This is not a diet, but a way to balance yourself and what you decide to put into your body.
If you go into this thinking you’re on a diet, it won’t work. You’ll feel like you aren’t getting what you want, which will make you go get what you want even more aggressively.
The reason this isn’t a diet, but more of a way of being, is because no food is exiled. The thing that I am trying to constantly learn is balance. What a beautiful word – balance. Isn’t it meaningful when it comes to eating. Balance is somewhat the heart and soul of this entire blog. I’m not perfect at it and that’s ok. That is ironically, part of the balance.
Diets are off balance which is why I don’t do them. There’s always something that’s been taken away that your body wants and needs. Your body needs carbs, fats, sugars and protein. If it doesn’t get it it will look for it, making it really difficult to find that “self control” that you are trying to gain.
Listen to your body more and your brain less.
Your body knows when it’s full and when it’s hungry. Your brain tells you that all your food in your house needs to be eaten before other people eat it and it’s all gone. Ignore your mind, and listen to your body. You live in a time where there is an abundance around you. It’s probably one of the reasons it’s hard to lose weight. Relax your mind, and listen to what your body it telling you. There is plenty and you can make or buy more if whatever it is that you love runs out.
I’ve noticed that my body gives me signals when it’s had too much of something. For example, sugar. If I’ve eaten too much sugar my body gives me a dull and fleeting headache. It’s a signal. STOP EATING THIS NOW PLEASE. Once you start understanding your bodies signals you can begin to act more proactively.
Feeling full is another way our bodies speak to us. I don’t know about you, but I’m the type of person who eats everything on her plate until it’s clean, full or not. It’s seems like there was always those last few bites that I felt silly not eating. Knowing this about myself, I’ve started putting less food on my plate. I tell myself that I can always go back for seconds, thirds or more if I need to. Every single time that I’ve done this, I get full on less and haven’t needed to go back for seconds yet. The result, I’ve eaten less but I am still satisfied.
Another signal is hunger. When we let our bodies get too hungry we often go for the easiest and usually the worst food for us. Whether that be a cookie from the freezer, or some cheap fast food. Hey, I’m not above cheap fast food, but I try and think of that more as non-nutritious food that’s fun to eat in balance. Ah, there’s that word again.
But what about my little debbie swiss miss rolls, my soda, McDonald's cheeseburgers?!! Oh the humanity!
Ok, calm down. There is still a place for all of that. You see, when you put food in it’s rightful categories then they begin to be seen that way. If I say that cookies are bad and I put them in the “you better stay away from me category”, then I have all the sudden created and given this immense power to these cookies. Anytime I eat them now I feel guilty or wrong, so much so that I can’t even enjoy them. Stop giving them this power. They’re only cookies for Pete’s sake! Put them in the category that they should be in – a treat. A treat is a pleasant thing that brings pleasure and joy. Like going to the movies with your friends, or getting new shoes. I now begin to look at it with joy and gratitude. I also understand that it’s not something that my body always needs, so I eat less of it. I have changed it’s category from bad to good. It therefore has less power over me. And then you can finally say the words that Sarah said in the labyrinth – “You have no power over me.”
Adversely, if you start to look at your food like this it can help as well. For example, we live in a world where bread has been demonized. Literally, it has been seen as the devil to some. So now we have this terrible association and mentality towards bread. We may even be scared to eat it, for fear that we may instantly become fat. What?! Why not remember that it’s a carbohydrate and that your body needs carbohydrates? Start looking at your food choices and meals with a mind of balance. When I eat a meal I try and have at least carbs, protein, fat, and vegetables or fruit present. This way my body gets everything it needs which means I crave less. Does this mean cravings go away? Definitely not! But because I am eating in a more balanced way and focusing on what my body needs and not what my brain wants, I am able to go for longer stints of craving less treats. Take care of your body and your body will take care of you.
Sometimes we just have to break the cycle.
A lot of our decisions are based on our past behaviors and routines. For example, you ate a cookie yesterday for a snack and you’re hungry again, so why not eat another today, and maybe 2 more because I’m really hungry. What we need to do is recognize our patterns and re-program our behaviors. When you’re reprograming yourself think: What food group does my body need more of today? Have I had enough protein? No? Then how about some yogurt with berries and nuts. Have I eaten enough fruit? How about an apple with peanut butter and dark chocolate chips.
It sounds stupid simple, but when you implement changes in your mind that carry out to your actions you are creating new habits and behaviors. You are changing how you think about what to put in your body. You’re thinking about what your body needs. You are thinking more about BALANCE.
Every night after my kids went to bed, I used to go to the kitchen in search of anything sweet. A piece of cake, a cookie, ice cream. And I wouldn’t just take a small piece or scoop, I would really fill myself and ignore those sugar headaches. Part of it was my mentality of making sugar such a big deal, but the other part was it was a habit. Once I let go of thinking sugar was this forbidden treasure that we were going to run out of soon, I noticed that my mind was almost on auto pilot to go get something sweet once the kids were down. I had become Pavlov’s Dog, conditioning myself that once my kids were asleep it was time to go to sugar town. Break this cycle. It’s ok to tell yourself, “I’m ok tonight, I’ll just have tome tea, or if I’m hungry I’ll have a slice of toast.” Break the action and let yourself know that you’ll have sweets, or soda, or fast food, or chips or yada yada yada, soon. There is no shortage. Like your laundry. You’ll get to it eventually. If you’re hungry, eat real food.
Another thing that I noticed was that I would stuff my face when I was around sugar. I wouldn’t just have a cupcake, I’d have 3. I wouldn’t just have a swiss miss roll, I’d have 2. I used to fear cooking with sugar. It became this creature of cancer. And while this has some truth to it, I was making matters worse. I have a very thin and intuitive sister in law who is Chinese. She often adds a few teaspoons of sugar to dishes when she uses soy sauce with out worrying too much about it. Again, she has balance. Little doses here or there aren’t a big deal, so let’s relax and enjoy our nutritious food and continue to ask ourselves, what does my body need more of today?
Our society loves to have treats at social situations. That’s part of the party! What I do now, instead of either stuffing my face, or keeping far away, I look at what looks the best to me and I savor the crap out of it. I eat a modest amount for my body, and I fill my heart with gratitude for such a delicious morsel, and then I’m done. I’m not always perfect at this, but I try to not let sweets have such a grip on my life and mind.
Moral of the story, focus more about what you put into you body, instead of worrying about what you are trying to keep from it. Redirect your thoughts to what your body needs.
Eat Less Chemicals
We live in a time that makes it so easy to give our bodies a lot of processed junk. This brings us to the next part of Whole Food eating. Create meals from scratch as much as you possibly can. Learn to bake your own bread *gasp*! Have you ever read a bread label, there’s like 20 ingredients on that thang, most you can’t pronounce. Bread traditionally only has 3-5 ingredients. Listen, your parents, grandparents, great grandparents and everyone before them knew how to bake bread. This skill does not die with you. You just have to be willing to give it a try. I can help you. I’m not a trained chef, but I’ve learned through a lot of trial and error how to make a decent loaf of bread and I’m willing to share with you all of my tips to make it work.
Don’t just stop at bread either. Make your own sauces, desserts, dinners, dressings and stop eating out of boxes. Have you looked at salad dressing ingredients, it’s frightening. I’m not talking about becoming a master cheese crafter or milking the cow every morning, unless that’s your thing. I’m talking about being more homemade. There are so many preservatives and additives in foods that our body has no idea what to do with. Get rid of those things as much as possible. Try your best to eat clean in the sense that you are trying to rid your body of these things.
Channel your Mind.
You don’t have to be perfect at this, but try to have about 80-90% of what you eat work for your body and rid of chemicals. Chemicals meaning that long list of scientific jargon on labels that you don’t understand. Again, ask yourself what you haven’t had enough of today. Protein, fiber, carbs, fat, veggies, fruit, etc. and fill that void. Try to incorporate more healthy options that maybe you don’t currently eat. For me this was beans. Beans are an amazing food. They are filling, a fast protein, super cheap and they keep you regular. What about flax seed? Sprinkle some of that shiz on your toast in the morning! Add add add to your food. Ask yourself, “What’s amazing for me that my body could really use?”. Have I eaten too much bread now because I feel like I have finally given myself permission to eat it without guilt? Ok, maybe then I’d better take it easy and have a salad for lunch. Get excited about all the amazing foods out there that are waiting for you. In a world that’s so interconnected like ours is today, there are so many amazing and delicious food choices. Make eating well an adventure.
You get to decide, not anyone else, what you eat. You have that gift and power to make that choice. So stop telling yourself that you can't make good choices and have a grateful heart towards yourself, your body, and the food you fill it with.
I don’t count my macros, I don’t worry about the amount of carbs in something. I simply try to have some of everything on my plate. I usually go heavier on the veggies because I know that they are good for me. This is where you use that beautiful brain of yours.
Sometimes I eat a snack after lunch, sometimes I eat an early dinner because I’m hungry at 4:00. Why not? Dinners at 5 anyway, I might as well eat and fill my body if it’s telling me it’s hungry.
Start you meal by taking less than you normally do. You can always go back for more. See if you get full by eating less. Chances are you will.
There are no rules.
Just find balance.
