I'm a foodie.
Yep. I said it. I love food. I eat when I'm hungry. I eat when I'm bored. I eat to celebrate. I eat to mourn. I eat. I eat. I eat.
Obviously, this affair with food has led me to be the weight I'm at. I know that. I don't blame genes (although my mother was overweight, too). I don't blame McDonald's. I don't blame Barbie Dolls. I don't push the blame on anyone except where it belongs: ME.
So...when a foodie is looking morbid obesity in the face, what's a girl to do?
Ideally, she turns her back on the potato chips, french fries & brownies and she turns to carrot sticks, steamed asparagus and sugar substitutes, right?
Yeah, well, let's pretend that I'm NOT ideal.
Okay, who's pretending?
Anyway...I'm *not* the diet girl. I never have been. I've read hoards of books on this diet and that diet. I've researched Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers and almost every meal plan Richard Simmons ever developed. They. Aren't. For. ME.
"But Mel! It's SO much better for you!!"
Duh. You think I don't know that? Of course they're better for me. I should be eating a balanced meal (6 times a day, according to my HIIT workout) and drinking plenty of water. I should eliminate caffeine, alcohol and fried foods. I should avoid decadent desserts and creamy dressings. But I don't. I DO, however, limit them.
Like I said in a prior blog, a dietician once told me if I did NOTHING but eliminated soda from my diet, I could drop 60+ pounds in a year. That's where I started this time. I've dealt with horrible water retention and noticed when I didn't drink pop, my water retention wasn't as bad. Hmm. (This trial and error thing really rocks, btw.) So, I stopped drinking pop. I miss it...desperately!! But I don't miss the puffy ankles and tight skin. I don't miss having to stuff my pillowy feet into shoes that would fit if it weren't for all the water sitting in my skin. So I deal with the loss of my pop. (Don't get me started on diet pop. You're better off drinking antifreeze. Seriously. It's the WORST thing you could POSSIBLY do to your body!!)
The second thing (and probably the most difficult) I gave up was sweet tea. OMG - talk about withdrawl! Caffeine aside, I thought the lack of sugar in my diet was going to kill me. First pop, now tea, too??? I compromised, though. I found some flavored teas that I enjoy without sugar. (No, I'm not talking about the bottled stuff in the cooler at the store.) I make up a pitcher at a time and drink it constantly (I'm not crazy about plain water). Granted, it's not 100% water, but its better than not drinking anything at all, which is where I'm usually at if I'm not drinking tea.
Other dietary changes were to limit (notice I did not say ELIMINATE?) fried foods, rich sauces, creamy dressings and sweet desserts. Being a foodie, I'd rather you take my arm than my chicken strips, ranch dressing or brownies away. BUT...I do need to eat healthier so I compromise. Instead of ordering (4)buffalo chicken strips & waffle fries, I order a buffalo chicken salad. This cuts my fried chicken down to just one strip, adds lettuce (yay fiber!) and does away with the greasy fries (I'll miss you, potatoes!). I also notice that I can't usually eat an entire salad (they place I order them makes HUGE salads) in a sitting, so I spread it over a couple of meals. Then, instead of the soda I'd have normally ordered, I drink an unsweetened tea or ice water instead.
This is NOT to say I don't eat what I want when I get a craving. The other night on the way home from the gym, I wanted a milk shake. So I bought one. But instead of going to Dairy Queen and ordering a large chocolate dipped strawberry blizzard, I went through the drive-thru at B-Bops and ordered a small chocolate shake. A few days ago, all I wanted was french fries. Instead of ordering a large with a side of ranch, I just bought a small fry and ate them plain. I discovered about three diets ago that I can't eliminate stuff entirely from my diet because I get cravings...and if those cravings aren't met, I end up eating everything in the house until that craving is quenched. If I give into the craving when it first hits, I'm in FAR better control than if I try and ignore it.
It's all about baby steps. I know my will power and I know how far I can push myself. I also know my breaking point. I know by now that I can't go cold turkey and give up everything that's sculpted my eating pattern for the last 35 years. I know I can't. So I don't. Instead, I make the changes I KNOW I can stick with. That's all anybody can do.
Keep in mind no matter WHAT you do differently, it's DIFFERENT from what you've BEEN doing. If you get off your couch and do one lap around the block, that's a lap more than you did last week. If you switch from ice cream to frozen yogurt, it's X number of calories less than you consumed last week. The point is: MAKE THE CHANGE. Regardless of what it is. MAKE it.
And when you fall off the wagon (we ALL do. Don't bullshit me and tell me you won't. I know better. LOL), don't dwell on it. Get up, brush yourself off and get back on.
Yep. I said it. I love food. I eat when I'm hungry. I eat when I'm bored. I eat to celebrate. I eat to mourn. I eat. I eat. I eat.
Obviously, this affair with food has led me to be the weight I'm at. I know that. I don't blame genes (although my mother was overweight, too). I don't blame McDonald's. I don't blame Barbie Dolls. I don't push the blame on anyone except where it belongs: ME.
So...when a foodie is looking morbid obesity in the face, what's a girl to do?
Ideally, she turns her back on the potato chips, french fries & brownies and she turns to carrot sticks, steamed asparagus and sugar substitutes, right?
Yeah, well, let's pretend that I'm NOT ideal.
Okay, who's pretending?
Anyway...I'm *not* the diet girl. I never have been. I've read hoards of books on this diet and that diet. I've researched Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers and almost every meal plan Richard Simmons ever developed. They. Aren't. For. ME.
"But Mel! It's SO much better for you!!"
Duh. You think I don't know that? Of course they're better for me. I should be eating a balanced meal (6 times a day, according to my HIIT workout) and drinking plenty of water. I should eliminate caffeine, alcohol and fried foods. I should avoid decadent desserts and creamy dressings. But I don't. I DO, however, limit them.
Like I said in a prior blog, a dietician once told me if I did NOTHING but eliminated soda from my diet, I could drop 60+ pounds in a year. That's where I started this time. I've dealt with horrible water retention and noticed when I didn't drink pop, my water retention wasn't as bad. Hmm. (This trial and error thing really rocks, btw.) So, I stopped drinking pop. I miss it...desperately!! But I don't miss the puffy ankles and tight skin. I don't miss having to stuff my pillowy feet into shoes that would fit if it weren't for all the water sitting in my skin. So I deal with the loss of my pop. (Don't get me started on diet pop. You're better off drinking antifreeze. Seriously. It's the WORST thing you could POSSIBLY do to your body!!)
The second thing (and probably the most difficult) I gave up was sweet tea. OMG - talk about withdrawl! Caffeine aside, I thought the lack of sugar in my diet was going to kill me. First pop, now tea, too??? I compromised, though. I found some flavored teas that I enjoy without sugar. (No, I'm not talking about the bottled stuff in the cooler at the store.) I make up a pitcher at a time and drink it constantly (I'm not crazy about plain water). Granted, it's not 100% water, but its better than not drinking anything at all, which is where I'm usually at if I'm not drinking tea.
Other dietary changes were to limit (notice I did not say ELIMINATE?) fried foods, rich sauces, creamy dressings and sweet desserts. Being a foodie, I'd rather you take my arm than my chicken strips, ranch dressing or brownies away. BUT...I do need to eat healthier so I compromise. Instead of ordering (4)buffalo chicken strips & waffle fries, I order a buffalo chicken salad. This cuts my fried chicken down to just one strip, adds lettuce (yay fiber!) and does away with the greasy fries (I'll miss you, potatoes!). I also notice that I can't usually eat an entire salad (they place I order them makes HUGE salads) in a sitting, so I spread it over a couple of meals. Then, instead of the soda I'd have normally ordered, I drink an unsweetened tea or ice water instead.
This is NOT to say I don't eat what I want when I get a craving. The other night on the way home from the gym, I wanted a milk shake. So I bought one. But instead of going to Dairy Queen and ordering a large chocolate dipped strawberry blizzard, I went through the drive-thru at B-Bops and ordered a small chocolate shake. A few days ago, all I wanted was french fries. Instead of ordering a large with a side of ranch, I just bought a small fry and ate them plain. I discovered about three diets ago that I can't eliminate stuff entirely from my diet because I get cravings...and if those cravings aren't met, I end up eating everything in the house until that craving is quenched. If I give into the craving when it first hits, I'm in FAR better control than if I try and ignore it.
It's all about baby steps. I know my will power and I know how far I can push myself. I also know my breaking point. I know by now that I can't go cold turkey and give up everything that's sculpted my eating pattern for the last 35 years. I know I can't. So I don't. Instead, I make the changes I KNOW I can stick with. That's all anybody can do.
Keep in mind no matter WHAT you do differently, it's DIFFERENT from what you've BEEN doing. If you get off your couch and do one lap around the block, that's a lap more than you did last week. If you switch from ice cream to frozen yogurt, it's X number of calories less than you consumed last week. The point is: MAKE THE CHANGE. Regardless of what it is. MAKE it.
And when you fall off the wagon (we ALL do. Don't bullshit me and tell me you won't. I know better. LOL), don't dwell on it. Get up, brush yourself off and get back on.
No comments:
Post a Comment