Let’s be honest.

By way of a true confession, I indulged in this American Food Fiasco recently.   My excuse was that  I was with my family and we were drowning our mutual grief in grease and carbs.  The company and sympathy were most welcome but the caloric disaster and stomach ache that followed were not something I want to repeat.  I’m not perfect and I have as many excuses as the next girl, but I keep trying.  Just to be clear, this is NOT REAL FOOD!

Why me Doc?

Every day I hear my patients say, “I eat a great diet. I barely eat anything. I don’t eat any white food. I just drink wine on weekends.” These proclamations are usually followed by, “So, why can’t I lose weight? It must be my hormones, my genes, my thyroid, my ________ (fill in the blank with your personal excuse)”. When we really explore the reasons for weight gain and are honest we find that in most instances we are lying to ourselves about what we eat, how much we eat or drink and how little we exercise. And by We, I mean Me too.

Step1
Be honest with yourself.

I am in no position to judge anyone. I am overweight and I struggle to maintain or lose weight as much as any middle aged woman. I lost 30 pounds three years ago by changing my eating habits (getting the bad carbohydrates out of my life) and by joining a spin class. I have kept that weight off but I have to be vigilant in order to maintain so when I finally got on a scale in January and acknowledged a 10 pound weight gain, I took immediate action. I had to be honest. I had let the sugar and flour back into my diet, pretending that I’m not a carb addicted girl. “I can have cookies, candies, and cakes because I don’t really have an addiction.” What would you say to a friend if she were addicted to cocaine but had been clean for three years and she said, “I can have a little cocaine”? You would say, “That is crazy. Back away from the coke!”

Where does your problem lie? It’s just possible that you are carb addicted too or you drink your calories or you over estimate the actual time you spend exercising. I’m sorry to say that thinking about going to the gym does not burn calories, a bottle of wine contains 600 empty calories and you can eat 2500 calories a day of crap and feel like you ate nothing.

Step 2

Be accountable
Buy a scale and weigh yourself every week and write it down. Set a goal for yourself. I have accepted that a 1\2 pound of weight loss per week in middle age is a realistic goal.
Write down everything you eat with an accurate assessment of the amount eaten. I like Weight Watchers because the online program fits my lifestyle and it makes me accountable. My Fitness Pal and Fit day are also good smart phone apps to help you track your food intake.

Step 3
Eat real food
Clean out your cabinets and freezer. Restock with real food. Skip the carbohydrate laden American staples of processed foods. Stop buying the snacks, wine, high fat dairy or whatever else is a trigger for you to gain weight. I definitely know my trigger foods and I know you know yours.

We must be honest with ourselves.

Take this 14 question survey from WWW.FoodDay.Org and rate your diet. Then commit to improving your score.