since coming to college. Maybe it is because there aren’t great options, or maybe it’s because I just get so bored with everything. Navigating healthy eating can be super difficult. I know I really shouldn’t complain about our dining halls because they’re way better than most, but I just don’t like the food here. Which makes it really hard for any meal to be satisfying. To eat a healthy meal in my local dining hall, I have basically one option. Grilled chicken. Greens. Oil/vinegar. Brown rice or beans/lentil. Every. Single. Meal. I feel like I’m definitely not getting enough variety in my vegetables and fruits (melon and bananas…yayyy) especially in terms of nutrients. And I do love my smoothies, but they don’t keep me satisfied for as long as something solid, and the insoluble fiber in the fruit is broken up in the blender. 

That was not intended to be a rant. What I’m trying to get at is the importance of real, whole foods in maintaining health. Waffles are not a whole food. And I’ve been loving my waffles lately….

This isn’t simply intended to be me complaining about my eating habits. I want to encourage everyone to think about this as well! Not only in terms of themselves, but in terms of others who may be suffering as a result of the typical American diet. I know a lot of you other healthy living bloggers out there know about the importance of real food, but we have to take some responsibility for those who don’t and are the victim of the Supermarket diet. As a blogger, I feel it is part of my duty to try and help anyone I can! All this is just something I feel so passionately about! 

Have a great week everyone! I can’t wait to roll myself into weights tomorrow for weigh-ins. Whoops. 

What do you feel is a blogger’s duty?