Forget the Diet and Eat on Your Own Terms

Diet is a strange word. The mere mention of the word strikes fear into the minds of many due to its negative meaning. Negative, you say? A diet to most people means discipline and dedication. We have enough pressure in our lives to commit ourselves to a daily grind of eating properly seven days a week, right? Well, you don't have to. Proper eating habits stem from making the right choices in what we decide to eat, as well as the portions throughout the day. Counting calories and weighing portions are temporary ways to lose weight but ultimately fail in what should be your goal: To be healthy on the inside and out...for life. Strict diets are destined to fail. Diets are designed to give people "instant" results in a world of consumers that demand an immediate cure for their food consumption problem. Consequently, a human being is wired for variety and spontaneity. Diets give you neither. When people eventually get bored with the diet, they resort back to the same old habits of overeating the wrong foods.

The key to eating well and being a healthy person is to change your behavior. Don't get intimidated with change. Change is growth and with growth we reach our goals and as a result, happiness. The great thing about my method is that you can do this in baby steps. Good health does not happen over night; what is important are the results you'll see after one week, one month and if you follow the program, the rest of your life. Here are the keys to changing your eating habits which in turn will change your life.

(1) CUT DOWN ON YOUR PORTIONS: Portion size of our meals affects calorie intake. Start week one by cutting down to 3/4 of your normal intake and work your way down in the ensuing weeks until you get to the point where you're satisfied yet not too full. You NEVER want to feel full after a meal; it means that you overate. With time your stomach will adjust to the portion size. Just be patient.

(2) CUT DOWN ON THE SWEETS AND JUNK FOOD: Ice cream, cake, cookies, chips, ummm. No need to stop eating any of these but if you tend to gorge on the sweets or chips, cutting down is imperative to your goals. I can't stress enough how fattening ice cream is. If you crave ice cream, have some but not your normal serving of the Ben and Jerry's pint. If you must have some, cut down to a 1/4 serving and replace your emptiness with a cookie or two. With these controlled portions, you will find yourself not wanting as much of whatever your sweet weakness is. What is important to remember is that you don't have to go without. You just need to control the tendency to gorge or have that piece of cake EVERY night while Seinfeld is on. If you are a chip addict, buy the small bag of chips. This will curb your need to attack that large bag of salt and vinegar chips. Economically, it's a little more expensive but remember, you you are saving by cutting down on your overall portions. Of utmost importance is whatever your weakness, it's better to small portion than to plan a gorge day and eat 2000 calories in one sitting. Gorge days are not reward days for you. This type of reward process will ruin your eating goals and allow you to regress to your old habits in time.

(3) FRUITS AND VEGETABLES - A WAY OF LIFE: Have some fruits and vegetables every day. If you don't have the patience to eat fruit, buy a bottle of fruit juice (the natural fruit kind) and a carton of orange juice, every week. Make sure to drink a glass every day, so if you did have dessert at least you know you had your glass of nutrition for the day. Vegetables, I know , can be time consuming to prepare...and boring to eat. Grocery stores offer a giant selection of prepared raw veggies that are ready to eat. Vegetables can taste bland to some, so if you must, use a dip, in SMALL portions. The vegetables should compliment your (small) T-Bone steak just fine.

That's it for now. I said baby steps and this is not too overwhelming. It's just a matter of you changing your habits. The first week will be difficult because you will have to conscientiously think of your game plan as you go. Give it time and it will come natural. The results will happen.

You will also notice that I did not mention exercise in this lifestyle change. Don't worry about that for now. You'll have enough on your plate (pardon the pun) with the food lifestyle change. Exercise is vital to health but the important goal at the moment is your eating habit and what you put in your body. The energy and positive outlook essential for the urge to do healthy activities will come. I will be discussing the exercise aspect in future articles. Remember the word PATIENCE. Nothing worth doing right happens with immediate results. You can and will succeed in time. Good luck and remember that you are not alone.