Diet = Deprivation, Healthy Habits = Satisfaction

If you look up the word “diet” in the dictionary it states: diet – n. the usual food and drink of a person or animal.  In the American language we use it as a verb meaning: to eat or drink according to a regulated system in order to loose weight.  (Actually in the website dictionary I used) Definition and what I hear when saying the word “diet”: torture, cutting our many things I enjoy and feeling hungry.  This my friends is why I refuse to “diet” ever again! I am positive that I will always make adjustments to my usual food or drink but telling myself I am going on a diet is like setting myself up to gain weight in the next 6 months.

The hardest thing about adjusting your food intake as a spouse, parent or friend for that matter, is “I still have to fix something for the rest of the family” or “my friends are still eating what ever they want.” I don’t think I have met anyone who hasn’t had this problem.  But is it really a problem, an excuse or just a distorted perception?  Think about it. If we are making changes that are really healthy, are going to better our health AND making changes that are going to last, aren’t these changes good for everyone around us?  And now that you are laughing saying “My kids/husband won’t eat that” stop and think how long are you going to stick with these changes if you are sure you are in this alone?  And when you stop chances are you are going right back in the direction you are now or when it was that you decided you needed a change.  So how about changing your habits on how you prepare the food you eat now? And how much you eat?  There are so many alternatives to so many ingredients.  If you prepare a meal vs. convenience food such as chicken nuggets or take out, it is a pretty good chance that you are already making a difference.  Most of the time you can make changes no one will notice unless you point it out.  I changed to using whole-wheat pasta and no one noticed…my husband notices when I use season salt (which I don’t anymore) and he didn’t notice and likes it.  I also don’t buy white bread in fact I haven’t for so long that I did once because it was on sale and I am a sucker for a sale, and my kids didn’t like it!  When I make a cake I use applesauce instead of oil.  There are 50 calories in 1 cup of applesauce vs. 1927 in a cup of vegetable oil! You can also make cookies with half the amount of sugar and still get the same consistency most people would never guess that, I didn’t.  Obviously these examples should still be consumed in moderation but moderation I can do, eliminating forever not so much.  Another trick is to make your spice cabinet your friend!  It is amazing how blah the convenience food can be when you start learning how to use different spices and cutting a bit of salt.  I could go forever on this topic if you are interested in more you should join the Healthy Habits weight loss program starting January 24^th.

So the main point is as we learn to eat healthier we should be teaching our kids the same habits and we can do so without the torture and deprivation.  Healthy Habits is about so much more than just weight loss, they affect our bodies on the inside and out more than you can imagine!  Even mentally for that matter, but that is another article.  Have a good week!

Oh and by the way I made my goal of staying at the same weight or less through the holidays.  I was up a couple of pounds through them but quickly reversed and I am actually .2 lighter!  Doesn’t sound like much but in the weight loss world sometimes it is huge!