Sleeping with the Enemy

Over the past few years after my tremendous weightloss I've experienced maintaining a "healthy" bodyweight....open to interpretation....but there's one thing for certain, a "healthy" bodyweight is one that doesn't restrict one's physical movement in one's average daily life.....no "getting out of breath" climbing a flight of stairs for example....but more important to health, I think, is a healthy bodyweight doesn't restrict certain foods.....just the amount of certain foods! Health is physical and mental.

I have blogged over the past 3 years some of my exact daily menus along with daily calorie counts, and the thought process to how I pick my nutrition. I chose a vegetable (es) first, followed by a protein (ususally animal), add to that a fat, and then a "carb". And I've made it no secret that I always allowed myself a "cheat day" that included all kinds of craziness, like "Bake Sale binges".

It's no scientific secret that carbs hold water, so does sodium (damn cheese and corn chips). In fact "carbs" hold, per gram, 4 times their weight in water, and sodium 20 x it's weight in water. And I find that when I eat and "unbalanced" diet (yuck, am I talking about a "un-balanced diet"? Yikes...anyway...), in other words when I eat a ton of bread, or a ton of chips, or, God forbid potatoes in any kind of way, I bloat up like a water ballon, and then I have to pull a double Bikram yoga class just to sweat it off. If I eat a serving, or two, it has practically no effect on how I feel, physically, the next day, or does it reflect badly on my bodyweight.

I've often said that I don't believe that "fats" are the enemy. I never, ever, ever, buy "low fat", or "non fat" versions of any kind of food. I often say "carbs" are not the enemy. Although "carbs" are the last ingredient I add to any meal, it's only because "carbs" are easy to overeat, and it's a scientific fact carbs hold more water....and I feel it....and I don't like how I feel when I overeat carbs. I don't even think sugar is the enemy, in fact I know sugar is not my enemy.

Food is joy. All foods are joy. We are so lucky to live in these modern times where food is abundant, all kinds of foods, and we have so many choices. Variety may be the spice of life, but it doesn't, necessarily, give us all license to eat variety in large quantity.

This blogpost was inspired by a conversation I had this morning with a very good friend of mine who's made some commitments to give up a few things for Lent. The first thing on her list was "Sugar"....processed sugar.....OK....what does that mean exactly? I met a woman last year that told me that she doesn't eat sugar....ever! I had breakfast with her the next morning and to my shock, she proceeded to add 4 freakin' packets of Equal to her oatmeal....I guess that made it not only "sugar-less", but healthy too.....Are people crazy? I gave up sugar for a month a couple of years ago and I ended up binge eating almond butter gaining 3-4 pounds durng that month of "no sugar" (I blogged about it in april 2008). I replaced sugar with fat.....

Getting back to my friend.....the first thing I said to her when she told me she was giving up sugar was...."Sugar isn't the enemy, how you feel about eating sugar is". Her response? She told me that she felt bad about eating sugar. Well if you feel bad about eating something, then it's going to make you feel bad! How can it not? So, you have two choices. Quit eating stuff that makes you feel bad, or quit feeling bad about the stuff you eat!

There is nothing wrong with setting a goal that is intended to make you feel better about yourself, how you eat, how you look, how you exercise, etc....I'm a big fan for challenging yourself to rise above and do things that may be good for you, but challenging yourself to do things that help you feel better is the key.

Do you want to live in a world with no sugar? No pasta or bread? No butter or cream? No flour? It's not the sugar, carbs, or fats that are the enemy....last time I checked I've never seen a bag of sugar holding a gun to anyones head..... The enemy is you.

Quit punishing yourself, there's nothing wrong with you.

I've been able to drop over 10lbs this last 2 months without giving up anything. I still eat candy almost everyday. I eat dried fruit almost everyday. I drink wine every night. I've eaten corn chips a few times a week. I have real, full fat, cream, in my coffe every morning. Of course I eat all of my own homemeade soups, stews, salads, etc....I've even eaten out a couple of times. Am I eating less than I was? Probably, but I haven't counted one calorie this whole time.....I know when I'm eating too much. Why am I choosing to eat less these days? Perhaps that's another blogpost for another time....

For now, there are alot of ways to lose weight. For every weightloss success story you'll have just as many strategies, philosophies, and methods.....all of them work......if you're motivated by that particular method.

Stop blaming food. Stop blaming yourself.....you are your own worst enemy....now quit it.