I have been writing my weekly post here for some time now and I have never really paid much attention to how healthy, or more accurately unhealthy, most of my posts have been. Now that we are starting the new year 2010. I am starting to look more closely at what I am eating. I will turn 45 years old in June. I am wondering where all the years have gone. It seems like just yesterday I turned 21 and today I am looking at 45? How does that happen?
I’m also looking at the addition of two more grandchildren to my family in the next few months. I know it still feels weird to think of myself as a Grandpa. I’m looking forward to the grandkids, but I suddenly realized how much energy a toddler has and then multiplied that by three. Holy guacamole, I am in no shape to keep up with them! It’s time to make some changes.
Over the years I have tried many different fad diets. All of them have worked and I lost weight, but the problem with diets is they are impossible to stick to long term. The idea of a diet is to severely restrict what you eat in order to starve your body and force it to consume the stored fat and muscle to get the energy it needs. At some point I have always gotten to the point that I can no longer overcome my urge to eat all the things I have been denying myself and end up going on an eating binge that leaves me dazed and drooling in a near catatonic state. This is not a good feeling. I usually then convince myself that it is better to go back to my old eating habits instead of going back on the diet and heading for another binge.
So what is the answer? Well the answer is to teach myself to eat healthier. For this year my goal is not to lose weight. I have thrown the bathroom scale out the window. That evil satanic device does me no good, it simply mocks me and shows that I have failed to meet my goals. I have seen more people give up on a healthy eating plan because the scale says they gained weight instead of lost it. Couple this with the weekend state from the exhaustion of focusing all of their will power on the diet to stay on the plan and they just give up and eat a box of Twinkies. So my goal is not to lose weight, but to change my lifestyle and eating habits.
Here is my simple plan that I believe will help me to get into better shape to chase three grandchildren around the yard on a summer day.
First. Sit down and look at what I’m eating. Get out the ingredients and look at the nutritional data and start calculating the calories, fat, sodium, and cholesterol that I am eating on a daily and weekly basis. Identify the foods that are the most harmful to a healthy life style and which ones are good for me too.
Second. After identifying the unhealthy things in my diet, look for healthier replacement items and healthier ways to prepare the things that are unhealthy. One of the things I have done and been able to stick to is drinking diet soda instead of regular soda. I know that diet soda is not all that good for you either, but I do like my soda and I just cannot quit drinking it all together. I have cut way back on the amount I drink, and when I do drink soda I drink diet.
Third. Before going grocery shopping write out a menu for the week and a shopping list. When I go shopping only buy what is on the list. No more impulse items that just sound good because I am hungry.
Fourth. Snack foods are my biggest downfall. I love potato chips especially. Find healthier snacks. Popcorn is one that I like. The problem with popcorn is not the popcorn itself, but the extra stuff added to it that makes it so good. I have started making popcorn in oil and just adding a little salt for flavor. No butter or anything else and this makes for a healthier snack.
Last. I will not deny myself any food. If I get the craving for a bacon double cheeseburger with all the fixings I will have one. The trick will be not to have them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I will also start looking for new recipe ideas. Find some new cookbooks that have recipes for healthier dishes and new foods. Smaller portions of the less healthy foods and add more healthy foods to the meal. If I decide to have the bacon double cheeseburger instead of the greasy fries I will have some mixed vegetables to go with it. or some fruits. It can be hard to find good fresh fruits and vegetables in my area this time of year so I often times by the frozen veggies and canned fruit. When buying the canned fruit I buy the “no sugar added” fruits packed in fruit juice instead of the syrup. This is not as good as fresh but is better than raspberry-filled powdered doughnuts.
The key to this plan is to focus on changing the lifestyle and not worrying about how much weight am I losing or gaining. I’m looking now to find more fish recipes to add to my menus and look forward to sharing those recipes here with everyone. I’m a cube dweller at work so I don’t get near the exercise that I should so I will also be adding more exercise to my lifestyle as well. I will post more on that when I figure out how I am going to add that into my daily routine.
Clacked by Jeff Love
on Jan 09, 2010 @ 13:24 EST5EDT
Go Jeff! I wholeheartedly agree with your approach … it’s definitely about a lifestyle change and not denying yourself. I look forward to reading about your progress and maybe you’ll give one of my recipes a test drive!
Jeff, eating healthier is a good start, but you must include exercise to any diet or no diet. I’ve done many diets too, the thing that has worked best for me is the low carb diet. I’m a meat eater, so it’s easier to give up potatoes, bread, and sugar. Sugars are the main thing to watch. Keep those triglycerides low. Good luck!