Diet-
to eat less food or to eat only particular kinds of food in order to lose weight:
to be on a diet (merriam-webster)
Most
likely when you hear the word diet it makes your skin crawl. When you think of
diet you think of eliminating something completely that you probably always
eat. I have tried every diet in the book from Atkins to HCG which are both
extreme diets. A diet is something that is meant for a short period of time.
Usually it is not something that you should realistically do for more than a
couple of months. It seemed like every
week I was doing a new diet where I would just keep gaining and losing the same
weight because I was never consistent. Finally I went to the doctor and also
did a lot of research where in order to get the results that I wanted I needed
to set a long term goal and stop looking for a quick fix. That is where a “lifestyle
change” became the answer for me. With a lifestyle change I began to focus more
on being healthy instead of trying to drop weight quickly. Of course I want
this weight to come off of me as quick as possible but I also want to do it the
healthy way. With the lifestyle change I basically eat healthy 80% of the time
and then 20% of the time if I have a craving I eat it!!! This is a change that
is more realistic as appose to just eliminating certain foods out of your diet
because at some point you will probably give in where you will find yourself
over eating. With my 80/20 lifestyle change I do allow myself 1 cheat meal a week
which typically is either Chipotle or a sandwich from Jimmy Johns which really isn’t
a cheat but I no longer have cravings for fast food such as McDonalds (ill
never eat there again) Wendy’s, Cookout, ect. If I was to go to one of those
places honestly it would be once in a 6 month time period and I probably would
be on vacation or something. With my
lifestyle change I never feel hungry I eat mostly protein (some form of lean
meat) Greek yogurt (light& fit) fruits, veggies, oats , gallon of water a
day, almonds, kettle corn pop corn (100 calories), and when I get a chocolate
craving I get Russell Stover’s sugar free chocolate which usually is when my
cycle is on(tmi). Losing weight does NOT have to be hard at all. You just
basically have to make better choices. Even if you want that chicken sandwich
or those ribs you can still have it but you just have to make a healthier
version of it. An example of a healthier version of a chicken sandwich is make
sure the chicken is baked not friend and choose either whole wheat bun or if u want
to go over and behold use lettuce in place of the bun! Limit your sauces also!
Mustard (0 calories) is always my go to sauce!! There is always a way to make
your favorite meal more healthy! You just have to do your research on it! I
promise you that Google has all of the answers lol! So before you think about
doing another diet how about you just try to do a lifestyle change because it
is a greater chance that you will stick to it! Consistency is the biggest key! Keep
at the healthy eating and exercising at minimum 3 times a week (for a hour) and I promise you that you will see change
OVERTIME! Its 80% nutrition and 20% exercise! I always suggest getting you’re
eating down first before focusing on exercising.
Thank you so much for this. This is exactly what I needed to read/see/hear this morning.
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