“I really hate food. Especially pizza, ice-cream, and fruit.” Said no one ever.
I have yet to hear that statement from any of my clients and hope I never do. We all love food, and most of us love to eat it. 🙂 In case anyone is wondering; this is a GOOD THING. We are designed to eat food, every day, from the time we are born till the time we die. At first we can only drink our food, reliant on our mothers “homemade” nutrition, but as we grow and develop into strong, healthy living creatures, our taste buds develop and change and we eat from a much wider variety.
Time goes on and for whatever reason, many of us forget how to eat. Social, emotional/psychological, digestion or health issues all come in to play. We don’t really forget, but we get pushed way off course from what eating is, what it should be, as opposed to what everyone tells us it is. At some point we gained weight from the most innocent of reasons. . . we naturally enjoyed our food and ate too much. Overeating – even organic fruits and vegetables will add weight if you are eating too much. Conversely, I watch overweight people under-eat all the time, they drink their calories or do not exercise regularly and their body is not happy with them for it.
Choosing what to eat is really simple if you allow it to be. What we didn’t know years ago was an education in nutrition would have helped us make better food choices.
So now what? Now that you have gained weight, you want to lose it. Best way to fix it is to: Educate yourself a little, and move forward one day at a time. This means finding a lifestyle of healthy eating that works for you, not your skinny friends. Throw away your diet books, and instead choose foods with the most dense nutrition available (i.e. not in boxes, cans, bags or other preservative laden monstrosities) and move forward. You can be a vegan, a die hard Paleo advocate, or a regular joe and still get amazing results…there is no magic secret.
“I don’t know what to eat to lose weight. Please tell me.”
This is the most common question I get. The next question is undoubtedly “spot reduction” fat loss questions regarding body parts. What is most intriguing for me is the statement, “I know what to eat. . .or “I know what to do, but can you help me?”
If you know then why are you asking me? The truth is you do know what to do (for the most part). You don’t need me to tell you what to eat. I decided last year to stop writing diets for people for good reason – it was not the root of their problem. The issue with asking me what I eat, or following someone’s diet who has a body you like is simple, they are not YOU. Buyer beware of anyone promising things they cannot offer. They have NO control whether you lose weight. YOU DO.
To get down to what you are supposed to eat to lose weight, first let’s start with a simple list of ideas that you can use to reach your goals….you do have those written down right?
1. Write down your ultimate goal and read it out loud to yourself.
Make sure this goal is attainable if you have set a time frame on it. i.e. Losing 40 lbs permanently in 30 days is not smart, safe (possible) or in any way going to stay off unless you undergo surgery, or start smoking crack. Example: “Lose 30 lbs” is not what I am talking about when I say write a goal. You need to write down the REASONS you want to lose weight. WHY do you want to lose it? Get specific, write them down, read them out loud and get started. Try: “Feel confident in a swimsuit”.
*Caution: “Stop hating my body” is an entirely different issue which is a core root of many women’s problems…so if you hate yourself, or hate your body…you need to fix that issue first before any plan will stick.
2. Create a LIVABLE plan that will work for your current schedule.
Kids, partners, work, school, volunteering schedule; all come into account when thinking about food, meal plans, etc. Live and function in the right now, and you will achieve positive results. We all eat about 3 or 4 times a day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and usually a snack at some point. It’s not very hard to eat healthy, so get out of your own way and just do it already. Involve your kids and make it fun. Stop the negative self loathing banter in your brain or you won’t succeed with happiness. Husband not into healthy eating? This does pose an emotional/support issue, but that’s his problem not yours. Truly. Good heavens, it’s YOUR body and YOUR health and no one has the right to take those away from you.
3. Start some type of Exercise and don’t stop.
I cannot stress this one enough. Get off your butt and start moving. Fifteen minutes is great if it gets your heart rate up and blood pumping. It does not matter too much what you do, but do something. Strength training, Yoga, Pilates, Zumba, Hiking, Biking….just MOVE it. Don’t ask me what I do, because I’ve been exercising for years now. I couldn’t possibly sit down and draw what my artist friend can – I need years of practice first. So I take a beginner class and get on the train. Start working out to DVD’s at home, go for a daily walk, join a gym. All you need to do is sweat a little and do what makes you FEEL good. It’s trial and error friends. You have to try something first! I cannot tell you how many classes I’ve taken, dvd’s I’ve thrown away, or programs/sports I tried. It’s an ongoing practice. Woking at your office or running errands all day for the family may keep you busy, but it’s not exercise and there is no way that you actually feel better from NOT exercising.
4. Eat balanced meals 90% of the time, have dessert once or twice a week & don’t drink too much.
Depending on how much fat you have to lose, how active you are, how much sleep you are getting and how much stress you have will determine how much wiggle room you have when it comes to eating dessert or drinking alcohol. We all eat roughly 27 meals a week and 7 snacks. You do the math (I hate numbers when it comes to food!)
WHAT SHOULD YOU EAT?
While I hate telling people what to eat, there are choices that will help you. Eat real, whole, unprocessed, natural food; meaning it grows on the earth or sea, walks or swims. Eat a variety of vegetables, a couple of pieces of fruit a day, (fruit is a great dessert or sweet addition to a salad), protein (plant or animal) a very small amount of starch at one meal (again go for what food as the most nutrition here…meaning vitamins, minerals, amino acids) and some healthy fat. Coconut oil, butter, olive oil – these three are all you really need in your house when it comes to fat. No need to get fancy unless you really want to. Here is a plan I love
Your body will tell you what it needs and likes.
Start listening to it. If you are overweight, you have not been listening to what your body is telling you. Your brain or emotions may be ruling the school, so kick them to the curb. Or you may have been eating so many processed foods that your chemistry is off (craving the addictive sugars and salts is a real problem) so you’ll have to wean yourself off of those so you can actually hear what your body is trying to tell you.
There are so many helpful plans out there many if not most of them are free online that it’s up to you to choose what foods to eat. Just don’t diet anymore or live in a world of deprivation or self hate. Life is too short for that. It’s not okay to be overweight, I won’t lie. It’s a problem we have in this country but it’s your personal responsibility to fix your own. Stop blaming anyone or anything for whatever problem you have or had. Excuses are not going to get you to your goal. If you have financial issues you can still eat healthy. Unprocessed whole foods keep people far more full than processed cheap ones. You can join co-ops, look for coupons, do whatever it takes to make living a healthy, active life a joyful one. Plant your own little garden (even if you live in an apartment!) it’s all possible. If it’s a priority to you, you will make it happen.
Lastly, don’t stress about it so much. Stop comparing yourself to anyone else. Your favorite bestie may drink like a fish or eat chocolate cake every day….but she is not you. Every time you compare yourself to anyone else, even your former self, you are defeated, so I urge you to get up, get moving and stop comparing. Shop for and plan your healthy meals, have dessert once or twice a week that you made at home with real food ingredients. (hint: you would never eat white flour with a spoon, so don’t make your dessert with it) Have a glass of wine instead of dessert if you prefer, just be balanced. If you are still overweight, then something is not balanced. You know better than me what to do to fix it.
Start out with the goal of changing your attitude and lifestyle one step at a time. I ask my clients to write their own plans that they could keep up for one year. Not one week or one month but one year. When you see that there is no perfect diet or exercise plan that suits everyone, you can start to listen to your heart and body. Your choices will be easier and you will obtain the results you are looking for.