Thinking back, I can't say I'm surprised I turned out to be a health food nut. It's not because I live in LA and it seemed the thing to do because that is not the case. This all started for me long before I moved to LA. I've heard Oprah say about making life changes, you tend to start out small. Dipping your toes in, then slowly moving more in that direction. I considered being a nutritionist when I was in college, one of the many majors I considered. I learned there was a lot of math and science, not my strong suits so I didn't pursue it. When I was in my 20's I used to find the local health food stores and wonder in. I definitely felt intimidated and at a loss for what I saw. The produce didn't look all that appealing, being that is wasn't grown or treated with chemicals.
At that time, I'd buy some fruit or maybe a nutrition bar. I didn't understand what millet or spelt was, let alone how to use it. Years later, after moving to California, I put on a lot of weight. I wasn't working out and I certainly wasn't eating well. I found this program on BBC America called "You are What You Eat". This nutty British nutritionist would put her over-weight clients on a boot camp type program. Serious diet and exercise changes and in eight weeks they would look a couple of stone (I don't know why the British use this system for weight. All I can tell you is a stone equals 14 pounds). They would feel and look much better. For me, this struck a cord. I didn't like the way I looked plus I hated the way I felt. Knowing that I'm getting older, I realized I need to make changes now. I have such a vivid memory of sitting at my grandmother's kitchen table watching her fill her two pill boxes with medication, while she said to me "don't get old". I didn't want that to become me. Time will tell if my efforts will pay off and I'll be able to grow old while remaining active and healthy. Hopefully the "ounce of prevention" approach to my lifestyle will pay off down the road.
I decided to buy the books written by the host. Her name is Gillian McKeith. One of her books is a plan with recipes for a months worth of cooking. I decided to follow her plan for a month and what I learned is that health food isn't intimidating and can be quite good actually. The big realization for me was seasoning your food with herbs and spices, not salts and butter and sauces. I like to eat and I like my food to taste good. I can honestly say, a few years later, that I eat better now then I ever have. When I say better I mean the food I eat today really does taste good and is good for me.
Here are a few things I've learned on my health food journey.
- Most Important - Start slowly! I would not recommend making multiple, dramatic changes at once. For me I started with giving up all soda. I liked soda, I was never a fan of diet soda so giving it up was tough but not impossible. Giving up all soda, without making any other changes to your diet, will result in weight loss, I guarantee it. Weight loss that you will see. What you CAN NOT do is start drinking other sugary drinks.
- If you really want to loose weight and keep it off, you have to be willing to exercise. Yes, it is true, diet and exercise. I've tried just dieting and I've tried just exercising and neither really worked until I did both together. I will be the first person to tell you I do not enjoy working out. I hate it actually and I'm forever looking for excuses not to exercise but at the end of the day I do it.
- To loose weight and keep it off means no dieting, you have to be willing to make permanent lifestyle changes, like giving up soda, permanently. Diets are temporary, just like the weight loss you experience when on one. It's impossible to loose weight and keep it off if you go back to the way you eat before you lost the weight.
- If you really want to loose weight, you have to be willing to give up sugar. This was a tough one for me. I have such a sweet tooth. It was the last big change I made. I did it a year ago, in January of course. It was hard. I actually got headaches which is a sign of withdrawal. If giving up something gives you headaches, you were addicted to whatever that was. I did fall off the wagon once but I got right back on.
- Change takes time - 3 weeks for starters. Many recovery programs for serious additions last 22 days. This is the amount of time needed to get any element (sugar, caffeine, nicotine, etc) out of your system. It's the hurdle period. Making any change, you must be willing to stick with it for three weeks. After that, it will take work but it'll be much easier.
- 80/20 rule. I would be lying if I said I haven't had any sweets or sugar since I made these changes. Since sugar is my weakness, I'm not willing to give it up completely. In her books, Gillian talks about the 80/20 rule which is eat well 80% of the time and 20% is the guilt free time. Personally I've moved it up to 90/10. This doesn't not mean you should schedule weekly or month "free" days or meals. What it means is when the opportunity presents itself, you can enjoy your favorite items with no guilt. You also have to be willing to say no too. Just because there is a cake in the office, doesn't mean I need to have a slice. Unless it's a really good cake. I'm very picky now about the sweets I eat. I only eat the really good, high quality stuff. Nothing you buy at a checkout counter. My chocolate these days comes from artisanal bakers who use the highest quality ingredients. One of my rules these days is if you are going to splurge make sure it's the good stuff1
