4/19 Starting weight: 270
4/27 Today’s weight: 257 (Same weight as yesterday)
13lbs down so far!
For years I have had a very disordered way of thinking when it came to food. I even went to therapy for it once upon a time.
Years of mixed messages from doctors, books, dieticians, friendly advice and media had completely made the way I thought about food to be confusing, to say the least.
Some people say this food is bad, some say it’s good for you. Should you eat carbs or shouldn’t you? Can I eat fruit even though it’s considered “healthy sugar”? Am I allowed a cheat day or will it ruin my progress? Does the meat and dairy I eat have to be grassfed or antibiotic free? Does all my produce have to be organic? Do I have to eat 3 meals a day or 6 tiny meals or just 1 big one? Should I intermittent fast every day? Do I really have to eat breakfast? Is caffeine smart to ingest when you’re trying to lose weight or will it destroy your hormones? Do I need to be strict with my food intolerances? What if I eat late at night, am I going to gain weight? And on and on.
Food and I have had a complicated relationship for a very long time. And everything you’re hearing and reading contradicts each other. So what are you supposed to do? Because the endless research just further confuses you!
I had to honestly pray about what I should eat and how I should eat. And I had to ask God to change the way I look at food and restore my mentality about all things “health”.
The Mentality
Quality of food mentality
The first thing I felt like I was supposed to do was rid my body of toxins. Our bodies have gotten so used to the antibiotic & preservative filled meat, dairy and packaged products. Not to mention, our fruits, veggies and produce is being grown in pesticide ridden environments and sprayed down with chemicals.
I had to change my mentality from not caring about what’s in my food or where it comes from, to thinking about how the food is going to affect and fuel me. And that is something I have never done before. Because we should care about what we put in our bodies.
God’s original design and purpose for food was for it to nourish our bodies, fuel us, give us energy and taste good! We need to get back to that original thought of eating whole, organic foods.
p.s. I understand that eating organic, grassfed, whole foods is going to be 100% possible 100% of the time. But I believe it’s so important that we spend that extra few dollars to feed ourselves and our families with quality foods in the home. It will not always be realistic when you go out to eat and stuff every once in a while.
The cheating mentality
My mentality about cheating on any diet has been so messed up. I used to think, “oh, well I ate something that I think is bad, so I might as well binge all night long and eat as much crap as I can the rest of the day and I’ll start over again tomorrow.”
That thought process is what led me to gaining 100lbs in around 2 years! That is such a destructive way of thinking.
When we “cheat” on our diet plan or eat something we think we shouldn’t be eating, we need to stop and think a different way. Change the pattern.
We need to bounce back faster.
Because whenever I cheated on my diet, it would derail me for weeks. It was this cycle that I kept on repeating.
I would do okay on my diet for a day or two, and the second I slipped up, I would take 20 steps backwards and it would take weeks to get back on track.
NO MORE OF THAT WAY OF THINKING.
If you think you messed up, forgive yourself and move on. Forget about it and get immediately back on track. I honestly have to step away and pray.
It only takes one second to start over. Don’t wait til tomorrow or next week. Diets don’t have to start at the beginning of the day, on a Monday or the beginning of the year. They can start now.
The “intolerances” mentality
A few years ago, I was severely struggling to get out of bed or do anything. I was sick all the time and couldn’t function normally. I went to 3 different doctors and they kept referring me to more.
One would tell me I’m making up my symptoms. One thought I had a hormone disorder. One thought I had an auto immune disease.
I eventually got so frustrated and tried another wholistic doctor who confirmed some auto immune suspicians and gave me some advice on diet and lifestyle changes I should make if I want to feel better.
For a while, the changes I made worked. I was taking my supplements, eating whole foods and whatnot.
But I would slip up and cheat on the eating and end up feeling like crap all over again. And it took months to get back to feeling better again.
I learned that if you have food intolerances or are reccomended a diet for a specific issue that you have, listen to it and don’t cheat.
Your body and health will drastically change when you stick to the plan. And the hard truth is, when you cheat, especially with intolerances/thyroid issues/auto immune issues/gluten, it detrails you. It practically is like starting over. Your body is being thrown outta wack again when you’re hormones and body was just starting to repair itself.
If something is tempting you like going out to eat or spending time with friends, don’t cheat on your diet and ruin all the progress that you’ve made. Because you and I both know that it took a lot of effort.
Suggest doing something different, eating somewhere better, or cooking a meal together where you are in control of the ingredients. It’s not worth it. Those symptoms and setbacks are not worth it whatsoever.
The portion mentality
I have always had this seemingly neverending hunger and a bottomless pit for a stomach.
Just the idea of eating 1 cookie is a bizarre thing to me.
How can you sit down with a glass of milk and not eat a half a dozen?
How do you eat 2 slices of pizza and not the whole thing, with some breadsticks too?
How do you go to a restaurant and not order a large meal and an appetizer and maybe even dessert?
How to you go to the Taco Bell drive thru and not order a meal and 5 things off the dollar menu too?
How do you eat the serving size of 5 nuggets and not make the whole bag with some fries too?
I loved food so much that the “normal portion” just wasn’t enough. It wasn’t worth it to just eat a little bit. Food tastes so good and I love feeling full, and it took a lot to get me there.
I had to really pray about this one. And God really spoke to me about it. He shared his heart and told me that when I eat more than I need and binge eat like that, that I am hurting my body. And the Bible specifically tells us to take care of our bodies like a temple. So really, I was sinning when I was eating destructively like that. I was hurting something and there are consquences when we sin. And for me, the consequences were destroying my health. I was killing myself slowly with food.
And that revelation was what completely changed my mindset about portions. I can still enjoy food just as much, but I will feel better when I eat the amount my body was originally created to eat. I just might need to make the food a different way or use different ingredients. But I can still love every bit of food that goes into my mouth. I do NOT have to deprive myself.
I believe that as we start to revolutionize our thoughts and mentality about food and diet, that it will get easier and easier. Our relationship with food and health wasn’t meant to be a complicated one. We need to stop making it so hard and give ourselves some grace as we make this altering life changes.
And we will be all the better for it.
xo, S
Catch up on the first 8 days of the series!>>
Day 1: The wakeup call, the game plan & the “why”
Day 2: The habits to break & symptoms to shake
Day 3: The fat girl revelations
Day 4: The scale obsession
Day 5: The temptations
Day 6: The sugar withdrawal
Day 7: The personal trainer
Day 8: The noticeable changes