People at our Oceanside, CA facility know that while we focus on working out, we also want people to eat healthy. Eating healthy means choosing food wisely and eating more whole foods. It also means you eat without guilt, since you aren’t dieting. There’s no such thing as “falling off the wagon” even if you indulge in forbidden foods a few times. It just means the next day you go back to your program of healthy eating that tends to include far more fresh fruits and vegetables and very few processed ones.
You shouldn’t ever feel guilty taking a bite.
You need to eat to live. While some people say the problem comes when people live to eat instead of the other way around, I say that’s not the problem. The problem is not how much you eat, but what you eat. Sugary products and those containing high fructose corn syrup should be eliminated from your diet completely. High fructose corn syrup—HFCS—is in almost all products. It messes with your hormones and diminishes that hormones that make you feel full, so you tend to eat more and feel hungrier the more HFCS you consume.
You’ll develop a whole new appreciation for the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Not only will you start to taste the exquisite flavors of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially appreciating the sugary flavor of fruit, once you give up sugar and processed foods, you’ll also appreciate the nuances of each flavor. If you have a chance to shop at a farmer’s market, grow your own tomatoes or shop at a grocery where they carry heirloom varieties of tomatoes, buy a few heirloom tomatoes. If you can, make it a black variety, such as a black Krimm. (Not only do the black tomatoes have a richer tomato flavor, they also have more nutrients.) Taste the different flavors of each tomato, compared to the traditional tomatoes served in restaurants that, by comparison, restaurant tomatoes taste like cardboard.
You’ll be amazed at how much weight you lose by following a few simple steps.
If you’re hungry, eat, but make it healthy food. Keep your refrigerator stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables cut up in bite size pieces and ready to eat. If you want something more, consider having a dip ready. One of my favorites is made with a little mayonnaise, cottage cheese and ranch flavoring. Snack as much as you want on fresh fruit and vegetables or even have a ready to eat salad prepared for a snack. If you’re really hungry, a hard boiled egg will keep you full longer.
- Out with the processed meat and in with the healthy protein. An air fried rotisserie style chicken can provide the protein for several meals and some great snacks. Chop it and combine it with celery, onion and a mix of mayo and Greek yogurt for a chicken salad.
- When you eat without guilt, you’ll find you appreciate your food more and will be less likely to feel deprived. That can help you control your emotional eating better.
- After eating more whole foods and fewer processed foods, you may find you want a more formal program that’s easy to follow, especially if you work. Creating meal plans, shopping and cooking for the week is a help that will have you eating without guilt.
- Combine healthy eating with working out and you’ll have both a surefire plan for a healthy lifestyle, but also never have to worry about weight control again.