Get to know your best friends who can make your weight loss enjoyable or… a nightmare depending on your choices!
So, you decided to lose weight.
You’ve done your research, you may have asked an expert’s help, you probably emptied your fridge and your pantry from all the “bad” foods that you’re not supposed to eat and you’re ready to embark on this life-changing journey.
But…
You may have made one crucial mistake that most of the people who have been on a diet at least once in their lives are guilty of making.
You may have subconsciously declared food as your enemy.
It’s typical among many dieters even if it’s just for a few foods or the idea of eating in general – which is an even worse mistake that can lead to dangerous roads but I’d better save my thoughts on this subject for a different post.
Even the initial thought of needing to lose weight has probably led you to read a bit about weight loss. Your internet research has certainly landed you on various websites that blame sugar or fat or carbs or processed foods as the main suspect of weight gain and the obesity epidemic. And there is probably a speck of truth in their claims. But does that mean that we have to demonize most of the foods we are used to eating? And even if we do, how successful is our weight loss going to be and – most importantly – for how long?
Let’s admit it.
We all love food.
Because if we didn’t, we would have never been in need of losing weight and we would have never searched for ways to do so. Our reasons for making food a close friend are probably different. So are our preferences. When we think “comfort food”, some of us picture chocolate and cookies, others crave chips and fries. There are some great connoisseurs inside our bodies who decide whether the food we eat is enjoyable, indifferent or not to our liking. And whether we like it or not, those are the ones that will define the outcome of our weight loss attempts and our health journey.
So, are you ready to meet your best weight loss buddies?
Say hello to… your taste buds!
Those little things inside our mouth are the ones that tell our brain what we’re eating. Salty, sweet, bitter or spicy. And our brain knows what we like and responds accordingly. So, after a meal we can feel satisfied and content or we can feel deprived and… still hungry for taste. That’s why we have to respect their job and comply with their rules. We have to make them our good buddies in our weight loss efforts. We can’t expect to lose weight by eating things that our taste buds don’t approve of. No matter how great reviews a new diet has, no matter how many of our friends have had success with it, if our buddies don’t like it, it’s doomed to fail.
One of the most important things I realized through my own weight loss journey – and something that I wish I had realized much earlier in my life – is that not every meal plan is suitable for everyone. Let me give you an example. I’m sure most of you have heard of the Atkins diet. The early approach of this diet was called by some people the all-the-steak-you-can-eat diet! Meat has never been in my list of favorite foods. I’m the kind of person who, presented with a choice between a just-broiled, juicy steak and a freshly-cut, crispy, vegetable salad, will definitely choose the latter. Can you imagine my chances of losing weight if I ever tried the Atkins diet? My taste buds would start a revolution at the end of week one – if I could make it that far!
My point is simple. You’re overweight or obese because you love food.
If you want to lose weight and keep it lost forever, you have to keep on loving food!
Yes, you read that right!
Don’t expect to lose weight by eating things you don’t like. Even if this works for some time, sooner or later your taste buds will start screaming for something tasty. And you’ll go back to your old habits and… you know what happens next…
If you don’t like leafy, green vegetables for example, and you push yourself to eat them in your salad every day at lunchtime just because the diet says so, you’re bound to hate your lunch in the end. So you eventually go back to pizza. So it’s either food you don’t like or food that you love but is bad for you? Aren’t these too extreme to be your only choices? There must be something good in between!
Search, experiment, explore.
Try new tastes, add variety, learn to enjoy cooking.
Discover new, lighter versions of the foods you like.
Substitute things you don’t like with your favorite healthy ingredients.
Be a smart and mindful eater by bearing these things in mind when planning your meals:
Believe me, the word food will find a new meaning in your mind and this, alone, is a big step towards changing your diet mentality and your whole attitude towards losing weight.
Rejoice! You can keep on loving food and still lose weight! There are many people out there who have lost weight doing just that and can reassure you it works.
Eating is how we lost the weight. We just put the word right after it. And that’s how we continue our healthy living commitment.
Will you join us?