Entries Tagged 'Maintaining Your Ideal Weight' ↓

I wanted to quickly share a conversation a friend and I had recently.  We were discussing the health benefits of buying whole, organic foods…
 
… when she sadly commented “It’s a shame whole foods have so many more calories than diet foods.”
 
HuH?
 
She went on to explain that the organic ice cream she buys has 330 calories per serving, while the “regular” ice cream has a much smaller amount of calories per serving.
 
Just minutes later she said she still buys sugar-free pancake syrup, just because she can’t afford the calories that organic maple syrup carries with it.
 
I want you to know…
 
Buying organic is NOT how you drop body fat!
 
There are plenty of foods labeled organic that do NOT create body fat loss.
 
Is it better to eat organic maple syrup than sugar free syrup?
 
Yes.
 
Is it better to eat organic ice cream rather than conventional ice cream?
 
Sure.
 
But just because something says it’s organic, doesn’t mean it’s good for your body.
 
You can’t feed your body ice cream, syrup, and other foods and assume that because they’re labeled “organic”, you’re good to go.

The whole point of eating organic is to give your body the clean, whole, nutrient-rich food it craves.

You need to be eating a balanced blend of clean, chemical-free complex carbohydrates (like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, brown rice, and whole grains)…

Lean proteins (like chicken, eggs, turkey, fish, or legumes)…

And non-processed fats (like avocado, olive oil, fish oil, nuts, and natural peanut butter).

When you eat things like syrup - which is going to be a whole lot of sugar - a simple, non-complex carbohydrate - that’s going to be converted into energy inside your body in lightning speed… and there’s no way for you to use all that energy.  It’s going to be stored as FAT in your body.

Don’t get me wrong… when you decide to indulge in something decadent… ice cream, or pancakes with syrup, or chips & guacamole… eating organic is THE way to go.

That way, at least the sugar you’re putting in your body is just that: sugar.  You’re not getting high fructose corn syrup and other “junk” that your body doesn’t know what to do with.

But really… most of the time, stick to vegetables, fruits, meats, eggs, whole grains, brown rice, sweet potatoes, black beans.  All those foods that have TONS of value that your body craves.

THAT’S what true organic eating is.

And when you do that… when you focus on foods that build up and nurture your body… guess what?

Calories aren’t so much of an issue any more.

You will naturally begin to shed body fat as you feed your body what it truly needs to function at an optimal level.

You’ll have energy.

You’ll want to move your body more.

You’ll feel GOOD about your body.

You won’t be bloated or swollen…

…bottom line, eating those whole foods are THE only way to nurture your body so that it effortlessly drops
weight.

Then… when you indulge in that high-calorie organic ice cream… well, your body will be running so
efficiently that there won’t be any need to check that label for calories. 

The one thing that is pretty consistent between the various popular methods of losing weight is the need to write down what you’re eating.  I know, I know - I’ve been there and done that too, and it is a pain in the butt sometimes.  But the truth is… the reason that so many programs ask you to keep a food journal is that it works.

Let me say that again - IT WORKS.

There is a certain level of accountability in writing down what you eat that automatically makes you THINK about what you’re putting into your body.  And THINKING about what you eat is the absolute first step to losing weight.

But how can a busy girl keep a food journal without pulling her hair out?

I’ve done everything with food journals.  I’ve written down exact portion sizes of foods, their exact calories, what time I ate them, what mood I was in before and after I ate… you name it, and I’ve journaled it.

But none of those complicated methods lasted very long.  So this series of blog posts is designed to help you learn to keep an effective food journal.

First, you’ll need a small notebook.  Something small enough that you can carry it to work and back home each day and it’s not a bother - perhaps something that fits in your purse.

Next, just do the obvious - write down what you eat, every meal, every time you eat.  Although it’s great to have the notebook with you in the moment, I keep mine on my desk.  When I get back from eating, I write down what I ate as soon as I sit down.

That’s the basic fundamental start to keeping a food journal - simply write down what you eat.  I don’t write down the portion size, or the time, or my mood - but all of those things are extremely helpful indicators at certain times.

So if you’re trying to tackle a specific mood problem, keeping track of that is a good idea; but for now I just want you to get in the habit of noting down on paper what you eat every single time you eat.

You’ll automatically begin to make better choices with food, knowing you’ll be recording your food intake later.  So go get the notebook, and start recording!  Tomorrow I’ll be talking about other things to record in your journal, and what to do with what you see written there.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly been there.  You put in the effort, you work hard, you change the food you eat, and you lose weight.  The feelings of euphoria and success can go away so fast when you start gaining it back, can’t they?

It’s a shame that there are so many “lose weight fast” plans out there.  The truth is, the faster you lose weight, the higher the probability that it will definitely come back.  Think about it: if you cut out carbohydrates and lose a bunch of weight… chances are, you can’t live without carbs for the rest of your life… so you gain it back.

I know that’s what happened with me.  I’ve lost weight using so many of the popular methods… and inevitably, it’s always come back.  And each time it came back, it brought more weight along!

The reason we girls gain our weight back is because of the “diet” mentality.  We think, “Oh, I don’t want to live without these foods forever, or exercise this way forever, but I can do it for a few months.”  So we lose weight… and then once we revert back to old habits, of COURSE the weight comes back.

The key is to change the habits - how we eat, and how we move.  When we change those habits, we’ll keep weight off long-term.

Bethany