Dieting Is Simple

OK. I get it. No one wants to hear that dieting is simple, but it really is. Now, I said simple, not easy. The truth is this, burn off more calories than you take in and you’ll lose weight. I go into this a bit more in another post on this blog, “DietsSuck”. (They really do.) Today I want to discuss, eating with a purpose.

The problem many of us have, is that we eat for pleasure. I am one of those people. I love all the wrong foods. I don’t have a problem with the sweet stuff. My issue is with fried foods and anything with cheese. I swear, I might eat a deep-fried shoe smothered in melted pepper jack cheese. (Mmm .. . cheesy.)

Food focus

In the post, “Diets Suck”, I explain how to set up a diet and incorporate “cheats” to help you get through. Here I want to create a mindset that will help you make this transition a little easier. So much of life is controlled by focus that I finally realized how powerful this tool can be.

Let me show you. Let’s say you are sitting in a chair. (Like right now, most likely) Now let’s say that you were to sit in that chair for 2 hours. If you were to spend those 2 hours staring at a clock, that would be a long 2 hours. If on the other hand, you were watching a really good movie, the time would go much more quickly. You are focused on the movie. Dieting can be like that.

If you deny yourself all of your favorite foods for good, you will be thinking about your sacrifice 24-7. But, when you schedule two cheats per week into your diet, there will always be a break on the way. You will enjoy your treat, guilt free. This will let you focus on things other than what you have given up, because well, you haven’t given anything up!

Eating with a purpose

During the rest of the week, you should be eating with a purpose. When you think of food, think about what it is doing for you, rather than to you. You should be getting proper exercise in on a daily basis. Tailor your meals to fuel your workouts. The best thing you can do for yourself is keep this simple. Do not do anything extreme. Diets do suck! They suck to suffer through and they suck at helping you accomplish your goals, especially if your goals include being healthy.

Make sure you think about having energy for work and for working out. You don’t want to feel sluggish or tired. Also, you can eat to change your appetite and your metabolism. HA! How do you like them apples! (Sorry Will Hunting. I couldn’t resist.)

Control your appetite and metabolism

Many people don’t realize that they can control and change their appetites and their metabolism. But you can change both! The great thing is, this only requires one simple change. You have heard this before; eat smaller meals, all day long. Now I will tell you how you will benefit greatly from this simple change.

When you diet, and take in fewer and fewer calories, you risk slowing down your metabolism. This is why fad diets leave you to fall into the yo-yo effect. This is when you gain back all of the weight that this silly diet promised you that you would lose for good. Your body feared starvation, so it slowed down the speed at which it burns calories. In this case, less food, will still cause weight-gain.

If, however, you ate smaller meals, spread throughout the day, your body would know that more food is always coming. Even though you are taking in fewer calories each day, your body will still burn the calories without fear of starvation. This will actually speed up your metabolism. In addition, you are eating healthier foods, which will give you more energy. You will also never feel stuffed and bloated, which will also leave you feeling energized after eating.

Lastly, one of the great benefits of eating smaller meals really surprised me. Our stomachs are elastic. If you keep eating bigger and bigger meals, it will take more food to satisfy you because your stomach will stretch. Conversely, if you eat progressively smaller meals, yep, you guessed it, your stomach will shrink!

When I was in college, playing football, I could eat a cheese-steak (a Philly favorite) and fries with a large soda and then ask my roommates if they wanted to order a pizza. I ended up getting fat after I was done with football.

After I graduated, I got into boxing and had to drop 35 lbs. I got to the point where I could only eat ½ of a small turkey sandwich with a glass of water. I didn’t want any more. My stomach had shrunk a great deal. You can do the same thing. Now, as far as choosing my foods, I keep this incredibly simple. Be smart and don’t eat the things you absolutely know you shouldn’t, at least until you are ready for a scheduled cheat. Simply look at the packaging on your food choices and shop with these percentages in mind.

Carbohydrates – 50% (Yes! You need these for energy!!!)

Proteins – 35%

Fats – 15%

Try to stay “around” these numbers. You don’t have to be a slave to them. You shouldn’t need a scale and a calculator to eat lunch. Find a good healthy mix and replace cheeses and rich sauces with tasty spices. Get creative. You may find some really interesting recipes.

Learn to eat with a purpose and you will see great changes!