Hi, my name is Laura and I’m not always in control of my eating habits.
Sometime last year, I decided (for the 435th time in my life) that I needed to get serious about losing some weight.
I’m tired of being tired. Carrying around an extra 70 pounds was surely making me tired.
So now I’m 35 pounds down and 35 more to go.
How’d I do it? First let me tell you how I didn’t do it.
The things that didn’t work for me (that I tried) included:
Counting calories
Weight Watchers
The Paleo diet
The Flat Belly diet
The Alkaline diet
Eating what I want but exercising like crazy
Watching what I eat, but never exercising
… and a hundred other ways of trying to lose the excess baggage.
Last year I decided I don’t need to spend my life making lists of what I can and can’t eat, taking notes of my every activity and calorie, adding everything up at the end of the day (or several times DURING the day) and calculating it all against my BMI.
Yes, I want to be in control… but that kind of thing is just overly controlling. I’m smart. I *know* if I’m putting something decent into my body or not.
So for me it came down to these simple principles:
1) Eat when you’re hungry
2) Stop eating when you’re satisfied
3) Drink an appropriate amount of water
4) Opt for whole grains
5) Cut out refined and overly processed foods
6) Go easy on the salt
7) Move your body when you can
8) Have good food on-hand at all times
Let’s break these down:
1) Eat when you’re hungry
I make an effort to notice if I’m really hungry or if eating because I’m bored or stressed instead.
2) Stop eating when you’re satisfied
Also known as “portion control”, this is a biggie. The amount of food that is heaped onto the typical American dinner plate, at home or in restaurants, borders on the obscene. Keep in mind what a serving of meat is, for example; it’s the size of the palm of your hand. You know those teeny, tiny cans of tuna you can buy that are so cute? That’s 3 ounces… which is one serving. If you aren’t hungry, stop eating.
3) Drink an appropriate amount of water
I don’t measure or count how much water I drink in a day, but I do try to think about drinking water when I can. I don’t drink anything else except herbal teas. Might have some fresh squeezed fruit juice on a special occasion, but the bulk of my days never sees soda, juice, coffee or anything else. Don’t forget that sometimes when you’re thirsty, that is mistaken by you as hunger… so make sure you’re always hydrated. Also, water helps keep things moving in the body… you want things moving. No one wants a static body.
4) Opt for whole grains
This one is huge. I’m rather fond of carbohydrates and rice and white bread were faves of mine. Interestingly enough, it hasn’t been that hard to switch to whole grains. They have more flavor, less goes a longer way, they have more nutrition and fiber, and it’s been my experience they are important for evening out blood sugar levels.
5) Cut out refined and overly processed foods
KISS or “keep it simple, stupid” is how I like to eat now. The less my food is manufactured, the better. I don’t even like recipes with a lot of ingredients, even if they are healthy. For me, eating foods in the form closest to their essence is best. For example, rather than apple juice or apple pie, I’d eat just the plain old apple. Rather than fish with cream sauce, I’d want just the fish, maybe grilled with a sprinkle of lemon juice. The simpler, the better. Rather than canned, frozen, or boxed foods (which usually have preservatives, fewer vitamins, and more sodium), try finding that food in its raw state… or foregoing it altogether. I also cut out refined sugars and mostly get my sugars from fruits now.
6) Go easy on the salt
I am a born salt-aholic. Knowing this, I try to steer clear of soups (have yet to find a low-sodium soup that didn’t make me gag). I do find that, just like sugar, if I go for awhile without overdoing it, I find that a little goes a long way. Also, instead of salting my food during cooking, I find I use less if I salt it at the table, instead. I’m learning that lemon is a great salt substitute. I drizzle it over my vegetables in the place of butter and salt.
7) Move your body when you can
Okay, here’s my weakest link. I don’t like to exercise. Rather than make a plan where I have all this stuff scheduled out and then find excuses not to do it… leading to a feeling of failure and futility, I just “move when I can”. I opt for stairs when I can, I walk a few blocks rather than drive when I can, I go out onto the tennis courts once in awhile. Little things. I currently walk an hour a day 3-4 times a week and I think that reduced my blood pressure. Yay! I’ll add other things, maybe some free weights, eventually. But for me, it’s a little bit at a time.
8) Have good food on-hand at all times
I don’t deprive myself of food. If there’s something I really want, I eat some. SOME… not all or a ton or five servings. Having a taste of something also keeps that “I’m depriving myself” feeling at bay. But I also know myself well enough to know I don’t have a great amount of self-control, so I try to keep “those” situations to a minimum by not having unhealthy foods in the house and by having plenty of healthy snacks/alternatives at hand. My worst times are when there’s nothing easy for me to eat so I go get something easy… like fast food, or restaurant food, or other junk food. I know I don’t always feel like chopping up a bunch of vegetables just because I want a snack and since I work two jobs I’m not going to beat myself up over the fact that on top of everything else I do I don’t take the time to wash and cut up vegetables. My solution is to go ahead and buy some of the pre-cut veggies even though they cost a bit more because I’d rather have something there when I need it then find an excuse to go out and get some junk food.
Two things I have heard quoted that struck a chord with me were these:
1) Nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels
2) Food is fuel
The “food is fuel” thing really makes me think about what I’m putting into my body.
And doing all of these things I’ve listed above has made it so that I can be at someone’s birthday party and I can eat one bite of the cake on my plate to see what it tastes like and enjoy it. I can do that, without feeling like I want to snarf the piece of cake in three seconds and ask for more.
I haven’t yet worked on the principle of eating slowly and enjoying my food. There’s always room for improvement. But one thing I think that has changed (and is a huge improvement) is that rather than eating three meals a day, I tend to graze. I am hypoglycemic and I think this works in my favor. There is always a small, steady stream of sugars and proteins in my system. I never get that shaky, “I need to eat” thing going on. Nor do I get that horrid bloated “gotta undo my pants” thing, either.
Portion control. It rocks!
I don't worry about some of the high-fat foods like nuts, cheese, and olive oil. I use these with abandon. To me, they are healthy and when I eat them I'm not over-doing it anyway. Moderation without deprivation.
So this is what seems to be working for me, but we are all different and I look forward to hearing what works for others.
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