One of the most important changes I have made over the course of my weight loss and fitness experience is in my attitude toward food. Instead of making my food choices based on what was convenient or as a slave to my taste buds I have made a conscious decision to view food first as fuel and second (if at all) as a source of pleasure.
What, When and How you eat makes all the difference in the world.
This simple change in priorities opened my eyes and really the pathway to losing weight literally opened up right in front of me. I do not think that I am unique in this regard. In fact I'd be willing to wager that 50% of the people trying to lose weight aren't eating enough... period... and the other 50% are eating too much of all the wrong sort of stuff and far too little of the food our bodies need to function efficiently. This leads to all kinds of health issues from head to toe (Quite literally! "Diet, exercise and sleep have the potential to alter our brain health and mental function," he said. "This raises the exciting possibility that changes in diet are a viable strategy for enhancing cognitive abilities, protecting the brain from damage, and counteracting the effects of aging."- Fernando Gómez-Pinilla, UCLA professor of neurosurgery*)
So what we eat affects everything! So what do you do? How do you start? If you don't have a clue don't feel bad. I had NO idea where to start. I began by asking myself a very simple question before I put any food or drink in my mouth...Is this helping or hurting? Answering honestly began to change the way I related to food. You'll start to notice that feeling sluggish one day has a lot to do with the late night ice cream binge the night before. Or a sudden 3lb. weight jump when you followed all the special "diet" rules but consumed 250% of your recommended daily allowance of Sodium. Days like that can throw your morale and your resolve into chaos but by being honest when I ate something about whether it was going to help or hurt made me aware and accountable. When I felt like crap I knew I had made the decision to skip lunch and dinner only to eat that burger and fries from the Late Late drive thru at 1:30am! It was completely apparent that I was a willing participant in all of my own misery! It led me to make better choices because I wanted a better result. When I got those results the reinforcement value was POWERFUL!
*from "Good Diet, Exercise Keep Brain Healthy"-http://www.livescience.com - 9 July 2008
