Getting in shape all starts with diet. This is the ugly truth everyone knows and no one wants to admit. As a personal trainer I see people's faces drop when it's time to talk diet. We love our food. For many it is a comfort problem, we eat when we are stressed, we eat when we are sad and we eat for nearly every social occasion we attend. To change one’s diet means to change the way we see food, which requires us to change a part of our self. Meals need to be seen for what they are, energy. They fuel us by providing our bodies with carbs, protein, vitamins, and minerals. That does not mean we can’t enjoy our meals but it does mean we need to learn how to enjoy them the proper way.
With our busy schedules, cooking can be a hassle, many get around this by meal prepping ahead of time and keeping portions in containers in their fridge. Cooking one’s own food is the easiest way to train yourself to appreciate food as food and not as a comfort item. Take time to cook for yourself, see what goes into your meals and you will enjoy dinner time that much more and managing overeating will be far easier.
America has two flavors for almost everything; salty and sweet. It may be a surprise to some but real food does not come in these flavors naturally. Another hard lesson will be learning to enjoy the REAL flavor of food. The subtle sweetness of sweet potatoes, the spicy yet refreshing flavor of radishes and the many forms of sweet and tart of fruits. Mealtime is not something to be rushed and thrown down your gullet, take time on your lunch breaks and at the end of your day to eat slowly and appreciate what you put in your body. People are in such a rush all the time, we spend so much money on our sweet and fatty foods and rarely take a minute to enjoy what we eat. What a waste of money when we don’t take time to taste our meals!
There was a book written by Kelly Hayford, “If It’s Not Food Don’t Eat It!”. Now, I never read this book but I appreciate the title. The title begs to argue, if it IS food, DO eat it. By that I mean, an apple is food, that super processed “health” bar from the gas station is NOT. Organic, free range, chicken is food, that fried, shapeless patty from McDonald's is NOT. I don’t think I need to pound this message all the way home for you. It is pretty straightforward, if it is food, eat it.
If we take time to change the way we see our sustenance, we can change the way we enjoy it and if we change those two things first we are well on our way to a healthier lifestyle. Healthier not just for our bodies but for our minds and morals. In this land of plenty, we take so much for granted, but let's try, starting now, to appreciate our sustenance. We have bountiful, healthy foods and water at our disposal and by wasting it or not appreciating it we not only undervalue ourselves, we undervalue the lives of the animals that were sacrificed for our benefit and the work of the farmers that grew our produce. We can get more than abs from how we eat, we can get a new viewpoint on our lives.
With our busy schedules, cooking can be a hassle, many get around this by meal prepping ahead of time and keeping portions in containers in their fridge. Cooking one’s own food is the easiest way to train yourself to appreciate food as food and not as a comfort item. Take time to cook for yourself, see what goes into your meals and you will enjoy dinner time that much more and managing overeating will be far easier.
America has two flavors for almost everything; salty and sweet. It may be a surprise to some but real food does not come in these flavors naturally. Another hard lesson will be learning to enjoy the REAL flavor of food. The subtle sweetness of sweet potatoes, the spicy yet refreshing flavor of radishes and the many forms of sweet and tart of fruits. Mealtime is not something to be rushed and thrown down your gullet, take time on your lunch breaks and at the end of your day to eat slowly and appreciate what you put in your body. People are in such a rush all the time, we spend so much money on our sweet and fatty foods and rarely take a minute to enjoy what we eat. What a waste of money when we don’t take time to taste our meals!
There was a book written by Kelly Hayford, “If It’s Not Food Don’t Eat It!”. Now, I never read this book but I appreciate the title. The title begs to argue, if it IS food, DO eat it. By that I mean, an apple is food, that super processed “health” bar from the gas station is NOT. Organic, free range, chicken is food, that fried, shapeless patty from McDonald's is NOT. I don’t think I need to pound this message all the way home for you. It is pretty straightforward, if it is food, eat it.
If we take time to change the way we see our sustenance, we can change the way we enjoy it and if we change those two things first we are well on our way to a healthier lifestyle. Healthier not just for our bodies but for our minds and morals. In this land of plenty, we take so much for granted, but let's try, starting now, to appreciate our sustenance. We have bountiful, healthy foods and water at our disposal and by wasting it or not appreciating it we not only undervalue ourselves, we undervalue the lives of the animals that were sacrificed for our benefit and the work of the farmers that grew our produce. We can get more than abs from how we eat, we can get a new viewpoint on our lives.