TED Talk, weight loss and dieting

I'm just going to leave this here.  It's an excellent video about dieting and weight loss, and what we can do to change the views we have...  and help along the next generation.

Eat when you're hungry.  Stop when you're full.  Listen to your body.  It's trying to tell you something.

How great would it be if we could pass on this wisdom to our kids?  How much better would things be for the next generation, health-wise, if we could get this right?  I'd rather like to find out.

Fad dieting, and why it doesn't work

We've discussed dieting before. Talking about how it should be a life style change, rather than a short thing just to lose a little weight.  Fad diets are the ones with a name, or really strict rules, and unless your medical doctor is okay with it and is monitoring you, they are not healthy ways to treat out bodies.

That's the goal, isn't it?  Healthy?  We want strong muscles, lean fatty areas, energy to keep up with our kids or animals, and a strong heart for a long and healthy life.  Just losing that pesky 5lb around your butt/hips/belly/whatever?  That's incidental, and really honestly will come if you change your view on dieting, stop starving yourselves, giving up, and going right back to crap food again.  People who diet this way seem to just get bigger and less healthy over time.  Depriving your body of necessary nutrients is not the way to go.

I just say...  If you make the bulk of your diet real food, healthy food, eat what you crave , and you will do well.  Not to say if you are craving sugar you should have a candy bar.  But sugar craving means your body needs carbs, so give it complex ones.  Whole grains.  Craving protein?  Give your body easy to assimilate proteins, like nuts, seeds, or beans.

In general, eat healthy foods, whole foods.  Have lots of fruit and veg, as fresh as possible.  Go easy on animal products in general, if not cutting them out, and you will do well.  Light cheese, occasional eggs, small meat portions.  A deck of cards is about the size of a proper adult meat portion!  Sure, you can juice and you'll feel great, because it's lots of fruit and veg.  But living on juice forever is not a good plan, of course!

If you eat real food (can read all ingredients, and know exactly what they are/could make it from scratch if you wanted), you have a much harder time going wrong.  Balance is the key.  I know, it's hard to switch to this kind of eating if you're used to processed foods regularly.  It takes work, meal times need to be planned out more...  but there are some convenience items that can bridge the gap as you ease into cooking more, and help out when you're on the go, so you don't feel the need to stop for fast food.

On the "fad diet" side of things...  This article about fad diets and what is often behind them was really eye-opening.  Lots of good stuff here.  Well worth the  read.

Be well, my friends.  Namaste!

Do Something Challenge, Day 9!

This is not a diet.  This is not a fad.  This is a change, lifestyle-wide.  I am not doing this to lose weight.  I am not doing this to shrink in sizes or fit a dress or wear a bikini this summer.

The most common thing I am hearing is that when I fall back into my old habits I will put on more weight than I lost.  Well, sure, I suppose that could happen.  But I'm not exactly only drinking water with cayenne pepper in it for 2 weeks straight.

I'm eating fresh fruits and vegetables.  Whole foods.  Making my meals again instead of stopping somewhere on my way home.  Being more active and less lazy.

Before, I still did fresh foods, but also would swing by somewhere on my way home to grab dinner on really busy days.  I didn't plan ahead.  And I had to slow in my activity to help an injured shoulder heal.  You can't very well yoga or swim with a bad shoulder.  So I stopped and just tried to do what I could for the moment.

I'm finally getting back to normal, for me.  This IS my normal.  Yoga, good food, a little swimming on the side.

Diets don't work, because they are simply minor changes for a short lived time frame.  Also, you tend to think of all the things you can't have, and it's easier to trip up.
Fads especially don't work, because they fade with time.

Food changes are hard!  We get set in our ways and we have to retrain our tongues to enjoy things we might not usually enjoy.  But our bodies CAN get used to and even learn to crave the foods that are good for us.  And once we're there, if we listen to our bodies, they will tell us what they need.  Last night, I was craving orange juice.  This morning, I had a stuffed nose.  My body knew it needed a little extra vitamin C, and I'm glad I listened!

I don't want to lose weight or fit other clothes.  If I happen to get that from this, great, but that's not the point.  I want to be healthy and strong again.  I want to have energy to do things again.  Oddly, the best way to do that is to expend what energy I do have, and feed my body well.  It will recover faster if I eat better, and be able to do more, over time.  You have to spend some energy to get it.  Like spending money to earn it.  There's some truth in both.  ;)

This is no easy thing, don't get me wrong.  But if you think of your recent changes as a permanent change for you, instead of a temporary thing, and focus on the positives rather than the negative stuff (I didn't get that pose right today, or the scale says I gained weight!?)...  you will have an easier go of it.

You did something today.  That is great!  So what if the balances didn't come to you, you weren't able to lift as much today, or the scale says you're at a stand still?  You are still making great changes for yourself.  Focus on that.  And tomorrow, let's see what we can do!  :)

And in the meantime, giggle some at Diet Mammoth.  He's my new friend.