For me, diet is always the most challenging part of the diet and exercise weight loss combo. I love to exercise. I also love to eat. Because I'm not willing to drastically cut calories or completely cut out any food that I love, no matter how bad it is for me (Pizza, I'm looking at you), my weight loss is always slow to progress.
I've always believed that I needed to follow a moderate, healthy diet all the time, whether I'm trying to lose weight or not, the theory being that if I ate normally I'd be less likely to see the pounds return. But I have to admit that I've abused the theory of moderation in the past, and my reluctance to say no to something I enjoy has definitely kept me from reaching my fitness goals. Besides not fitting in to my skinny jeans, there is alo the much more important issue of my health. Fitness isn't just being able to run and jump and kick. Fitness is also about a strong, healthy heart, a healthy vascular system, a healthy body in and out. And as much as I'd like to deny it, I'm sure that my indulgences are also doing damage that I can't see.
The truth of the matter is that I haven't met my weight loss goals in the past because I refuse to say no to something I want. Worse still, I often find myself making an unhealthy choice over a healthy one because some part of my brain is still wired to believe that junk is a treat and healthy food is a punishment.
Where is the line between an occasional indulgence and a pattern of excess? At what point does striving for a healthy lifestyle become an obsession with calories and fat? Assuming you aren't in a pattern of disordered eating, how do you find the line? By the scale? By the fit of your pants? Your cholesterol? By some numeric breakdown of the number of times you've eaten chips this month?
Tell me what moderation looks like to you. Do you feel like you've got a good idea of what moderation means in your life?Are you as healthy as you want to be? If not, do you over or under indulge? How great a role does food play in your life?
I'm accepting, slowly, that I don't really exercise moderation, and instead vacillate between two extremes. Food plays a huge role in my life and I'm still trying to figure out why. Can it be as simple as loving good food and loving to cook great meals? If so, at what point does cutting back genuinely deprive me versus making me happier and healthier? Will it always be a battle? That's what I'm trying to figure out. It's time to stop obsessing over calories, time to stop bingeing because I've deprived myself. It's time to find my middle ground.
So tell me- where is yours?
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2 comments:
The evidence of overindulgence fills the space behind my driver's seat in my car. I would eat junk for every meal if possible.
I think I occupy the opposite end of the eating scale. I'm sure my metabolism will eventually screech to a halt and I will be so sorry.
I just have not found the impetus to change my eating patterns. Yet.
Go you for being able to identify and try to adjust your patterns.
On Moderation...
Well, I'm no expert on this stuff, but my challenge has always been portion control at dinner time. I tend to eat more than I should because I'm generally tired, hungry, and ready to unwind in the evening. Here's what has worked for me. You probably do this stuff anyway, but this is what has helped me feel healthy and strong:
1. Only fill your house with good, nutritious foods. Include foods that will satisfy your cravings, but surround yourself with good stuff.
2. Drink a glass of water when you wake up, before you do anything else.
3. Eat a breakfast that will fuel you for the day. Mine is usually the biggest meal of my day.
4. Snack when your hungry. Drink lots of water. Snacking shouldn't get you in to trouble if you follow #1.
5. If you don't have a scale, pick one up. I have a little electronic one. I've found it extremely helpful in controlling my portions at dinner time. For two weeks I made my goal getting my dinner portions under control. I'd turn the scale on, place my plate on top, and scoop out a 4-6 ounce portion of dinner. If we were having vegetable stir fry with rice, I'd scoop five ounces of vegetables and one ounce of rice. Then we'd sit down to enjoy dinner. I found that I was just as satisfied with my smaller portion than a much larger one. And I felt so much better after dinner! After two weeks I could much better eye a correct portion and didn't need the scale anymore.
This is moderation for me. Keeping all foods in your diet, and eating small portions. Just because you can eat all foods doesn't mean you have to eat all of them all of the time. But for me deprivation means at some point I'll give in and hit a new low.
6. No eating after dinner period. You could say a healthy snack is allowed but soon that turns toward a giant bowl of popcorn or for me, a bowl of ice cream. Water and hot tea flow freely after diner, sometimes a beer or a glass of wine, but no snacking.
7. Enjoy the unhealthy foods you love once in awhile. If it's pizza and beer, have two reasonable slices and a beer or two. Just make sure your next meal is a healthy one and the pizza doesn't appear every night. Forgive yourself and enjoy! That's what food is all about. Enjoy food and eat for your health!
These are the golden rules I've been keeping and I've felt really good since keeping true to them.
Keep it up Al!
Love, m
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