Christmas is over and New Years Eve is coming up soon. I don’t know about you, but if you feel full and gained some unwanted weight like me over the holidays, you are on the right page!
You probably have seen hundreds of crash diets, wonder pills and “healthy” lifestyles already. I suppose nothing has worked for you so far; or you had some short term results and went back to were you were before in no time. If you are asking yourself “How can I lose weight fast” and “How can I change my lifestyle” then we have something in common.
I am struggling with weight since I am 6 years old and I do have my ups and downs. Trying differed diets always pushed me to overeating/binging afterwards for weeks. I guess I am always scared to miss out of something…I love to eat!
Let me tell you that no diet or lifestyle has anything to do with your results. Now that sounds motivating, I know…Let me tell you something else: The reason why you were not able to lose weight or keep it off until now is that you couldn’t adapt to those. They were just not your thing! It’s that simple. And that’s OK!
Many people, including myself, want to have it all, right now. It’s all or nothing. We get excited dreaming about our perfect healthy body; beautiful, sexy…yes! We are ready to start, highly encouraged…and after one week comes the hard downfall. We can’t do it! How can people just eat vegetables and teeny tiny portions???
That is not possible, it’s not working, you are hungry and want to eat! So what are you going to do now? Give up? Start over? With the same thing you couldn’t do in the first place? Eat like you want for a week and start the next? Procrastinating? Oh man…
There is some light after the tunnel ( just reading my own blog makes me depressed, so let’s get started with the good stuff here)!
Here is what I recommend:
1) Write down what you eat daily, weekly, monthly and out of that make a list of healthy food like fruit, vegetables, whole foods, brown rice, sweet potato, organic chicken etc. ( green ), unhealthy food like fried food, prepackaged food, fast food, sauces, fat meat, white bread, candy, chips, sweet liquid beverages etc. ( red )
2) Write down from the unhealthy food list what you can’t live without ( for example, I can’t live without chocolate )
3) Write down healthy food that you don’t eat or never tried, don’t like and tried before
4) Calorie counting IS a part of losing/keeping your weight, calculate your daily calorie intake ( online sites provide lots of calculators )
5) If you do exercise calculate the calories you burn
Out of your list and calculations plan your meals. Is there any healthy food you would be willing to try or introduce to your regular diet if it tastes better with something else or not too healthy? For example, could you eat that raw vegetable as a snack if you can dip it in peanut butter or a dressing, instead of eating it just plain? What are the unhealthy foods you can’t live without? How often do you eat those? Reward yourself with 2 days a week where you can eat the things you like, preferably when you do exercise that day (best 2-3 days in between like Sunday and Wednesday).
Let’s say you eat healthy food for 3 days, like fish, chicken, and brown rice, fruit, salad, raw veggies with hummus, guacamole or almond butter, a hard-boiled egg etc. Now comes the day you can eat the things you like; choose breakfast, lunch or dinner for your meal and go out to your favorite place or order or make your favorite dish. Have a snack and enjoy it, chips, chocolate, ice cream, whatever you like. The point is to feel satisfied with the lifestyle you have and still have the weight and health you want. Make sure when you have your cheat days you still check your calorie intake and go lighter on your other meals or/and do some exercise or walking.
Now look what kind of diet you tried and liked before, and what was the reason you couldn’t do it? Obviously too many restrictions on food and calories. Would you be able to eat good for 2-3 days, if you can have the things you like on the 3-4th day?
What if you can’t eat good for 3 days? All of us have cravings. If you crave, pick something you REALLY crave and something healthy, and eat it together. Example: popcorn and an apple, chips and a salad, chocolate and some cucumber or pepper. Make sure you eat the healthy food choice FIRST, then the food you crave. You will feel fuller faster and most likely don’t overeat on the choice you craved. Also, add the food you don’t like to your diet. If you can’t eat it the way it is, try a sauce with it, or maybe you can cook it with spices and it taste better. The reason why I am recommending this is to train your taste buds. A lifestyle change doesn’t come over night. It takes persistency. You want to have that beautiful body, that great skin, that strong shiny hair, but it takes a lot of healthy food to get it. As you eat the same food over and over again, you get used to it and eventually like it. One step closer to your goal!
I hated Brussel sprouts for years and years. Every time my mom made it I wanted to crawl under the table. Surprisingly I love Brussel sprouts now and can eat a whole bowl by myself. It didn’t come over night, but it happened.
Attention: When you have your cheat day or crave and eat, watch your calories. Again, the complete calorie intake makes the difference between weight loss and weight gain. If you go overboard, make sure you stay the next 3 days in your calculated caloric intake.
This is a first step to your new you! By changing the way you eat slowly and not giving up everything you can handle cravings and resulting stress better. It is good to have a backup plan when you feel like eating. It definitely has helped me.
*This is my first blog~thank you for reading*
AROUND VENTURA 