Diet is a four-letter word

I read somewhere (I think it was in an old Reader’s Digest and I don’t recall who originally said it) “The hardest thing about being on a diet is shutting up about it.”  Boy, is that ever true!  (Although, personally I prefer to call being on a diet “Counting Calories” because the word “diet” is a four-letter word.)  I read somewhere else (I know it was in a Nora Robert’s book, to give credit where credit is due) where the main female character was implementing a lifestyle change instead of dieting.  Which is true, too.  So, though I might really want to sit here and tell you, my dear readers, all about my diet, I won’t.  I will, however, share a few thoughts on this experience.

Let me just say that really, a diet IS a lifestyle change.  I’ve dieted before, and even had a modicum of success, but I never thought of it as a lifestyle change and I believe that’s why I always failed.  I’m not succeeding now, exactly, but I’m doing a heck of a lot better than I have before and I believe it’s because I changed how I thought about dieting, rather than just concerning myself with what I eat or how much I exercise.

Also, I know myself a little bit better now.  For example:

• I know that I am not a breakfast eater and never really have been.  I know that if I eat breakfast, I’m hungrier earlier than I might be if I just skipped breakfast all together.  (And to all those people who have chastised me for not eating breakfast saying it’s the most important meal of the day I say, “quitchabitchin’ at me!”)
• I know that if there is bread or crackers or biscuits or toast or English muffins or bagels or muffins or anything of that nature hanging around, easily accessible, that I will eat it.  I can’t help myself.  (And yes, I know it seems like that goes against the whole I don’t eat breakfast thing I mentioned above, but I promise it doesn’t.)
• I know that I feel much better if I don’t eat sugary things. 
• I know that red meat is hard for me to digest and makes me feel somewhat ill. 
• I know that I am not a huge fan of “rabbit food” and therefore, even though I’m trying very hard to be good, sometimes a salad will just not cut it and I must eat something more substantial. 
• I know that I like to snack.
• I know that I’m always hungry around midnight.
• I know that if I tell myself I can’t have something, then that’s all I’m going to want.  So if I tell myself it’s OK to have it – just a little bit – then I can satisfy the craving and still be successful.
• I know that I will always eat pizza.
• I know that I must not love chocolate as much as I thought I did because I can easily resist it.
• I know that black coffee does not count and I can have as much as I want.  (DO NOT shatter that illusion with any facts and figures.  Coffee + Jen = Human.)

Now that I’ve really thought about these things, and I understand myself a bit better, I have more keys to success.  I also have a new, fun tool that I didn't have before called an iPhone and a nifty little app called Lose It!  It’s got all kinds of helpful features and has really focused me more on my long-term goal than on the immediate what-I-can’t -have-today.

I’m walking more.  I like walking.  It doesn’t hurt me.  I really wish I had a treadmill so I didn’t have an excuse not to walk when the weather isn’t cooperating (too hot, too cold, too wet…).  I don’t like elliptical machines.  I am unable to run without serious protesting from both knees and lungs.  (Hey – asthmatic here!  Give a girl a break!)

But really – I guess I have implemented a lifestyle change.  I’m 17 hard-won pounds down now.  I have 27 more pounds to kill in order to reach my goal.  Hey – actually – that’s the first time I’ve really seen that in writing.  27 pounds doesn’t seem like such a major undertaking anymore!  How cool is that?

TTFN
JMS