I’ve been thinking… I’ve learned so much over the last 6 years from my experiences, reading and from innumerable trials and errors that I could be a decent life coach myself when it comes to diet and exercise. All I would really need is a little formal training. I have been considering it as something I would like to pursue, and I thought I’d share some simple truths I’ve learned over the years.
Today I want to look at the most important part of getting healthier and fitter: Eating Healthy Edition. (Part 2 of Getting Healthy and Fit: Exercise Edition which will be coming up tomorrow…)
Eating a healthier diet is something a lot of us say we want to do, but we have such a hard time because of temptations, lack of willpower and food addictions. I won’t lie and say that making changes in your diet is easy; in fact, I will tell you that diet is far and above the hardest thing that maintain in my healthy life. It has been a monumental struggle that I continually battle. The need to change your diet is paramount and without a healthy diet, there is no healthy lifestyle, but I will advise against making drastic changes and instead, I recommend making gradual changes over long periods of time if you have the luxury of time. In some cases, like pre-diabetes and heart issues, or high blood pressure, there is no time for gradual anything.
I eat incredibly healthy now, and people often comment that my diet would be impossible for them to attempt and I must agree with them, I didn’t wake up one morning and decide to do this; this is an accumulation of small changes and tweaks I made over the last 6 years. The key here is that my desire to find the healthiest way to eat drove me to do the research, read the books, watch the documentaries, and then with trial and error, repeated failures and overcoming a whole host of food addictions and weathering the withdrawal episodes and subsequent relapses, I never stopped wanting to see what truly healthy felt like. The slow improvements over the years piqued my curiosity at every level. When I would improve it was always surprising and I simply continued to ask, well, if this is good, what could make it better?
I started with sugar… What I also refer to as “The Devil”… I stopped the Dr. Pepper/Pepsi/Orange Crush/Root Beer and boxes of candy habit and replaced it with pineapple… Yeah… I ate a bunch of fucking pineapple… Like one a day for months… I would take a giant Tupperware to work jam packed with fresh pineapple, strawberries, blue berries, raspberries, and anything I could find to quell my processed sugar craving… Once, my wife went to FoodMaxx early in the morning before I got up for work to get me a pineapple to make sure I had it for work and got a ticket for not wearing her seatbelt… That’s the story of the $250.00 pineapple… We laugh now but we were pretty poor at the time and it wasn’t quite as funny then… It took about four years to get the sugar demon under control and that is no exaggeration… The intervals between candy binges grew longer and longer until I had a hold of it but I clearly remember standing in line at the store being clean for weeks and breaking down and buying three or four candy bars and eating them in the parking lot like a junkie in an alley and being sick and angry at myself, throwing away the wrappers so no one would know and swearing that was the last time. I have been candy free for about two years and now the thought of eating junk food doesn’t interest me at all… I feel like those who can overcome the processed sugar demon are the strongest people in the world…
After bringing my sugar intake way down, I started eating leaner meats like chicken and turkey and cut out red meat, while simultaneously trying to incorporate more vegetables. Then I added in healthier breakfast cereals like granolas, oatmeal, and some whole grain breads. I switched to almond milk and other low-fat options. I ate more nuts and tried things like flax seeds. Eventually, after about a year, I had a fairly healthy diet (except for the continued sugar habit), and from there I stepped up my game and became a pescatarian. For about six months, I danced with salmon, sushi and sashimi… Lots of crab, fish and seafood with vegetables and leafy greens… It was probably the best tasting part of this journey and the easiest… I mean, replacing beef, chicken and pork with salmon was pretty effortless…Then came that fateful day I stumbled onto a documentary called “Earthlings” narrated by Woody Harrelson… That was quite a day and I do not recommend anyone who is not a vegan watch that horror show… Hell, if you are squeamish and already a vegan, don’t watch it… That day, I immediately cut out meat, dairy, and eggs completely, including seafood and fish. “Earthlings” turned me into an ethical vegan with a single viewing… I started using tofu and other soy products. I slowly tried out all kinds of vegan recipes, to the point that I am now 100% vegan, and loving every minute of it. I consider tofu, fake meat, tempura and other processed vegan foods to be “transitional” food to make the last step from vegetarian to vegan or vegan to whole food plant based vegan… For the last year, I have graduated to the 100% whole food, plant based vegan diet which means I don’t eat any processed food including bread. The most processed thing I put in my body is oat milk. Lately as everyone who reads this rag knows, I’ve been trying to cut out caffeine but gradually so I don’t end up in prison...
If you try cutting one little thing out at a time, eventually you will get used to the change and it will normalize for you. Then just repeat the process until you reach the point where you are comfortable and happy with your diet. If you stop at vegetarian or just end up cutting down on animal products you will feel lots better. Filling your body with plant based foods will make all the difference in the world, getting there however is like having to drive over 100 miles of really bad road… The journey between poor diet and healthy diet is a long, arduous process.
Healthy Eating Rule #1: Pick one or two things to change about your diet, and start simply with those. Every week or two try something healthy and incorporate it into your daily or weekly menu.
Another thing I’ve learned is that when I am trying to cut out something bad, it helps to replace it with something healthy and tasty that I enjoy. Like hamburgers, try some of the plant based burgers to replace it with occasionally and then gradually increase the plant based until you are eating more of it than red meat. In my personal life I am cutting down on coffee and replacing it with water. I replaced milk with the much healthier oat milk, and now I love oat milk. Same thing applies with replacing sugary cereals with granola and white bread with whole grain bread. Find healthy options that you like. I’ve also learned to incorporate a variety of not only fruits and vegetables, but nuts, calcium-rich foods (like calcium-fortified orange juice, tofu, almonds, and leafy greens), foods with good fats (like avocados, flaxseeds, almonds, etc), high protein but lean foods (like tofu, soy protein, nuts, beans), and high-fiber foods like kale and leafy greens. What I avoid like the plague, are fast food, highly processed food, and junk food. Now don’t go overboard and just stop eating these things. You’re used to them, you love them and even if they are no good for you, they are hard to stop eating. Instead, slowly remove them from your life by stopping less often at a fast food place, and increase your instances of cooking at home and cut down the size of your portions gradually.
Healthy Eating Rule #2: Eat small portions. I used to pile my plate high, but that’s a sure way to staying or becoming overweight, even on healthy foods. I slowly cut back on my portions by adding healthy snacks in between meals. The key here is to plan it out so that you not only have your three meals per day, but maybe an apple in between, and healthy snacks like nuts and raisins, or instead of having a large lunch, have two smaller lunches at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM. The best way to do this is eat slowly, eat mindfully and at the first sign of feeling full, put down the fork and be done. Your stomach alerts you about 10 to 20 late when it is full and continuing to eat after you feel full is a sure fire way to overeat. Try it once, you will feel so much better and feeling better will help you remember to do it more often.
Healthy Eating Rule #3: Set long-term goals, and don’t expect quick results. Yet another important point: these things won’t make a noticeable difference right away, at least not on your waistline. Losing weight, especially fat shouldn’t be expected to happen overnight, or you will easily gain it back. Consider how long it took you to gain the weight you want to lose. Your body has become accustomed to that weight. Be patient, and think long term. Don’t look for quick fixes.
There are many more tips, but these are the basic rules for I use eating healthy, which is the foundation for getting fit. Incorporate these rules one at a time, slowly, and you’ll see big changes over time…
Alright… Step one…
The 90 Day Life Change Challenge Update… Wok up this morning with absolutely no motivation and had to use the countdown method to get out of bed... The Countdown is when you close your eyes, count down from ten and get your tired, sore, unmotivated ass moving... When you reach one, you say, lift off and just get up... It works every time for me because number one, I trust myself to keep the promises I made to myself and number two, I fucking hate failure... When I checked my phone, I found several text messages telling me that I had inspired some people and that was all it took.... I did my 1/2 Murph, 5000 Squat Challenge, P90X3 Triometrics and V-Up Challenge in 90 minutes... For those of you who texted me last night, I am grateful for your support and know that you inspired me when I was simply not in the fucking mood at 0455... Lets keep one another, motivated, inspired and when we lack discipline, we can lean one one another to keep going.
See you tomorrow because again, the choice has been taken away when I signed the 90 Day Life Change Challenge contract… Well, there really is no contract just a promise I made to myself in the shower and if you make a promise to a naked person, you’re kinda obligated even more…
Love you guys like a tornado loves a mobile home park… Don’t forget tomorrow will be a simple "get started guide" to exercise…
No comments:
Post a Comment