I hear this all the time, “I’m depressed, I want to get into shape and lose weight but I can’t stick to a diet, can you help me?”
When it comes to dieting and nutrition, everyone wants a “quick fix” and to be told exactly what to do. Well, guess what? There is no one diet that works for everyone. What works for me may be different for you. There is no “magic pill” or “easy button” when it comes to dieting. You are never going to be successful at maintaining a “goal” weight if you do not learn for yourself to give your body what it needs.
Don’t believe me? Look at people who have done the “Jenny Craig” diet or “weight watchers”. People on that diet are looking for a “quick fix” and that’s exactly what they get, which is why they blow right back up after they have or attained or gotten close to their goal weight. Do they lose weight? Yes. Do they keep it off? ….rarely! Meals are hand delivered to your door; pre portioned and weighed out for you. Food has a “point system” rather than a “calorie or nutrition count”. As soon as you stop doing that “diet” you blow up again and it’s because you don’t ever learn how to do it for yourself!
This begins that “roller coaster” of dieting and emotional beatings that you can’t stop or find balance with. Here’s what happens, you diet and lose weight. You start feeling great about yourself and the way your body is looking, but then you slip up, or reach your goal and start to want to do things on your own. Now that meals are not being delivered to you all day, every day, you are not “tallying” up points on your note pad, you fold right back into your old habits; gain the weight back that you lost in addition to some “self-pity pounds”. Now you start emotionally beating yourself up telling yourself that you “can’t do anything”, “can’t stick to a diet” and “I’m a failure at dieting” or how about, “I guess I’m just meant to be fat”.
I know these feelings of negative self talk because I’ve been there and have experienced them before myself. Here’s the thing, no one is ever going to take care of you as best as you can take care of you. To be bluntly real, get off the “pity wagon” and stop making excuses and stop expecting people to spoon feed you results! Dieting is a slow and steady process that requires self honesty, patience and persistence. Make it happen! You can do it!
My first suggestion is for you to go out and buy a food journal and food scale. A food scale should cost about $20 and a notebook maybe $3. Do it today; not tomorrow, or Monday or after this weekend. Quit “buying” yourself more time to be overweight and unhappy with excuses that you know don’t help you in the long run.
Start documenting everything you eat all day long and see what you’re eating and exactly how much you are eating. Get your “baseline” so you know where you have to start from. Documenting your food is like your GPS system; it is showing you where you are going with what behaviors and actions you are currently doing. It is a continuous road map of your journey.
Your food scale is your best dieting tool! It is your compass. Using a food scale is not obsessive, it’s responsible. If you told yourself you were going to run a mile how do you know it’s a mile? You either mapped it, GPS’d it, or the treadmill told you so. The same goes for the food scale. How will you know that you ate 4 ounces of chicken? How do you know you had 28 grams of almonds? Let me guess… you’re going to guess, right? Rule number one…never, never guesstimate! The difference between 4 ounces of chicken and 6 ounces can be 100 calories. When dieting, a 100 calorie difference a couple times a day, adds up quickly.
I always weigh and measure my food… always. Weighing your food is safe. You wouldn’t eat your vegetables without being sure that they are clean, you wouldn’t ride your bike without a helmet or drive your car without a seatbelt, so do not eat without measuring your food. It maintains consistency, accuracy and accountably.
You have to learn a serving size is. How many calories are there in a serving? How many carbohydrates, fats and proteins are in each serving? How many servings did you have? Write down everything, and add it up at the end of each day. Most important, be honest with yourself. If it crossed your lips, write it down. You cannot change what you do not acknowledge. No one is going to see what you wrote except for you, so be honest with yourself and journal it.
Make it happen! You can do it! Change happens when you make it happen!
When it comes to dieting and nutrition, everyone wants a “quick fix” and to be told exactly what to do. Well, guess what? There is no one diet that works for everyone. What works for me may be different for you. There is no “magic pill” or “easy button” when it comes to dieting. You are never going to be successful at maintaining a “goal” weight if you do not learn for yourself to give your body what it needs.
Don’t believe me? Look at people who have done the “Jenny Craig” diet or “weight watchers”. People on that diet are looking for a “quick fix” and that’s exactly what they get, which is why they blow right back up after they have or attained or gotten close to their goal weight. Do they lose weight? Yes. Do they keep it off? ….rarely! Meals are hand delivered to your door; pre portioned and weighed out for you. Food has a “point system” rather than a “calorie or nutrition count”. As soon as you stop doing that “diet” you blow up again and it’s because you don’t ever learn how to do it for yourself!
This begins that “roller coaster” of dieting and emotional beatings that you can’t stop or find balance with. Here’s what happens, you diet and lose weight. You start feeling great about yourself and the way your body is looking, but then you slip up, or reach your goal and start to want to do things on your own. Now that meals are not being delivered to you all day, every day, you are not “tallying” up points on your note pad, you fold right back into your old habits; gain the weight back that you lost in addition to some “self-pity pounds”. Now you start emotionally beating yourself up telling yourself that you “can’t do anything”, “can’t stick to a diet” and “I’m a failure at dieting” or how about, “I guess I’m just meant to be fat”.
I know these feelings of negative self talk because I’ve been there and have experienced them before myself. Here’s the thing, no one is ever going to take care of you as best as you can take care of you. To be bluntly real, get off the “pity wagon” and stop making excuses and stop expecting people to spoon feed you results! Dieting is a slow and steady process that requires self honesty, patience and persistence. Make it happen! You can do it!
My first suggestion is for you to go out and buy a food journal and food scale. A food scale should cost about $20 and a notebook maybe $3. Do it today; not tomorrow, or Monday or after this weekend. Quit “buying” yourself more time to be overweight and unhappy with excuses that you know don’t help you in the long run.
Start documenting everything you eat all day long and see what you’re eating and exactly how much you are eating. Get your “baseline” so you know where you have to start from. Documenting your food is like your GPS system; it is showing you where you are going with what behaviors and actions you are currently doing. It is a continuous road map of your journey.
Your food scale is your best dieting tool! It is your compass. Using a food scale is not obsessive, it’s responsible. If you told yourself you were going to run a mile how do you know it’s a mile? You either mapped it, GPS’d it, or the treadmill told you so. The same goes for the food scale. How will you know that you ate 4 ounces of chicken? How do you know you had 28 grams of almonds? Let me guess… you’re going to guess, right? Rule number one…never, never guesstimate! The difference between 4 ounces of chicken and 6 ounces can be 100 calories. When dieting, a 100 calorie difference a couple times a day, adds up quickly.
I always weigh and measure my food… always. Weighing your food is safe. You wouldn’t eat your vegetables without being sure that they are clean, you wouldn’t ride your bike without a helmet or drive your car without a seatbelt, so do not eat without measuring your food. It maintains consistency, accuracy and accountably.
You have to learn a serving size is. How many calories are there in a serving? How many carbohydrates, fats and proteins are in each serving? How many servings did you have? Write down everything, and add it up at the end of each day. Most important, be honest with yourself. If it crossed your lips, write it down. You cannot change what you do not acknowledge. No one is going to see what you wrote except for you, so be honest with yourself and journal it.
Make it happen! You can do it! Change happens when you make it happen!
I have used a scale for years. It helps me serve the right portion for each family member. My husband needs double the amount of protein than I do. I weigh the protein, put the right amount of carbs on each plate, then serve it. Gone are the days when everyone eats the same amount. Sometimes we even eat different meals, though we always eat together. I weigh or measure out all 6 meals for everyone. It doesn't take any longer than it would if I didn't measure or weigh. Doing this has made a big difference in our health and fitness levels.
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