Snagged this image from informhealth.com on a post they did back from 2013 about diets. This is showing many of the different diets out there….from 2013! There are lots more now! From The Atkins Diet to The Zone Diet and all those in between. There are more diets out there than you can shake a stick at. I am sure you have tried several of them. Maybe even lost some weight on them. The book stores have shelves and shelves of different books, the grocery stores have all the different diet foods to. They must work right? Otherwise we would not be out there spending billions…yes billions of dollars on diets. But what if there is another way to lose weight where we don’t have to diet?
Diets Don’t work. That is the name of a book my dad gave me many years ago. Then later he also gifted me with Diets Still Don’t Work. I never read either of them. Why? Because it pissed me the hell off that’s why. What do you mean diets don’t work? I was living proof diets worked. Hadn’t I been on a gazillion diets over the years? Had I not lost a shit ton of weight on diets since I was in 3rd freaking grade?
Yep, I missed the point. Those diets did NOT work or else I would not always have been on some new diet someone told me about or I read about. Sure I lost weight on those diets. Sometimes a LOT of weight. But hey, anyone can lose weight if they follow a diet program the way it is written. The problem was after the diet was over or I quit for some reason or other, I always gained the weight back…..and more. Maybe I should have read those books instead of throwing them away. I might have learned the secret many years ago and never gotten up to a size 26 (but needed to be wearing a 28).
So how the hell have I lost over 150 lbs and kept it off for the last 5 years without dieting or surgery or magic pills? Motivation? Willpower? Discipline?
NOPE. None of the Above.
I had tried all of those before (except the surgery) and they all failed me….or me them. Those magic pills were always way more money than I could or was willing to part with since Eric and I had 3 kids to get through school. I lost my motivation, my Willpower became weakness and discipline was just thrown out the door.
So what the heck did I do?
Instead of going on a new diet I changed my lifestyle. Those diets that I went on did a piss poor job of teaching me how I should eat AFTER the diet for the rest of my life.
I know, I know, you are probably saying What? I like my lifestyle just fine thank you very much. I don’t want to change. I just want to lose the weight. OR maybe you’re thinking, I have heard people say that before and that sounds hard and like it is a whole bunch of rigmarole to go through.
Honestly, it can be as easy or as difficult as you make it. It is all about one little word. Habits. Creating healthy habits that are so easy to implement that you can and are willing to do them for the rest of your life! Start small. Think of one thing we can do that will make our meals a little healthier than they are now and incorporate it into our daily routine and make a habit of it. Then choose one more thing, and another and pretty soon we have created a whole slew of habits that are part of our habitual ritual.
I will give an example that most any of us can stand to do.
Maybe we do not eat as many leafy green or fibrous veggies as we should. We can begin to add 1 serving of veggies to every meal we have. So, if we usually have 1 serving of at supper and a starch along with our meat or protein lets add 1 more serving of raw, roasted or steamed veggies to supper and then add one at breakfast and lunch as well. Create a habit of it by doing this EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.
After all, a habit is, something we do automatically. Usually without thinking and the way we create habits is by doing something over and over until we no longer think about it, we just do it.
And look what we did with the habit above! We just tripled our veggie intake! How great is that?!
Here are a 4 simple ways to easily do this for breakfast or lunch
- set aside an extra serving of veggies from the night before to go with your breakfast or lunch.
- have scrambled eggs or an omelet or an egg bake that is filled to the gills with things like spinach, mushrooms, peppers, onions, broccoli, asparagus etc.
- have a side salad with breakfast or lunch – especially if you are eating out (who says you can’t or shouldn’t have a side salad for breakfast…I mean surely you have eaten odd stuff like pizza for breakfast right? why not salad?)
- purchase the veggie trays at the grocery and pack some for lunch or just have them on the side for breakfast
Can you think of other ways you could incorporate an extra serving of veggies in your nutrition plan?
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As always if you have any questions please feel free to email me at me@suannarae.com
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Suanna