The Way We Eat

2

February 2, 2014 by little hurdles big race

I’ve become one of those people who take note of how people eat.  Sometimes it’s a good take away lesson in what I should or could be doing – and sometimes it’s a view into why people are frustrated with their weight loss goals.  I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers – if I did then I’d already be at my goal weight.  I also know the most unfair truth of all – we can’t all eat the same things or eat in the same way.

However there are some pretty common denominators with people who are trying to lose weight and can’t seem to break through.

1 – stop drinking diet soda & soda in general.  This is my one soap box that I’ll never get sick of preaching.  You’re poisoning yourself with chemicals you cannot pronounce and the ‘diet’ portion of the soda is only making you hungrier.  There is a direct correlation that the most overweight Americans drink diet drinks. Think about it.  Just stop.

2 – it is easier to lose the first 100 lbs than the last 50 lbs.  As you get closer and closer to our goal weight you are going to find it harder and harder to see those numbers of the scale.  Hopefully your exercise plan is now putting muscle (which weighs more) on your body rather than just putting you in fat burning mode.

3 – dieters tend to starve themselves.  It’s a hard lesson even for me.  You have to eat to lose weight.  I just had a conversation with a friend who told me she knew someone who started doing Bikram yoga everyday for a month.  She lost 15 lbs and had to eat more.  Of course – you can’t do any level of extreme exercise and not feed your muscles and your body.  Working out should be a part of your diet routine and part of that is feeding your body with protein.

4 – stop drinking your calories.  I am in no way advocating abstinence – but a lifestyle that includes drinking several times a week is causing you too bloat, increasing your sugar and calorie intake, and it’s going right to your midsection.

5 – take your “new” diet seriously.  Don’t tell me you are living a paleo lifestyle and then let me see you eating a sandwich, candy, or milk.  Don’t tell me you are gluten-free and then let me see you eating soy sauce, fried chicken, ketchup, and ice cream.  I think you should find room in your diet for things that make you happy – within reason.  But if you are going to completely change your eating habits and do a lifestyle change – then do it.  What always ends up happening is the diet gets blamed.  You shouldn’t make your meal experience miserable.

I recently had dinner with an old friend from High School.  In trying to figure out where to eat I quickly figured out he’s on a diet.  I was trying to explain to him that having a cheat meal is a good thing for your diet – it increases your leptin hormone and can get your body out of starvation mode. I’m not talking about a whole pizza, mozzarella sticks, ice cream sundae kind of cheat meal – rather one that has some good carbs and a higher caloric value than what you’ve been regularly eating. Here’s more on leptin

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark60.htm

So, we decide on a delicious restaurant and over the course of our dinner I find out he’s struggling to lose those pounds he wants.  On paper he’s doing almost everything right, exercising everyday in the morning, he has an active lifestyle, he’s eating well – so what’s the problem, right?  He’s eating in reverse and he’s putting his body in starvation mode.

Here’s his day – 6:30 am workout everyday.  Very small low-calorie breakfast. Rush rush rush through the workday with no snacking.  A small sensible lunch.  More work with no snacking.  Then, here it comes, the one meal that’s killing all his hard work…dinner.  The day has wound down and he’s at home and starving.  It’s human nature that when we are hungry or depriving ourselves of food – it becomes the only thing we can think about.  Our mind becomes obsessed with food.  So there it is – big meal, late at night, then off to bed.  He’s eating in reverse.

There are many who will advocate not eating before working out and then there are those who will tell you to have a little something in your stomach (apple, protein bar…).  I don’t care so much about that – I care that right after you workout you are eating some protein (shake or solid form food).  What has always worked for me and those I’ve talked to about dieting success is front loading your calories and carbs in your day.  Breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince, and dinner like a Pauper.  You are eating the most while you are the most active.  A huge meal late at night just sits in your stomach all night long.  You still need to burn calories at night so I do not advocate not eating at all.  Also, you’ll wake up in the middle of the night hungry and unable to sleep.

Evaluate how you eat, when, and why.  We all know what we are doing – no one is mindlessly eating.  Take a hard look at yourself and make those small adjustments – they will turn into big results.

I believe in you.  You have the strength to change your life.