What Is My Best Approach To Eating Well?

My Mother put me on my first diet when I was 9 years old The
fad at that time was a high carbohydrate diet All I can really
remember about it was that I ate a lot of crackers and tuna fish
and all the pasta I wanted I was always 10-15 pounds over
weight and tried every diet that came out With each significant
weight loss I immediately put the weight back on, and then some
I have concluded that diets are not only making us fat, they are
killing us
I was in my 20′s when I hit my all time high I stopped
weighing myself when I hit 220 lbs and was wearing a tight size
18 I am 5’11” tall and of course, I could carry it better than
someone 5’4” but I was now a BIG girl for sure I decided to
join the local YMCA and take some aerobic classes It was all
high impact back then and I will never forget the way I felt the
day after my first class I thought someone had snuck in to my
apartment and beat me with a two by four from head to toeI’m
serious My next game plan was to join the older women in an
aqua aerobics class I had done some competitive swimming in
high school and had always loved the water That was the best
thing I could have ever done It might sound crazy but, that
class and group of women, changed the course of my life
There are several points that I am trying to make One, I had
found a form of exercise that I truly enjoyed and looked forward
to doing Two, I realized that the career choice I had been
pursuing in college was all wrong for me Three, I discovered my
natural talent for motivating others I lost weight because I
was so emotionally satisfied by encouraging others Just three
months later, having changed my diet, and having been consistent
with my exercise I had lost 25 pounds The director approached
me wondering if I might want to train for an instructor
position I was thrilled
You are no doubt wondering what all that has to do with eating
well Everything I had been dieting for 13 years at that point
and what I did differently was I applied common sense and it
worked We all know how to eat healthy but just for the record
I’ll go over the basics Never skip breakfast It’s considered
the most important meal of the day because until you put food
into your body, your metabolism is in low, low gear sleep
mode is a fasting mode Even a small piece of fruit, slice of
toast or small yogurt will do it Also drink a large glass of
water You are dehydrated from having slept 7-9 hours without
drinking a drop Make your mid day meal your largest meal if you
canlean protein (4-6 oz), 2-4 servings of veggies (salad
with steamed or grilled veggies), a small serving of pasta or
sweet potatomore water Dinner can be similar only smaller in
sizemore water It’s an excellent plan is to snack at 10am
and 3pm by the way Research has proven that if we ingest a
small amount every 2-3 hours, our metabolism stays revved up,
and the body realizes that more food is coming on a regular
basis
Once this pattern has been in place for week or so the body
begins to let go of stored fatit knows nutrients are always
coming No white anythingwhite bread, white rice, white
pasta, white potatoes and white sugar Eat as little processed
food as possible and avoid fast food like the plague Pretty
simple Not always easy
Do the best you can most of the time and recognize that there
will be times that you will eat pizza and hot fudge Sundays As
long as it is ‘once in a while’ not weekly, you will be fine
Personally I can’t have tempting food in my houseif it’s
there, I will eat it When I have to have some sort of treat, I
go out and buy one piecesavor every bite and be done with it
Do yourself a favorgive up dieting; It simply does not work
long term

Tags | aerobic, aerobics, carbohydrate, choice, classes, impact, instructor, motivating, position