Healthy Eating: Diet for Yourself

Well I'm excited. I finally have been eating well for about 3 weeks. That is a miracle for me. No, I don' know how much weight I lost, and the thing is I don't care. I have been overweight my entire life, been on the famous diets and lost some weight just to gain it back.

I was eating whatever I darned pleased then turning around with a ton of guilt. I kept obsessing that I would die of a heart attack from the fats my body was getting. That really annoyed me big time because I asked myself , "how could a person in her right mind sit there eating, enjoying that fattening delicacy, and then five minutes later keep regretting it?" This went on and on.

I'm not sure what triggered my strength. It may have been that I saw myself in the mirror, walking towards the sliding glass doors looking like a zombie with dark circles under the eyes in a horror movie. It may have been the sense of freedom because my mother, whom I care for, was away on vacation allowing me to buy only groceries I wanted. She quite often lives on donuts and TV dinners. Or was it the reality of knowing I'm still young (48) and I am not going to die tomorrow, and that I had a say in that by eating well? The game of eat, have guilt, be depressed, and feel my pants get tighter was getting old.

The day I snapped into shape was the day I felt empowered. I CAN do this. I do not care what size I will be. I do not care that I do not own a scale. I do not WANT to have to loose 6 pounds a week so everyone claps for me at a meeting. I don't want want any pressures of competition. I only want to eat healthy so my insides do not kill me.

I went to the grocery store and bought all the veggies that I liked. None that diet books say to eat, just the ones I liked. I will not force myself to follow a menu that I will loose interest in. I bought Light Chocolate Soy Milk, Rice Cakes, whole grain bread, the lowest fat content peanut butter (since I cannot live without my peanut butter!!), low fat cheese and no fat sour cream and a 3 pound bag of skinned, boneless frozen chicken. Later I added to my grocery list things like frozen seasoned fish, skim milk, Total raisin bran, kidney and black beans in a can, edamame-fresh soy beans like McDonald's puts in their Asian salad, no trans fat margarine and no trans fat mayo. I purchased only healthy things, not thinking of every night's meal planning. I had only good things on hand and had to go from there.

I designed my own meals for my husband and me. If my daughter was hungry, she made her own or ate what I had. No more cooking for others. It WAS and IS time for myself. I do believe there is a bit of GOOD selfishness when dieting. There has to be. The meals are not far out. My daughter does like them most nights. Serve your meals on a small plate. This is very important. Chicken smothered with red/green peppers and onions and low fat swiss is one of our favorites . Then there's microwaved whole potato with salsa, corn and no fat sour cream. And you'd never know it was no fat sour cream. Any other time I would have made that potato along with meat and other dishes. But now that potato is filling and satisfying without anything else. It also leaves room for my dessert which is sliced fresh strawberries, blueberries layered with low fat vanilla yogurt served in a pretty wine glass. The glass makes it that much better! The kitchen is cleaned up easily, not many pans. Are you thinking "just a potato?" Well, yes, it works for me. But you can always add something else healthy to it. Just try not to overeat. Try to shrink your tummy so you're full faster. Drink some water before eating also. That helps fill you.

These foods are not totally fat free or sugar free. But they are good for you, tasty and will lead to fullness, satisfaction and weight loss. All packaged foods are gone from my cupboards unless they are healthy. I stroll the grocery stores just seeking out healthy foods and I don't even go in the chip, cookie or candy isles anymore. I stay far away from the soda isle also. Water, hot/cold tea is all I drink. I believe you must take baby steps into changing your habits. You probably had these eating habits since childhood and it's all you know. So one step at a time. Don't worry about the scale or the inches of your waist. Be concerned with your heart and other organs that are being affected everyday by how you eat.

I just had to write about this because it's been so very long that I had no control at all. I was depressed that I would always be unhealthy, guilty and fat. The feeling of making better decisions for myself has lead to better habits. I love to get outside and plant flowers, read about plants, walk the dogs, cut the grass, visit a great thrift store and keep busy. Please try to think about yourself. Happy days ahead, take care.