To Diet or Not to Diet?

I would hope by now everyone would know how I feel about diets. Just in case you don’t, let me tell you.

THEY DO NOT WORK! WHY?

Have you ever been on a diet? Atkins, South Beach, Cabbage Soup, low-calorie, low-carbs, and so on and so on….. Too many to name! You were on this diet and doing great losing weight and you ate something not on the diet and then something else, and now you feel like a failure. No matter how much weight you have lost you fall back into the same old way of eating. You’re eating the foods you love, and now the weight comes right back on and then some! “Yo-Yoing” can sometimes be worse for you. Why should you deprive yourself of something you love? Not eat that cake you really enjoy? Some of you are reading this thinking I must be crazy, you’ll never lose weight eating things you love! YES you can!

How, you ask? How can you take off the weight and keep it off? Start small with changes that are manageable for you and your life. We are all busy and can find tons of excuses why we cannot change what foods we eat and why we don’t exercise. I would rather have excuses that will keep heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and other diseases away. I want to be able to live a healthy, active life when I grow old!

So let’s start with a few small changes that will get you started in the right direction on your journey to living a healthy life that is SUSTAINABLE for you and your family. Not a diet!

-          Drink more water! Our body gives the same signal for thirst as it does for hunger, so have a glass of water. 8 glasses of water a day! I know plain water sometimes can be unappealing, so add a little flavor- Lemon, Lime, Orange, Cucumber, whatever you like. Try to stay away from things that are made with artificial sweeteners in them. Limit your alcoholic drinks, soda, and juices they have lots of calories you don’t need.  Seltzer, coffee and tea are ok as long as you don’t add sugar and cream.

-          Learn what high volume foods are and what smart foods are so you can make better choices. If you have high volume foods you like on hand it will be easier to eat that than a bag of chips. Here are some examples of high volume foods: Bananas, Blackberries, Blueberries, Figs, Oranges, Peaches, Plums, Asparagus, Broccoli, Carrots, Kohlrabi. Some smart choices: 6 egg whites scrambled with cheese & mushrooms, 1 slice of wheat toast, and 1 baked apple with cinnamon instead of a cheese omelet, 3 strips of bacon, and home fries.

-          Eat breakfast! Something small to start just to get your metabolism moving! After about 2 weeks your body will get used to it and be looking for FUEL. When you don’t feed your body it shuts down and stores everything when you do eat. The more you feed your body the more you burn!

I will talk more about this in the weeks to come to help keep everyone stay on track and add some new great recipes also. Until next time I want everyone to TAKE 3 before you eat something! Take 3 seconds to ask yourself 3 questions-

1.       Am I Hungry?

2.       Is it smart?

3.       How much do I need?