Ah the dilemma. The dilemma of what to put into my Saturday Snippets for you to read as you eat your donut and wash it down with coffee.
I thought I’d continue with my healthy living theme that I’ve got going on right now.
A few years ago when I began to um…accidentally…wander into the health and fitness world I had clear ideas of how I thought things should work. I still do although some have been dialed in on more since I’ve learned and grown more.
The one thing now that is so important to me is using my voice through my blog and other social media to share how crucial good nutrition is to someone wanting to lead a healthy lifestyle.
I love exercise. I’ve loved the hard work and challenges of training for big events. I love getting out of my comfort zone and doing stuff some of y’all tease me about 😁
However, at the end of the day, the best exercise I can do is make careful choices as to what I choose to shovel or not shovel into my mouth.
This is where it makes or breaks for all of us.
I firmly believe a sensible eating plan that includes all food groups is extremely important.
Why?
Sustainability long term ( can you do it forever) and important vitamins, minerals and nutrients your body needs from all food groups.
Yes, exercise I believe is crucial to our complete well being. However, if you want to lose weight, keep it off, and live “normally ” you need to do a couple things.
* Eat a balanced diet of all foods.
* Don’t engage in plans that restrict or offer “cheat days” or leave you feeling deprived and restricted.
* Practice mindful eating. Listen to your body.
*Portion control. You really don’t need seconds.
* Remember anything that is labeled as low fat, fat free, sugar free, gluten free, paleo, keto, low carb, whatever, whatever, still has calories! And your body only needs a certain number a day to do it’s thing. Eat over that, you won’t lose, eat under that requirement and you’ll lose weight. Remember, its science boys and girls 😏
Make a point to daily choose real, whole foods, allow for a wee bit of fun stuff, eat enough to satisfy your appetite, listen to your body ( it’s ok to get truly hungry!) then add as well some purposeful exercise to balance it all out.
If you need to start somewhere though, remember the best exercise is mindfulness of what your hand brings to your mouth and the quality of food you eat.
One of the most overarching things I hear ( and read) are from people who want to eat healthier, who desire to do so, but often seem at a loss of where exactly to begin.
I mean, really, it shouldn’t BE hard, right?
Get the good food, eat the good food.
Why on earth are chocolate covered donuts in the basket??!
Seriously though…..
As I write this I’ll toss out the disclaimer that I’m certainly no expert on perfect nutrition. I openly and freely share my vices with you….hello powdered sugar donuts and salt and pepper kettle chips 😛
I have just learned how to control my behaviors associated with those things. I’ve learned that those foods don’t support my athletic or health goals. I also don’t deprive myself so if I want something, I have some of it and move on.
On the whole of my day though, I make constant choices to choose wisely in what I eat.
It has been a learned process.
Some days are awesome other days are …..meh.
Ok so now that we’ve got THAT outta the way, lets continue.
You aren’t a dummy, really.
When it comes to eating and nutrition you really are largely a product of what you’ve been raised in, what you’ve been taught, and what you’ve been exposed to. Ok and you do have a healthy amount of “free will” as a grown up in your food choices as well.
You can “choose” to buy a candy bar and coke in the gas station… or you can “choose” to buy water and a banana or pretzels.
Huge difference in calories and nutritional content.
So free will goes a long way to helping us become more successful in our efforts to eat better.
I totally understand environmental factors. I didn’t grow up with a focus on healthy, moderate eating.
I grew up with good food, cooked by a mom and grandmother who knew what they were about in the kitchen ( skills they taught me to which I’m grateful) and food was all about not just eating, but comfort, family, and eating, plenty!
Seconds were just expected and a given. Everyone ate till they were in the food coma stage.
Of all things I’ve learned/taught myself these past years is to stay away from that mentality. It is a feeling I don’t like experiencing anymore, nor want to.
So some beginning steps towards getting smart with food is to understand your background environment ( what food was for you in your family, how it was treated, foods that were prepared etc) and accept your food behaviors today.
No one makes you eat anything you don’t want or more than what you need.
In the beginning….
Ya know, when our Creator landed us here a zillion years ago, eating wasn’t complex. I have no personal experience with this but eating then was probably what it was designed for.
Food was fuel.
You ate to get fueled and you didn’t eat again till your tank was running low and you needed it. Repeat process. Spend time running from wild animals to survive ensured you got your cardio in 😉
Of course our early ancestors didn’t have all the processed, fatty, sugary non-essential foods we have today or I’m pretty sure they woulda been having brownies for dessert too.
One thing is still the same though.
Food is fuel. We need it to survive and to have adequate energy to get through our days.
It’s WHAT we choose to fuel or bodies with, how much, and how often that has become the issue.
It’s eating to eat and not eating because we have genuine hunger and need to fill our tank.
We eat to feed our eyes, mouth, and minds very often, without as much thought to what our stomach is saying.
Are we really hungry?
We’ve been given natural signals to indicate we need to eat yet many people go through their days never being aware of those signals because they never let themselves become hungry.
Back to the basics.
There are a few things you can do that can help you get smarter with your eating. They aren’t complicated or really hard, but they may feel that way as you have to intentionally work to adjust your thinking and behaviors.
Ready?
Eat when you’re hungry. When you’re authentically hungry, feed your body. You get no extra points for ignoring your hunger or pretending it isn’t there, so eat. If you aren’t experiencing those hunger signals, find something else to do.
Eat just enough. Now this can be a fine line to walk for all of us as we tend to eat and think we need more but if we give our bodies a little time to process what’s been taken in we would realize that we’ve had enough. One thing I’ve learned and been amazed over is how little food it really takes to satisfy my appetite and end my hunger. The same is true for you but you may have to teach yourself new patterns and behaviors with it.
Be mindful and intentional.This is where your food choices come in with the other points above. Assuming we’re all adults here, each one of us knows and makes choices over the foods and drinks we consume in our days.
No one *makes* me go through a fast food drive thru or *makes* me buy non-essential, empty calorie foods at the stores.
I am responsible for what I do.
Same goes for you.
I’m at a point in my journey now where if I want something, I am fully aware of the choice I’m making. For those of you who still operate in a zone of feeling “guilty” over food, ( find my post on food guilt here… https://sassyfitnesschick.com/2018/07/07/food-and-guilty-feelings/ ) this becomes very freeing as you know you’ve made a purposeful choice and not just been swept away because you’ve deprived yourself for so long.
Making different, healthy choices won’t be easy in the beginning. Work on listening to your body and eating just enough to feed your hunger, even if your food choices aren’t the best.
As you master the first two habits, you can begin to change things you’re doing. DON’T make sweeping, broad, extreme changes to your eating all at once. You will be setting yourself up to quit in 24 hours.
Small steps are the best steps.
DO think about the foods you consume. Make a list if you have to. Which are healthy and offer good nutrition to your body? Which are non-essential empty calorie foods that don’t promote good nutrition ?
What non-essential foods could you swap for something healthier? Don’t forget what you drink too.
What non-essential. empty calorie foods do you consume that you could learn to live without or have on a less frequent basis?
Are you willing to try new things? To change you must be willing to step out where you haven’t experimented before. Add in a new fruit or vegetable to your week. Find a healthy recipe or learn to swap out higher fat ingredients for less fat options.
One of the biggest swaps I’ve made is using my non-fat, plain Greek yogurt in recipes that call for sour cream or mayo. Sometimes with the mayo I only use half to half yogurt. Not only do you cut fat and calories, you get a little extra protein thrown in too. I also use this when making dip for veggie trays and as well as other sour cream based foods.
Look at how much added sugar or fatty foods you consume and see if you can eat less of it or make healthier swaps for something you like.
Learning to be intentional about what you put in your mouth will be your biggest challenge and your greatest victory to healthy eating.
Once you begin to master that, eating healthier begins to feel like an easy choice.
Why? Because when you build new habits, they tend to take over the old behaviors.
Undoing and changing a lifetime of learned behaviors is a purposeful and intentional choice made day by day, but with time and consistency you will be on your way to healthy smart eating and permanent lifestyle change.
What steps have you taken to becoming a smarter, healthier person?
Oh I’m so excited to be able to finally do this book review! There is nothing I love more than being able to talk up something I can support and get behind. Mainly because the truths and information in this book can be life changing. Lives have been changed and people come into a real working knowledge of understanding themselves better and more importantly understanding their relationship with food. They build new habits, and in the process losing weight and never thinking of another diet ever again. Ever.
With the start of a new year comes a plethora of new books on weight loss, nutrition and fitness all of them vying for your attention and your money.
No wonder. The weight loss/diet industry is a mega dollar business and it’s a competitive market going after you, the consumer, who is wondering what the next step should be to finally losing weight and getting in shape.
For good. Once for all and done with the yoyo lifestyle.
What else to do on a road trip? Refresh myself on this information!
8 years ago when I decided I was going to just finally do it, I didn’t have a “plan” or an organized diet I followed. I was tired of things that didn’t make sense, made me feel deprived, left me always hungry or thinking about when I could finally… for the love of God.. have food again.
What a sucky way to live.
So I basically just started taking one day at a time. I made slow changes, learned to modify my food choices, and I didn’t deprive myself. Incredibly, I was losing weight, almost painlessly. With enough time I guess those behaviors turned into new habits that I began to do without even thinking about it. I got more into exercising and that helped too.
I learned to eat when I was hungry and stop when I felt satisfied. I began to think more about what I ate and I also learned that I didn’t have to have an all or nothing mentality. I could have chocolate in the house and not eat it, but if I wanted a piece or two, I did with no guilt attached.
Such freedom in developing healthy habits and behaviors with food!
I didn’t focus on losing a certain amount of weight or let the scale rule me. I just lived one day at a time and weight loss, slow and steady, occurred.
Several years went by and I saw a friend post one day about a book called “Lean Habits For Lifelong Weight Loss” I read enough in the post to intrigue me which sent me searching out the book to see what it was about.
I was shocked that the young woman writing it had eloquently written out things I had somehow stumbled on and taught myself that had led to my success and evidently many others were learning and being taught similar things.
It’s the only “weight loss anything’ I recommend to someone.
After buying it, I read it almost overnight. I eventually wrote a post here on my blog for my readers, wanting to share this great find.
This past fall Georgie contacted me letting me know the paperback version would be dropping in December and would I mind writing another review?
Mind?! Ha, not at all.
My position is still very much the same on the book and habits lifestyle now as it was when I wrote first review. The paperback copy is small, light and an easy book to drop in your bag and whip out when you’re sitting somewhere waiting … like a doctors office where your appointment was an hour ago and you’re still waiting 😉
Although smaller in format and composition it still packs all the valuable, smart, and incredibly sane information the hardback book contains.
I’m thrilled to do my part in an industry that wants to teach people freedom from food and diet nonsense so they can live successfully in their health and fitness endeavors.
The book is neatly formatted into 4 main core habits that you pace yourself on. You do one until it becomes second nature. Until you don’t even think about doing it. Once you feel you’ve mastered it, you can move on. Georgie lays them out clearly with tips, ideas and cool science stuff to go along with it. So if you’re kind of a science nerd, you’ll like those parts. Once you get the 4 core habits down you move into the 12 supporting habits which covers everything from eating treats to emotional eating and everything in between.
The book is easy to read and she often makes you laugh so that’s an extra bonus ( in my opinion 😉 )
Basically at the end of it she’s got you thinking “Hey, I can do this!”
Not only that, I love how she talks about not wanting to make the process horrible or hard for her clients because it doesn’t have to be that way.
“My goal as a coach has always been to help my clients achieve that calorie deficit in the most comfortable way possible. The experience of losing fat doesn’t have to be all that bad!” p. 37 Lean Habits For Weight Loss
How many times have you thought you have to suffer, be miserable, starve, and hate life to lose some weight?
You don’t. Trust me.
Thousands of people have used this approach to almost effortlessly lose a little ( or a lot) of weight and change their lives.
Does it take work? Persistence? A willingness to know you’ll have good days and bad days but you just keep on practicing those habits till you do them so automatically you don’t even thing about it? Yes.
Is it worth it to live the rest of your days in peace with food? Absolutely.
So. The new book review. I’m getting there.
I wanted to take a different spin on this review. I wanted to ask Georgie some questions to help you know a little of who she is, where her passion is at, and how she came to writing this book. One thing I’ve learned about her and following her is that she is passionate about this idea of living free from food bondage and teaching others how to do it too.
Let’s hear from her now and see what she has to say……..
For those who don’t know, can you share a little background on who you are ? What are your degrees and training?
GF: I grew up in New Jersey and did my undergraduate degree in Nutritional Sciences at Rutgers University. Then I went to Cornell University in upstate New York for my Dietetic Internship, and became a registered dietitian in 2005. Not quite ready to stop learning, I enrolled in the PhD program in Nutritional Sciences back at Rutgers University. After another five years of PhD work, I was academically doing well but personally and healthwise I was struggling. I had been working as the Sports Dietitian for Rutgers Athletics during my grad school years and it had become so clear that working in counseling was for me, not a career in academia. I had to get out of the lab, and out of my high pressure, chronically broke life. So I decided to move to the mountains of Colorado, sans PhD, and work as a clinical dietitian. Not long after that, I began counseling online as well as in person, and eventually transitioned into all online nutrition consulting in 2011.
Was there something specific that helped you choose the field you are in ?
GF: I was an athlete in high school and somewhat obsessed with nutrition and health. I suffered from anorexia nervosa as a teenager, exercised compulsively to manage my anxiety and depression, and throughout my college years was still repairing my relationship with food and exercise. I had always been a science fanatic, and my love of food and my love of science just meshed perfectly into studying nutrition!
Why write this book? Was there a defining moment to do so ?
GF: Well, when I started learning all this, it was purely about getting my own life on track! And after that happened, and I just kept meeting person after person who was suffering and I could help them with what I learned. It’s the best feeling in the world for me to work with a person and see them changing, becoming happier and more confident and feeling empowered and enjoying food instead of feeling tense and stressed about it.
But at the same time there is a disappointing limit to working with people one at a time; I can only work with this tiny little sliver of people who want help, and it’s a drop in the bucket because millions of people want this info and can benefit from scientifically-sound, easy to implement nutrition guidance. Books are one fantastic way to spread information to larger amount of people, which is also the reason we put our nutrition courses online for free, so anyone can take them. (Head to onebyonenutrition.com and you’ll see).
I put off writing it for a year, actually, because I was intimidated about writing a proposal and getting rejected by publishers, but eventually I got brave enough.
Why would someone want to use the lean habits system over some of the other current trendy diets or plans out there right now?
GF: If you want results that last, you can’t do a certain set of behaviors temporarily. This is maintainable, it’s flexible, you can go on vacation, eat your favorite foods, and keep practicing. It fits into real life without being a major pain in the butt, and it actually feels really good to take charge of making your own food choices and know that you are on the right track without weighing or counting things. And it ends helping a lot of people deal with their emotions and relationship with food in a beneficial way. It’s like a rehabilitation program after too much dieting has left you with food guilt, no clue what hunger and satisfaction feel like, and still that extra weight you wanted gone.
What is your biggest passion in what you do? Your biggest frustration?
GF: My passion is to listen to people like they have never been heard before, to ask the questions that help me understand why they eat the way they do, and to then communicate it back to them so that they understand it too.
My biggest frustration is when people don’t want to understand, learn, or change, and think they can just buy a meal plan from me.
Do you have a favorite lean habit success story I can share with my readers?
GF: Oooh yes. I just got a client email actually….. (see below)
“Like most people who struggle with nutrition and health, I have spent my life beating myself up for my failures. Georgie Fear helped me learn how to transform my critical inner dialogue. Georgie is incredibly knowledgeable about all facets of health, but, more importantly, she is caring and willing to walk through struggles without judgement. In fact, she would often share difficulties from her own life to give me hope to overcome my own mistakes. Georgie asked great questions and was patient with my missteps along the way. Her guidance transformed all of my life as I learned how to rejoice in mistakes and challenges as an opportunity to learn. I am a better husband, father, and friend because of this change. Today, I no longer tear myself down during difficult times; instead, I build myself up and forgive myself for my mistakes. Georgie guided me to a place where I no longer needed a coach, and I am healthier today than when I finished working with her. I practice healthy habits daily, and I know how to easily build new habits into my life. The time I spent working with Georgie will positively influence me for the rest of my life; it has been the best investment in my personal growth that I have made.” With immense gratitude,
Joe Dalton
Alright, so there it is. If you are at your wits end with diets, being hungry, hating the yoyo game of losing and gaining, perhaps this is for you.
It you’re tired of counting calories, weighing food, feeling hungry and deprived only to quit and go on a food binge, perhaps this is for you.
If you’re ready to put in some effort and work to build new healthy habits that will last a life time and understand your relationship with food, maybe, just maybe, you should consider this.
You won’t find meal plans or a list of foods you can or can’t eat. You won’t find painful restrictions or deprivation. You won’t have to miss out on having a little piece of Aunt Susie’s birthday cake either.
You will find positive support, develop new habits, and build a healthy lifestyle that can be sustainable and actually enjoyable.
Head on over to Amazon and see about getting your copy today.
Good morning beautiful people! If you’re reading this, then it means my mission was successful on Sunday night of actually sitting down and churning something out for you while you toss down your coffee and eat a stale bagel. Welcome to my Monday musings.
I can’t contemplate the week ahead without feeling some level of success over the past week.
A good week back on with my workout schedule and getting to a more focused eating plan. I just feel better when I’m in my normal routine after all the holiday festivities.
Speaking of that…. am I the only one who ever wonders… does anyone REALLY use those little replacement bulbs for those strings of lights? I have like… 10,000 of them. I can literally guarantee you I have zero patience with the idea of going through bulb after bulb trying to find the dead culprit.
None. Nada. Zilch.
I just wanna meet someone who might actually have the skill level and the patience of multiple saints to sit and do it…
It’s not this chick.
Oh. And I finished getting all of my Christmas decorations down and put away so there’s that. I’m just bummed when it’s all taken down. It looks so empty and non-festive. If you read my Christmas post you’ll know I enjoy decorating a little…ha.. well…a lot…. https://sassyfitnesschick.com/2017/12/08/the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year/
I did a few new things this year I loved so much. They were of course, the last things to go.
I’m still having coffee in my fun Christmas mugs though.. ’cause why not ?
However, once it’s all put away I do enjoy a fresh start and re-doing things and changing the house around. Sometimes, this confuses hubby who is a creature of comfortable habit. I’m sure though, he will adjust 😉
I got to work in the Batcave today ( my newly married son’s room he’s now vacated) so I’m excited over finally getting to do something fun with it that doesn’t reflect “20something bachelor guy lived here”
I’m also chomping at the bit to get back to a new interest I picked up at the end of the year… chalk painting. I’m a little bit hooked on it now that I have a couple projects under me (like my bathroom cabinets that look stunning) and I now have a list of things to do.
Seriously, that paint can make the ugliest thing ever look rather amazing. Perhaps I’ll do a fun lifestyle post on it sometime.
in other news….
my blog for my keto- dash diet review I wrote last year is still trending at the top of Google search so there’s that. Seriously, ya’ll out of millions of postings on this topic I’m currently #2… actually it bounces between there and #1 but I’m good with both….so I think it’s just a bit super cool.
Pinterest is at the top of my focused list so I’ve been pinning and learning more about working that avenue. Find me there as well and follow my healthy food boards. I’ve got some tasty things pinned.. check it out… @sassyfitnesschick If you’ve got any good blogging tips with it, offer them up, please.
Speaking of tasty. I’m doing a fun little project on my social media experimenting with different veggie recipes with the hope someone might want to eat more of those yummy morsels. On my experiment list is cauliflower. I know you’ve heard of all the crazy things you can do with it besides you know, eat it in it’s given form 😉 I decided once and for all I’m going to see if it can really be used to make pizza crust or my new interest.. cheesy breadsticks???
SAY WHAT?!
I’m gonna be your lab rat and will report to you my findings. I will admit, at this point, to being rather skeptical. I guess we’ll see.
Regarding my athletic shenanigans, I’m pretty sure I did my coldest ride, ever, on Saturday.
By that I mean it was in the low 30’s with a wind chill dipping into the mid 20’s. That mind you, was if you were standing still, NOT flying down the road at fast speeds riding a bike in it like some crazy fool.
I only did 13 miles but it was better than nothing and anyway by then my extremities were numb so that made it a lot of fun too.
Coffee was really…really… good after that… but when isn’t it?
And in regards to coffee.
Topping my list of new favorite things for the week, Starbucks is featuring their Blonde roast right now and I’m kinda into it. Have you tried it?
And speaking of my lovely bike. I ordered a new saddle that should be here any day and a fun bag to stash my random stuff in while I sail down the road… like my camera for those on the run selfies.
Because #socialmedia, right? Keep up with me there on Instagram and Pinterest as well as my Sassyfitnesschick page on Facebook.
Now here’s to Monday and a week of new opportunities!
As we start into a new year one of the things that is, well what should I say, expected? is the plethora of weight loss ads and diets that abound. No wonder. With the holiday season behind us many are making choices to commit to some type of program or system to get rid of unwanted pounds and get their bodies into shape.
Many of the things I see, really, often gets an eye roll from me. Mainly because there are so many smoke and mirrors that aren’t really designed to be long term or sustainable for individuals using it.
However, there is one thing that will always stop me.
I love stories from real people, who were really fat ( yes I used that word) and who worked their butt’s off the old fashioned way to get rid of it and have maintained that loss.
One of the things I enjoy reading is in People magazine. They do stories each year about individuals who’ve lost a lot of weight ( think well over 100+ pounds)
No surgeries, no gimmicks, no potions or detox/cleanses or whatever.
Just old fashioned hard work and discipline.
I caught this years winners on a morning talk show today and listened as they shared their personal tips on what helped them be successful.
There were no special tricks or anything that surprised me. It was all sane, practical and livable skills that led to them losing all that weight. ( one had lost over 280lbs !! )
I’ve preached much of this before but thought I’d bring it again as succinct as possible. Losing weight and maintaining a healthy fit lifestyle just takes some time, discipline, and a commitment to making it happen.
Here’s the low down:
All interviewed cited that to be successful they had to make the intentional choice to want to be healthy. No one can make you decide to lose weight or get fit but you. No one can do it for you. Making this decision is the first and biggest to get you on the road to a healthier lifestyle.
* You make a personal commitment then implement steps to do it.
Exercise. They all had found an activity that they liked that got them moving. As one lady said… “I knew I was lazy. I knew that being lazy was keeping me from feeling better”. She wanted to have energy to chase after her young children and play with them. It requires some effort on our parts to “not be lazy”.
* Find something you think you can enjoy and make a commitment to doing it most days of the week.
Eating. Needless to say their food choices had to change and the amount of foods they consumed had to change. They learned to make healthier swaps and eat less. One lady admitted to needing “structure” and had found success with a weight loss system.
* Modify your food by making better choices and reducing how much you eat. If you need “structure” there are several good programs that could help you.
Small goals. I’ve preached this before and often. Setting small goals helps not only mentally but also gives you that sense of satisfaction of accomplishing something on your goal list. These individuals made small goals for themselves that gave them confidence to keep on going.
* Set small, attainable goals for yourself. Write them down. Make them visible so you can see them. Assess goals as you make progress.
Hard work. Losing weight isn’t always easy. They all admitted to investing hard work to get where they were that day standing on the stage and in People magazine.
*Accept that the weight you put on won’t come off over night and it will take work to get back to where you want to be.
Must change mind set. I think this is so important to anyone’s success. If you don’t change how you think about food, how you interact with it, own the fact you need to lose weight, learn to view health and fitness as a good thing and be willing to leave your old behaviors, habits, and patterns behind, you will not be successful. There has to be a willingness to let go of old mind patterns and develop new ones for long term success.
*Be purposeful in changing your thinking about living a healthy lifestyle.
Use Social Media. Again, all of them cited using social media to help on their journey by sharing what they were doing, what their goals were, progress pics etc. I started using social media a few years ago sharing my running and training. It has evolved quite a bit from those days. I quickly learned that when you share, you will get asked about what you’re doing and it gives you another level of accountability. Not only that, I learned what I did encouraged others to want to get active and try new things.
*If you don’t use social media to share your fitness journey you may consider it. You can share as little or as much as you want. You’ll be surprised at how you may encourage others and if some don’t like fitness posts, no worries, they can just keep on scrolling 😉
These are all practical steps that can lead to a permanent lifestyle change. These things are doable for success. With a little determination, commitment, and a willingness to change and let go of old behaviors you will be on your way to being healthier, stronger and more energetic for your new year.
I wanted to include some tips on eating and nutrition but for the sake of not turning it into another War and Peace novel I decided to make it more of a two part item 😛
Food can be such a struggle for so many.
How much to eat, what to eat, when to eat. Eat when you’re hungry, eat when you’re not. Eat for reasons unknown to you.
These behaviors left alone can lead to unwanted pounds and unwanted health problems associated with being over weight. So many people want to change and make improvements but aren’t sure where to start or what to do. They feel like they have to give up everything they love and everything that’s good and be in this restricted zone of deprivation and no fun.
Please. Don’t.
That mentality will certainly not lead to long term success in your weight loss endeavors. If you’ve followed me then you know I’m anti-diet mentality and anti-deprivation believing people will be far more successful knowing they can include foods they enjoy and still lose weight. I believe building new habits and behaviors with food is what leads to life long success and sustainability. Building new habits doesn’t happen over night, but with persistency and keeping at it, those habits will stick and become second nature to you.
In fact, I was delighted to come across a book a few years ago that was pretty much what I had done to lose weight and keep it off. It was all about habits and behaviors and I literally devoured it.
on a side note, the author is releasing a paperback version on the 26th of this month and asked me if I’d write another review for her 🙂 I guess she thought I did a decent job on the first to ask me to write one for the new book and I’m thrilled.
You can be watching for my review on it later on.
But I digress….
Like exercise, the decision to lose weight has to be yours and yours alone. Once you make the choice to do it then you need to become proactive in doing things to make it happen.
No one will do it for you. No one will control what goes in your mouth or how much you eat but you.
But you’ve got this.. you can do it.
ok, I’m ready to start. Now what?
Don’t start by eating all the junky food in your pantry to “get rid of it”. Don’t start by cutting out everything you love or that is tasty to you and eating celery. I mean.. you CAN eat celery it’s really good for you and one of those “zero” calorie foods but.. well.. you get what I mean 😉
Don’t start by so severely restricting your calories that you are constantly hungry and thinking of your next meal.
These are frequent “techniques” I see to many people employee in their quest to lose weight, techniques that quickly fail them.
You can do this instead…
Practice listening to your body and learn to eat when you’re hungry and stop when you are feeling satisfied. This may take some practice as your eyes and mouth will want more and you’ve most likely trained yourself that way. Eat slowly and learn to savor your food this gives you time to realize that you are satisfied with most likely, less food.
At the start don’t focus so much on what you’re eating as when you eat and how much you eat.
As you move through those first few weeks you can consider your food choices and begin to think of what you might let go of, or opt to make a better healthier exchange on.
The food you eat.
Hey we’re all adults here, right? That being said we all have that level of responsibility for what we eat and drink. If you toss down a dozen Christmas cookies in a sitting, well, you might reconsider that. If you’ve learned to have a couple and savor them, you’re on a good track.
The foods we consume come down to what we find tasty and how we’ve trained ourselves to eat.
Yes. I said trained yourself.
We have all trained ourselves in our eating behaviors and food choices. That being said.. you can retrain yourself to eat better or eat less or make better choices.
Will it take time, yes. Will you get it down in a couple weeks? No. Can you be successful doing it? Absolutely.
Remember I told you at the beginning, it all comes down to you and what you want.
If you want to change, you will.
What do I eat?
I’m not going to tell you how to eat or what to eat. I will say making choices that involve healthy and nutritious foods will always be in your best interest. Foods that have minimal ingredients are best, the majority of the time, if you can.
If your daily diet consists of more processed, fast food or sugary/salty foods you might want to reconsider what you are eating.
You should work to building meals rich with veggies and fruits and healthy carbs with a good dose of protein.
Let’s face it… 400 calories of fast food vs. 400 calories of veggies and healthy food equals a lot more food to eat AND its better for your health. The more food choices you make that are nutrient dense means you can eat more and stay full longer.
Be aware.
Even though people largely believe they don’t over estimate food portions, they usually do. Be aware of what true serving sizes are and aim to stay in that perimeter.
Know what you’re eating. Look at labels and the contents of the product if you are unsure.
Make a list of what you eat to keep track of your food, at least for a few weeks. Be honest. No one will see it but you but and it can make you aware of what you eat, when you eat and how much. This could also give you some clues to behaviors with food you might need to deal with
Focus on small changes.
It’s those small daily things we do each day that add up. It’s easy to dismiss choices we make and think it doesn’t matter, but when we are attentive to our movement and what we eat those choices will lead to success.
Also, when you focus on small improvements it really doesn’t seem difficult to work on the goals that have been set. Eating a bit less, swapping a sugary drink for one with less or no sugar, passing by the fast food restaurant, having a small dessert over a full size, roasting instead of frying, learning to eat more fruits and veggies, are all examples of small ways to make changes.
One bad day isn’t the end of the world.
We’ve all done it. We’ve all had days where we know we ate more than we needed. Meh. It happens. The key to your success is not throwing in the towel from one bad day and reverting to your old habits and behaviors. Simply hit the reset button and get right back at it.
Stay positive in how you view yourself, and stay focused on what you are wanting to achieve.
Ask yourself the hard questions… is food more important than… ( whatever you are hoping to achieve)
There will be up’s and down’s in this process. The most important part to being successful is an unwillingness to quit or give up.
Stay the course and before you know it, you’ll be looking back at how far you’ve come.
Do you have any tips or tricks for weight loss that have worked for you ?
I ate pizza the other night for dinner. As you sit there downing your morning coffee you might be thinking… “and WHY are you telling me this?” Hang with me, will you ? I’m not gonna waste your time telling you what I ate for dinner. I mean it’s relevant for where I’m going so… hold on.
Pizza might be one of those things viewed as “off limits” or “bad” if you fall in that line of thinking for weight loss and overall lifestyle health. I mean if you consume a lot of it, well, yeah maybe so.
I want to come to you with a perspective I preach about and believe works for anyone wanting to just live life, be healthy, fit, and not obsess constantly over what goes in their mouth.
I hated those days! Thinking of what I could eat and couldn’t eat. Thinking of when I could have food again because I was hungry and ignoring the signals my body gave me to eat. Feeling guilty if I ate something “bad”. Eating more than what satisfied my hunger, eating for my eyes and mouth. Worrying about how many calories I may have had or trying to keep total.
Such a miserable way to live, controlled by food in a host of ways.
So along the way, as I’ve shared before, that having an open relationship with food put me in charge of it. Basically it gave me power to make decisions based on what I wanted to do.
Food, was simply, food. Some of those foods I knew and understood were to be enjoyed in controlled moderation to reach my goals. Not with held which can bring on those feelings of deprivation that lead to finally eating to much of it or just throwing in the towel.
Healthy, nutritious foods were meant to make up the mainstay of my daily diet. I learned to eat those the majority of the time.
If I had a celebration or was going out to eat, I already determined what I was allowing myself to have.
With that balance I moved forward. The weight slowly and steadily came off, I enjoyed life and didn’t obsess over how I was eating or not eating.
On a side note, this month marks 8 years since I started this process. I think this might be working 😉
So there’s a lot that goes on not just physically, but mentally as well.
Knowing and understanding that I can have any food I want let’s me make mindful decisions over what I have and when. I’ve learned to think more about what I’m eating and assess it’s importance of going in my body. I also let go of the “last supper” mentality.
You know what that is right? It’s that attitude that says… “eat all your favorite foods up now ’cause you’re going on a diet and never, ever having them again!”
When you know you can still have your favorite cereal, snack, ice cream or a baked potato you don’t feel the need to consume it all at once.
Pizza. You’re sitting there thinking, where is this going with pizza? For me now days, that means a piece of pizza with plenty of salad or veggies alongside of it. I have pizza, and eating plenty of healthy, low calorie, nutrient dense veggies fills me and satisfies my hunger. Because I’ve learned to listen to my body and eat enough to satisfy it but not keep eating because it’s in front of me I’ve basically learned how to have it in small amounts.
No, I don’t feel deprived because I’m not eating more of it. I love making mindful choices. It’s empowering to choose your food and enjoy it, whatever it is.
Getting on a path to a healthier lifestyle and way of eating involves really learning to be mindful of what you eat, and how much you eat. It means you really learn to listen to those natural God given signals in your belly and follow them. So often we are simply “trained” to eat at certain times and follow certain social cues instead of just listening to our bodies.
If you are working to lose weight and think you must forego everything you love, rethink that.
Learn to follow a few basic rules or cues from your body
Eat when you’re hungry. Sounds crazy, I know. Just learn to do it.
Eat nutrient dense foods most of the time.
If you choose to have a food that doesn’t perhaps fall in that category, determine what you will allow yourself. Eat slowly and learn to appreciate what it really tastes like.
Build in veggies with every meal. They are filling and beyond good for you. Not only that you won’t be tempted to gorge on your pizza or whatever you’re having.
Satisfy your hunger but learn to stop when you feel comfortable. This takes practice, especially if you’ve been used to over eating for a long time. The point is to keep on practicing till you learn to read those signals. Your body only needs a certain amount of food to deal with it’s hunger. Anything else turns into “head” eating.
These are things that I have slowly learned along these past years. It’s taken practice. Fail, repeat, keep going till it started to feel normal to me.
I think really tuning into your body is huge. I think it’s also important as I’ve mentioned before, to understand why you eat beyond hunger. Our emotions are a powerful drive for over consumption of food. Learn to identify reasons that make you eat beyond hunger, this will give you a huge advantage if you’re trying to lose weight.
Life is meant to be enjoyed. It’s filled with delicious foods we enjoy. With practice and intentional, purposeful choices you can have all your favorite foods and lose weight too.
Have you learned any tips or tricks that has helped you successfully lose weight and has been sustainable for you ?
As I shared in a previous post, I’m working with a client. A big part of what we’re doing is looking at habits and learning, or re-learning them some of them in regards to behaviors with eating and food.
She is learning the importance of getting meals at balanced times through the day, learning to listen to her body’s natural signals for being hungry ( as well as when it’s comfortably satisfied) avoiding snacking between meals, and focusing on more whole foods.
Whole foods meaning 5 ingredients or less or as close to their natural state as possible. We aren’t being crazy about it, just making it more of a focus.
These are all pretty big things to “re-learn” when you might not be used to eating normally or maybe just grabbing food randomly through the day. Many people have forgotten or don’t listen to their bodies natural hunger and satisfied signals so these things have to be intentionally practiced.
This week we are taking a look at snacks or extra foods in our day that might be hindering weight loss. My client will be charting pretty much every bit of everything, including any drinks with sugar, alcohol, or anything with caloric value.
She wants to see the scale continue to drop and I want that for her too.
I have her also considering what she is eating at meals. Sometimes stopping with just a little left on your plate is enough to cause more calorie deficit in your day.
And of course, exercise. If you want to get rid of fat, cardio is your friend. Yeah, I know most people hate it.
You sweat. Your heart beats fast. It hurts. It’s uncomfortable. It’s the place you realize that you really are horribly out of shape… which is why it’s so easy to quit… ’cause you don’t like all that.
Don’t quit. Even if you have to work your way up till you can do a full 30 minutes to an hour… you’ll be getting stronger in the process.
Ok… so some tips or suggestions for you … they can be almost painless… and you can drop a few pounds in the process.
Practice eating balanced meals 3-4 times a day ( 4 if you’re more physically active or athletic) eat enough to comfortably satisfy your hunger.
Try not to snack between meals. (when you eat adequately at meals you will find the need to do that will diminish)
Learn to listen to your bodies natural hunger and satisfied signals. Allow yourself to become truly hungry 30 minutes or so before your next meal.
Try to eat more whole foods ( meaning less stuff out of a box, bag etc)
Be aware of your snacking. To find weak places in your day/week be vigilant and write down everything so you can see where you’re hindering your progress.
Move your body more! Not only is it good for you physically, it’s good for your mental clarity as well.
Learning to listen to your own body and having awareness of how and what you eat are huge steps towards losing weight and getting into a lifestyle change 🙂
I was chatting with my client at our weekly meeting when she told me she had thought of contacting me last year, then again, recently. This is when she reached out to me in response to my announcement of taking on a client.
She was tired of where she was at and was ready to start making changes in herself, the biggest one being to lose weight.
She had a question that she wanted to ask me, something she had wondered about.
In her battle of start a diet, get discouraged, quit, feel guilty, go back to old patterns and habits ( ’cause those are comfy for all of us) her question was…
“What made you “get it” ?”
She was asking what had clicked in me and been the turning point that I kept on going, didn’t quit and give up and walk away from doing it. How had I kept at it and lost weight ( and kept it off)?
What made me do it and more importantly, stay with it ?
I wish I could say I told her it was some special, magic thing I did. I wish I could just write out the instructions to making everyone be successful who sets out to do it.
I can’t.
You know why ?
The desire, the want, the need, must come from deep inside of you. You have to hunger for that change.
You have to want it badly enough for yourself that you’re willing to make the sacrifices required to get there.
Sacrifices of time and energy, changing behaviors and habits, making yourself uncomfortable, have a willing attitude to be molded into someone different, patience with yourself as you stumble, fall, and get up again, and a tenacious spirit that refuses to give up. Honestly, you even need a practical mind that knows it’s a process that will take time and it won’t be instant gratification.
You have to be at the point where you know you want to do it for yourself because you’re simply tired of where you are and want things differently. Yeah, just let that breathe over you for a second.
The secret is: you have to want it badly enough to do things differently and you have to really, truly, want it for yourself.
My client, is at that point. I think she has all the right elements in place to slowly, steadily move forward and make positive life changes for herself. She’s learning about food and feeding her body appropriately and at the right times. She’s learning to listen to her body. She also knows it’s a slow process and she’s willing to invest the time to reach her goals. We will continue each week looking at new habits and replacing the not so good ones with better ones. It takes a little time to rework ingrained habits in your life, but it can be done.
So there you go. No magic secret. No gimmick or potion.
The “thing” that got me going, made me start and not quit… well.. that came from within me.. just like it needs to come from within you.
I don’t want to call it “will power” cause that’s so subjective and fickle. Our will power can be gone in an instant. It can be gone in the face of chocolate cake or a lazy morning you don’t “feel” like working out.
No, it has to be something deeper and more powerful. A force to be reckoned with.
That force is you.
Nothing is more powerful than the human mind when it determines to take on something and conquer it. Nothing is more powerful than your mind conquering the limits of your body… nothing….
You’ve got everything in you … you just need to harness it and let it out.
When it comes to health and fitness, you know I’m pretty vocal on some subjects.
For instance, I have no use for any of the over hyped current trending “health/nutrition/weight loss” products that abound right now. I think these big multi level marketing companies prey on people who are needy and often are willing to grab onto anything that might be the “magic fix” to help them lose weight and get fit/healthy.
For the tremendous amount of money it costs, I think, it would be better spent on good food, but hey that’s just me.
I’ve read various books on health and fitness. I take from them what I find useful and move on. Again, there are lots of books on the market, everything from diets and dieting to crazy trends.
Again you know, I’m not into crazy fad or trendy diets. They just don’t flippin’ work.
What has worked for me is changing how I do things in my life. How I do things, day in, and day out. Eventually, I built some new habits and in the process of doing that, I lost weight. I was out moving more. My body started changing. I was living my life and enjoying it and not feeling deprived or left out ’cause I had to “diet”. I wasn’t the poor victim at the family BBQ sucking down celery sticks and feeling miserable. I had occasional treats when I reallllyyy needed something.
Playing by my own rules worked for me. I just plodded along letting the weight almost effortlessly come off in a slow, steady, and sane fashion. I didn’t push it. I wasn’t on a plan to get if off in “just a few weeks”. I think these tactics have worked for me…..
Now imagine my interested delight when I stumbled across a book that had shown up in my Facebook newsfeed via a fitness page I followed.
As I read previews on it I was struck with the thought… “oh my gosh. THIS is what I’ve been doing the past 8 years. I’ve built habits and have changed my life and in doing so that’s allowed me to lose weight and keep it off. Someone wrote a book on it. A very GOOD book that helps you practice new habits for successful weight loss.”
I bought the book and well, devoured it. 😉
It is based on learning and practicing 4 “core” habits….
Eat 3-4 meals a day without snacking
Master your hunger
Eating just enough
Eat mostly whole foods
it follows with 12 supporting habits ( I’m not gonna tell you those ’cause you’re gonna want to scamper out and get this book and learn them yourself)
Well, maybe I’ll share a couple I liked. She addresses dealing with emotional eating (hello?? who on plant earth hasn’t dealt with that ??) and another…being 100% aware of treats you eat.. I think that’s a huge area of struggle for many people.
The premise is you will read and get familiar with one habit at a time, practice it, and move on to the next one. Georgie does a great job laying out ways to track your habits and be accountable with practicing them.
I also loved the approach that “perfection” isn’t what is expected, but a steady forward movement of practicing these habits until they become, well, habitual 😉 thus forming a way you are living your life… easily losing weight and getting healthy and strong.
It’s making your own routine that becomes natural and comfortable to you.
No diets or trendy angles on food.
No calorie counting or restrictive diets.
Not being told what you can or cannot have and avoiding or cutting out your favorite foods.
Not being restrictive and building new habits leads to permanent and sustainable weight loss.
Another term I related to because it’s how I refer to my personal change is.….it’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle. You will begin a lifestyle of freedom.
As you move through this book learning about building habits you will understand your relationship with food and the how’s and why’s of interacting with it.
This is a book I can get behind. I guess because I relate to so much of what is written and I know these principles can and do work.
Please hear me…. this book… it’s worth your time reading…what I like best about it is that it’s practical and doable for anyone.. and I mean anyone.
Therefore, since I’ve already stated how I feel about various health/weight loss/ diet things and I’m very particular about what I endorse and suggest to others….and you know I only hold out sane and reasonable ways to get fit and lose weight….
Not only that it’s wayyyyyy cheaper than even a single month of a “health/weight loss product” 😉
Oh, and yes, the author does look amazing. Yes, for me, those abs are a reminder to continue my personal work in progress. For you, as I’ve mentioned before, you might have different goals of what you want to achieve… don’t worry about what others set for themselves. Yours could be improved lab work, more energy, strength, confidence, better health and overall wellness etc…
Your goals. Your life. Your success.
Forget diets. Forget dieting. Learn about developing your own lean habits for permanent weight loss and a new lifestyle change =)
sassyfitnesschick 