Cuttin' back

If there is any food I would choose to eat on any given day, at any given time, it would be pasta [preferably mac&cheese].

If I were on my death bed, I would choose to eat a ginormous bowl of pasta. Again...mac&cheese.

If I'm ever needing comfort food or my husband's out for the night hunting/fishing/camping, I buy a big 'ol box of Kraft Velveeta Shells and Cheese.

Do you see where this going?

I loooove me some carbs! Funny thing is that for the past 6 months I have had this super heavy feeling that, no matter what I did, what I ate, how much I exercised, I just couldn't shake. It was starting to get downright ridiculous. And the straw that broke the camel's back - I know I will have lots of company with this one - is my shopping trip this past weekend.

Monday night I got to thinking about the kinds of foods I eat, or make for Brad that I usually end up eating cause it's easier. They consist of:

Spaghetti
Lasagna
Meat & Potatoes (mashed, grilled, you name it we eat 'em)
Stuffed shells
LOTS of hamburgers/cheeseburgers/hot dogs this summer (uh, with potatoes. yep)

Here's what I eat when I've been trying to eat healthy:

Whole wheat penne
Whole grain rice
Cous cous
Wraps

Um....is anybody else wondering where my protein is??!? For heaven's sakes.

So, the conclusion I've come to is that:

A) I LOVE CARBS
B0 ALL I EAT ARE CARBS

Well, duh, no wonder I feel like I'm an extra million pounds and can't get rid of it! With that being said, I decided that I wasn't going to eliminate carbs, but to cut back on them for a while. And you know what? It's only been two days, and I already feel much better than I did all summer!

Here's what I've been eating:

Vegetable soup (lentils, cabbage, squash, carrots, cauliflower)
Tomatoes stuffed with tuna salad
Spaghetti squash with italian sausage/pasta sauce
deli meat/cheese wraps (these are for snacks)
yogurt and fruit for breakfast
LOTS of vegetables

My goal isn't to cut carbs out completely, and I know some people have a really negative perception of carb cutting (Atkins diet, hello), but for me, I think the amount of carbs I was eating was getting a bit much. They became an easy fix for dinners cause I didn't have to think about anything, I could just throw something together. Now I actually have to put my brain to work!