part of this journey is about readjusting my taste buds

This is a helpful reminder for myself right now as part of my process of losing body fat, getting leaner and most importantly, getting healthier... is actually shifting my regular diet and really becoming a more healthy version of myself. In past years the majority of my diet has been cheesy sausagey pasta on frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, ice cream every single night before bed... and it's gotten me to where I am now. In order to change, I am eating oatmeal with nuts & seeds in the morning, cauliflower & bean soup for lunch, spinach pesto on protein-pasta... etc etc. And all of these foods taste very, very different than the foods I've been relying on these past few years.

This morning I made an incredible bowl of oatmeal. It was rolled oats I soaked yesterday, I added a small spoonful of peanut butter, a single date, a bunch of walnuts and pumpkin seeds. I was busy patting myself on the back feeling so proud for how healthy of a breakfast I was having. No caffeine either. I sat down on my stoop to eat it in the sunshine and nearly gagged. Not because there was anything wrong with it: it was an objectively delicious meal. Nutty, a little sweet, creamy, warm. I should have found it divine. Instead, I found it hard to swallow.

I still ate it all, trying to focus on what was pleasurable about it. And I'm going to keep trying. I guess my point is, part of this journey for me is about becoming someone who really enjoys foods that are good for my body, and who finds pleasure in taking care of myself. Maybe this resonates with some of you.

At various other times in trying to lose body fat when I only focused on calorie counting, I would still eat the same things I was very used to (frozen foods, processed meat, dessert) but just fewer calories, and really struggled. I fell off the bandwagon every single time.

Where I'm at right now is probably going to take me longer than if I was solely calorie counting. Or if I was just cutting out sugar and carbs. But I'm trying a new approach. Trying to re-train my taste buds, my palate, my expectations of what "real food" is.