Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Yes, you are what you eat. You know that, you may deny it but it is so!

Before I go on about this, I do want to make a reply to the comment from Kristi on emotional eating which is part of "you are what you eat". I, too, have been an emotional eater & at times still am. I grew up heavy & did emotionally eat. I have learned to master this pretty well but there are times when I just say, I know what I am doing but I am going to eat that cookie anyway.. but it is an informed choice! The one thing I always do when I am faced with emotional eating: I promise myself that I will always stop & think about it for 10 minutes. Why do I want to eat that, what is causing this, is it really worth it or would I rather just save myself for something I really want to eat when I am not angry, upset, mad etc. Why not wait & enjoy it in the moment & not scarf it down without really caring about it except that it had to do with my emotional state. Can you make me a promise to stop for just 10 minutes to think it through? I bet at least 80% of the time, you will not eat it!  You can also look at my older posts for more on ways to help with emotional eating.

OK, you are what you eat. Did you get up this morn, run out of the house with coffee only (no breakfast), starved at 10am, you head to the vending machine for anything possible or grab the donut in the break room, work through lunch, starved at 2:30, you grab some candy off the co-workers desk, get home at 6:30 starving & basically start eating anything in sight before you ever have dinner. Really, you are just setting yourself up for failure. What you put in your body reflects how you will look on the outside not to mention how you will feel on the inside.

Many people are in denial & will make up every excuse in the book as to why they can't eat healthy or they can't lose weight but the truth is that you CAN make better choices. You can plan ahead for your meals, you can make the better choices when you are eating out and you can special order the food a certain way when you are out.. even at fast food places. YOU NEED TO MAKE THE CHOICE OF HEALTH & WELL BEING OVER BEING UNHEALTHY AND HEAVIER THAN YOU PREFER.

I have had many food programs over the years and the one thing I do know is that you have to find what works for you & stick to it. I have eaten basically too little & my body stopped working, I have eaten healthy but less protein or very little like many women do & looked thin but not as healthy as I do now, I have eaten too much & been just plain heavy. Set your goals & then eat to reach them. You are what you eat so stop saying "I just don't understand why I look this way".

I know many are not fans of The Biggest Loser but on last night's show, Aubrey's father was the exact example of denial & excuses. He tells himself it is OK to have a candy bar & a few sodas & he will just work out harder later... but he does not. Aubrey tried to confront him on his breakfast but his answer was that the breakfast was not part of his "starting now" on his diet. He had an excuse for everything. He basically is choosing food over health & life. If this sounds like you, take a good look in the mirror, stop lying to yourself & stop the denial & say yes to life & health... do it now, not tomorrow or Monday! We all have times that we fall back but the key is to get back on track right then. YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!