RESOLUTION #1 : CHANGE MY EATING HABITS The New Year is a time of resolutions. I usually resolve to change this, that and the other and historically I have failed because I didnt have a plan. I didnt get help. I didnt seek out people who had experience. I didnt ask questions. I didnt get honest with myself. These things are key and I know what that disappointment in myself feels like after making a half-hearted attempt to change some aspect of myself with no clue as to what I was doing. So here, this is my experience, strength and hope. I wrote this for you if you want it. The most valuable thing that I have to give is my experience, strength and hope. I have generally taken the hardest path to self-improvement and as a result Ive learned a lot about myself. When I saw a post on a friend’s wall about eating healthier for the New Year, I started to respond with a simple comment and next thing I knew I was digging into the subject. Now some of you will look at this and say, ‘Oh my God I can’t read all that.’ Or you may say, ‘There he is going on and on again.’ Well, if you know me, you know that I’m going to dig into any subject, so I don’t know why you’re surprised. And it’s not that long. Just read it. Maybe something that youve heard before will stick in your head this time and maybe it will help you in your process. That’s the whole purpose of sharing. My experience may wake up that notion in your head that you’re not alone. That in itself may give you the strength to set about making changes. Seeing the results of the changes, be they physical, mental or emotional, may give you hope and create a ripple effect of change in your life. It is hard to cook for one but not impossible. I have lost almost 50 pounds since August of 2013 and have managed to keep it off and continue to move closer to my goal. I was pushing 230 pounds. Now I’m consistently hovering between 181 and 183. My goal weight is 175. I may get there, I may not. Either way I am happy with where I’m at now because I got here through conscious effort. A big thing was that I had to become conscious of what I was eating, when I was eating and how much I was eating. I also stepped up my water intake. Where I would have a Coke, I had water and so on. Heres a few things I had to consider when I was making this transition from a conscious eater to an emotional eater. The first was to own it. I am an emotional eater. Tired, angry, depressed I’m going to go for volume. A whole pizza, the super-sized meal, the large portion. Relaxed, indecisive and ambivalent, I’m going to go for indulgence. Creamy pastas, fried foods, meats covered in sauces. Happy and celebrating, I’m likely to combine volume and indulgence. The only time I ever paid attention to what I ate was when I was in a social situation where I wanted to make a good impression on someone. It occurs to me that if I’m feeling some kind of shame over how I eat, there must be something there to look at. So I changed and this is what I did. First of all, look at the equipment you have in your kitchen. Having the right equipment to make healthy food is a major step. Do you have a good selection of pots and pans? Do you have the ability to steam veggies? Do you have a colander to rinse veggies? Do you have cutting boards and a couple good knives? Do you have mixing bowls, measuring cups and ovenware? Do you have the small appliances that will help you cut, chop, blend and puree? These are all things you are going to need if you’re going take a conscious stance on your diet. Second of all, look at your schedule. Where do you have a block of time where you can make things in advance and freeze them? If that seems overwhelming just remember it doesnt take as much time as you may thing. Somewhere your schedule allows it. I found it helpful to set down a meal schedule. This includes times and menus. Part of that schedule includes how long it takes to prepare the meal. That too means that you have to think ahead. So if you want to prepare a chicken breast for dinner on Tuesday night then pull it out of the freezer on Monday morning so it can thaw in the fridge. Third, consider what you tend to eat. We all have those quick staples in the cabinet. These are the go to foods that we don’t even think about. Oatmeal, peanut butter, pasta, rice, canned tomatoes. Many of our staples are things that we eat specifically for certain meals. What staples can do double duty? And when it comes to those Lean Cuisines or any of the processed stuff, I look at the picture and name off the ingredients. So you may need to buy a bag of carrots. But the carrots are on sale, 3 bunches for $1.00. Now you have carrots for salad. Steam a batch of carrots and portion them out into freezer bags and freeze them. Peel a few and cut them up into sticks for a quick on the go snack that you can bag and take. Fourth is to readjust portion size. This was the hardest for me but this is how I did that. Go to the disposable storage containers and purchase all the sizes. From the smallest size to the biggest, this is my rule of thumb. Smallest containers that measure a half a cup to a cup, give or take, are for anything that is made with a processed product such as cheese, salad dressing or mayo, for example. The next size up that measures a little more than a cup is for any kind of protein. The small rectangular sizes usually fall in the cup and a half range and are perfect for portioning out the proteins, not to mention pasta and rice. All of the medium sizes are for your fresh fruits or your fresh veggie dishes that you’ve steamed or roasted. Finally the largest is for that all inclusive salad. And the thing about a salad is that it can be anything. And there is a salad container that has the dressing container built in. NOW, I will clarify that even with all of the things that I’ve laid out here, I have made a pact with myself. I will eat consciously all week with the one day that I allow myself to indulge. The first couple of weeks I went crazy and binged on pizza and wings or something like that. But what I found started to happen was that as I began to eat better, I started making better choices. That one day of indulgence became a special occasion meal. As such I started to apply my habits of choice and portions to that meal. A lean steak with a plain baked potato and a salad of greens. A stir fry with all veggies and steamed pot stickers. You get the idea. I still bake brownies and cookies. I just don’t eat them all by myself. I still like ice cream, but I’ve grown accustomed to pureeing fresh fruit and Greek yogurt and freezing that for my ice cream fix. It’s all about choices. What and how much. It’s as simple as that. The main thing that I also had to get through my head was that there will be times when I don’t make the best food choices. I have to allow myself the grace to not get down on myself about it. Because life happens and I’m hardwired to respond certain ways to certain things. Sometimes a whole pizza and wings is going to happen. I don’t get down on myself. I just get back on track.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 17:29:06 +0000
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