After almost 25 years as a fitness professional, and as someone who struggled with anorexia in high school, I know firsthand how difficult it is to fix a metabolism that was screwed up from yoyo dieting. I have been a regular exerciser for 25 years now and have had a handle on eating nutritionally now for 20. As I have discussed in past, it is about balancing calories you eat with the calories your body uses each day. Not brain surgery by the way. But what has come to my attention in the last few weeks, just by really paying attention to how and why people choose to put certain things in their mouths, it is never about what "I should eat", it is always about "what i want to eat", for most of us. This is what has to change. If you desire to lose weight and feel better, and maintain that mentality, you must make the decision to eat for your health, especially given that the majority of diseases that will kill us stem from unhealthy eating and exercising habits. Things that we must choose to control. I for one plan to do everything I can to avoid dying, or worse yet, being incapacitated from having a stroke, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, colorectal cancer and the like. Most of these are self imposed illnesses, though some will get us no matter what we do to avoid them. In my "no regrets" mentality, as long as I KNOW that I have done what I can to give my body the best chance of avoiding these killers, than I can have no regrets along the way. Same reason I choose not to partake in unhealthy endeavors like motorcycle riding, riding a bike without a helmet, or being in a car without a seatbelt.
So, you wonder, where the hell do I start? The answer is easy. A food diary. Yes, you must take responsibility for what you put in your mouth, the good, the bad and the ugly. And it starts with writing down everything you eat, each and every day, until you finally "get it". This is what I require of all my clients and I will remind you once again, that most never have the opportunity to work with me because they refuse or are unable to commit to the food diary. And just to continue to practice what I preach, earlier this year I committed to my own food diary for a month, writing down everything I put in my mouth and counting every calorie. The modifications I had to make during this time, which is what I expect of my clients in the beginning, is to "keep it simple stupid" and eat basic, clean food that is easy to measure and calculate calories with. That means unless you are willing to do the work associated with making a complex meal and figuring out the accompanying calories, you keep it basic....chicken, steamed veggies, brown rice type of meals.
Just like with any addiction, most of us have an addiction to eating "yummy" tasting food, which happens to be high in fat and full of empty calories, we must eliminate these foods from our diet. PERIOD. You cannot have your cake and eat it too, otherwise you will want that cake every day. While you are in the "losing" mode, most people must completely eliminate the problem rather than try to have a smaller amount of it every day. Be it chocolate, alcohol, or heroin, you have to abstain from your drug of choice, in total. Interesting to think about drug addicts or alcoholics, don't get the privilege of ever partaking in these goodies ever again. But with food, unless you have an allergic reaction that can kill you from eating it, you can make the decision to eat "it" in the future, and while that bite won't kill you directly, it could ultimately kill you indirectly because of your self-imposed addition to unhealthy food items.
So, what is your plan. As you approach the new year and the chance to use a "new year's resolution" as you excuse to finally make that change, are you in? Step one in the process is just to write down every morsel you put in your mouth, along with approximate amounts. Step two, with the help of an inexpensive food scale, which you can buy for $19.99 at Costco right now, is to begin to calculate every calorie you put in your mouth. Step three is to start to modify what you eat with healthier options. I.E, if you eat a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast each day, you change it to a high fiber option, and lite cream cheese. That coffee latte, with whole milk and whip cream, easily changes to low fat and no whip. Simple changes add up to lifestyle changes that will improve yours.
I just wanted to let you know that I've made some healthy changes in my life, getting serious about it the end of August. There is now 60 lbs less of me! My latest lab results showed my cholesterol dropping 50 points! I've incorporated oat bran into my diet, eating just 2T a day. I give oat bran a lot of the credit. It's really good in the morning microwaved with some fat free milk and a bit of "fake" sugar. I prefer Truvia. Or I like it mixed into some fat free yogurt. My favorites being Activia's vanilla or Chobani's lemon. I've made other healthy diet changes that are really working for me! I'm trying to incorporate more exercise, even if it's Wii Just "Dancing". My knees aren't the best due to carrying all of this weight all of these years. I still have a ways to go, but this is the most encouraged that I've been in a very long time! One of the first things that I'm going to do when I get to a more normal weight is to get on the bone marrow register. I didn't know there were weight rules when I tried to do it years ago. It wasn't a fun experience when it was pointed out to me when I was deep into the paperwork. I left in tears. A woman working the drive saw me and caught me by my car, giving me a hug and telling me that she couldn't even donate blood for her own child who was battling cancer, due to some challenge that she had. I've never forgotten her and how she made me feel better. Anyway, 2012 is looking up for me. Many thanks to you and Mary for your encouragement, recipes and good examples that you set. I'll keep you posted.
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