I always remember being told when I was younger to eat everything that’s on your plate. I couldn’t leave the table if I didn’t. Now I’ve grown older and weight and looks have slowly become an ‘issue.’ I began to think about how much I weighed which in turn made me think about how much I eat. Now I don’t look at what I eat to stay, but rather for my health and it bugged me knowing I should be eating less portions but continued to do it anyway. I always wanted second serving of the Blue Box Mac & Cheese and I always love tons and tons of mashed potatoes topped with corn and gravy. Hmmm.
After really taking my health into consideration, I decided to make the proactive choice of eating a healthy diet. I changed nearly everything I ate. I made sure I was eating fruits and veggies, cut back of fatty foods and simple carbs and I even cut back on red meats. I decided to add several snack periods (afternoon and morning) where I would eat a piece of fruit or yogurt.
After sticking to this new nutritional diet I began to notice something strange. When it came to my main meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner, I began to not crave as much food. Why? Because I eat snacks!! Yes yes I know this may have seemed like the obvious answer prior to reading this article. Our moms have been telling us for years to not “eat that cookie or else you’ll ruin your dinner!” Well she was right.
The difference here is, when I would snack before, I would just get the random urge to eat something and then I’d go to the cupboard. Simple as that. N0w what I do is I have habitual snack periods and I make sure what I’m consuming is mostly healthy and good. Habitual and healthy snacks have led to me not overeating when it came to the regular meals.
Doing all of this has led to many benefits I’ve noticed: 1) Food is no longer a provider of comfort. I no longer eat because I’m bored, tired, sad or angry. I eat because I’ve made it a habit to only eat during certain times of the day and it doesn’t bug me because I eat enough to keep me going during down times of not eating.
2) No random urges. Since I am not eating when I randomly get hungry, it allows keeps my sweet tooth from waking up. So during the times in which I am eating, I’m eating healthily. This means I’m getting the nutrients I need to stay energized throughout the day, I’m setting myself up for a healthier body down the road and I’m losing weight.
What many don’t realize is the best way to lose weight is to eat healthy and exercise and this happens over time. See what’s happening is before you weren’t providing your body with the necessarily nutrients consistantly. Because of this your body went into partial ’starvation mode’ where it’ll save certain nutrients in your body because it knows it may not get it tomorrow. This means extra weight on your bones! Once you can convince your body that you will give it everything it needs, it will gladly just get rid of excess everything and you will soon find you need new clothes.
If this sounds bad, trust me, it’s not at all! Nor is it hard, if you listen to your stomach and don’t eat when you’re NOT hungry. You just have to remember, your need and association with food as a comfort will slowly diminish over time when you do this consistantly. Remember the keys here are CONSISTANCY and a little bit of DISCIPLINE. You don’t have to try overly hard honestly. It may be difficult to set up a nutritional plan on your own, but once you get it going and you understand what your body needs and doesn’t need, it gets easier and easier.
So just give it a go. You may even notice changes after the first week! I did, but if you don’t, please don’t get discouraged. Remember to check with your doctor about any new diets you’re trying out to make sure they are safe for you because everyone will react differently.
So be safe and have fun!
-YoYo
