I think I may be the average fitness expert's worst nightmare. I don't diet. I don't eat clean. I don't follow Paleo, I don't count macros. I don't even know what it means to count macros. I just eat. I am not a lover of vegetables, and I don't eat a lot of fruit (except for during the summer). I eat for taste......I think about food when I'm running......and most of the time, I start my day off with a big chocolate chip pancake. I'm a huge carb lover. And I love me some pizza!
I've had an unhealthy relationship for as long as I can remember. As a kid, we would go to the grocery store, unload the groceries, and I would just think about all the snacks we bought and have a hard time deciding where to start first. Cookies? Ice Cream? Candy? I still have that unhealthy obsession as an adult at times. I go to the gym, and I think about what I'm going to eat later as I'm lifting weights. I go for a run, and I think about my lunch or dinner that day, or the Java Chip Frappachino I may be getting from Starbucks later.
I personally don't agree with "dieting". I can't say I've ever attempted to go on a diet, because I knew I would fail. I may do well to start, but I know it wouldn't last. However, all the fast food and sweets I was eating was keeping me from seeing the results I wanted to see from all of my hard work at the gym. I couldn't figure out how I could work out so much, yet still have love handles, jiggly thighs, and a protruding belly.
I'm the type of person that if you tell me to do something (when it comes to my diet and exercise), I'm not going to do it until I'M ready to do it. You can tell me that if you lift this way or do it this way, it will help you improve. But until I decide on my terms that it's what is best for me, or that I even care to attempt it, I'm not going to listen. That's one of my biggest downfalls in life. If I would have listened to my husband years ago, I would have started running sooner - "I can't run. I burn just as much calories walking" - and I would have realized I could do pull-ups a lot sooner - "I'm never going to be strong enough to do a pull-up, so why even try?". I am my own worst enemy. I hold myself back at times. But once I put my mind to something - watch out!
That's where I had to get to when it came to my diet. I had to WANT to and be willing to make the change. I had read articles about how bad soda is for you. And how people lost so much weight just giving up soda alone. I went years telling myself that I could never give it up, because it tasted so good with pizza, and tuna salad, and burgers and fries, and I drink one at the most a day, so it won't make that much of a difference if I give it up. But one day, that switch flipped, and I slowly started cutting back. I allowed myself 1 a week for awhile, and finally, I weaned down to none. I can't tell you the last time I had a soda. I can tell you, though, that I lost some inches in my waist, and I have very little water retention (which was once a big issue for me).
Since I no longer drink soda, I have also seemed to have lost my love for fast food. It just doesn't taste the same without that soda :-) And that's ok with me. Now, if the family convinces me to eat it, I just feel gross after doing so. It's just not the same. Of course, Chick-fil-a is the exception. Ha ha.
I also decided I wanted to see what I could do to cut back on the fattening lunches I ate. I'm extremely picky. My daily lunches consisted of macaroni and cheese or frozen pizza. I have never been able to just eat a salad and be satisfied. I started replacing the macaroni and cheese and frozen pizza with scrambled eggs or a cheese omelette. Again, after a few weeks, I started to notice a positive change in my body.
My biggest addiction is sweets. I baked all the time, and of course, I ate what I baked. It was bad - like, crying if we didn't have any sweets in the house kind of bad. I knew it was an addiction, and I knew it wasn't a healthy one. I needed to find some way to control the cravings and cut back. I decided that instead of brownies, cake, or ice cream, I would allow myself to eat a few squares of Dove Dark Chocolate. Within a couple of weeks, my sweet cravings were pretty much gone. Don't get me wrong, I still get them - just not every single day. And I give in to them on occasion without feeling guilty.
Bottom line is, I have learned through my own personal experience that limiting myself to certain things, but not cutting them out completely works best for me (with the exception of soda - it tastes gross to me now). I have noticed a tremendous change in my body since starting with cutting out soda, then taking other "baby steps" to improve my overall diet. If I want cake, I eat cake. But I don't allow myself to eat it every night like I used to.
I am still a work in progress. I know that over time, I will continue to improve my eating habits. If you're interested in my advice, don't start a fad diet because someone said it worked for them. Guaranteed, they won't be able to stick with that diet for long, and when they stop, they will likely gain back any inches or weight that they gained. When it comes down to it, it's all about making a lifestyle change. Switch things out, or eliminate things one by one. If you deprive yourself of everything at once, you will be less likely to stick with it. I still eat pizza, french fries, burgers, pancakes, chocolate, etc. But I do my best to make better food decisions than I have in the past. And for now, that is working for me :-)
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