I did it!
Actually…I didn’t. I didn’t stick to the Tracy Anderson diet and, for the last week, haven’t stuck with her work outs. So, for all intensive purposes, I failed my 30 day challenge. Yet I feel surprisingly accomplished.
Somewhere along the way, my goals changed. I no longer wanted to drop 20 pounds as quickly as possible. Don’t get me wrong – that would be awesome. But my priorities shifted. My attitude about food has just about done a 180.
I think the reason dieting doesn’t work, and hasn’t worked for me in the past, is because you have to treat food as the enemy. If you’re not eating salads and lean meats, you’re doing it wrong. I always felt like, regardless of whether or not I was enjoying the salads and lean meats, I was being deprived a “normal” menu and “good” food.
Here’s the thing. There are frozen veggie burgers that taste better than the processed, ammonia-rinsed McDonald’s beef patties. There are soda-flavored drinks made from carbonated water and agave nectar that won’t shred your stomach. There are soups, cake mixes and frozen meals with a tenth of the sodium their traditional counterparts have.
Over the last 30 days, I’ve realized that what I care about more than anything is what I’m putting into my body. Yes, I slipped up and ate half a pan of brownies. But they were organic. Even in my stress-induced binge, even knowing I was eating something I “shouldn’t”, I made the ingredients a priority. In my mind, that’s the first step.
People today don’t care what’s going into their mouths and bodies. Most of our food is made behind a drive-thru window or in the back of a restaurant. We’ve become so detached from our food that, when it comes to losing weight, all we can focus on is calorie counting and easy fixes. Yes, eating only salads and chicken will lead to weight loss. But how long will that last? You’re not addressing the real issue, you’re simply covering it up with the tried and true diet band aid.
I love food. The thought of a life without the occasional brownie, soda or queso (yes, there’s even a healthy version of this) is enough to send me running into the nearest Burger King. But what I’m learning is – there’s no reason to do that. Here’s how I see it:
Step One: Connect to your food. Understand what you’re putting into your body. Focus on how certain foods make you feel. Realize that food truly is fuel – but that doesn’t mean you have to eat like an Olympic athlete in training. Indulging occasionally, but on foods with natural ingredients, won’t derail your diet or your health.
Step Two: If you bounce, and do not thud, you don’t need a step two. But for the rest of us, there’s a step two. Once you make the connection – food, mind, and body – it’s time to focus on weight loss. This is where tried and true comes into play. There is no easy fix. It’s cardio, weight training, lots of water and good food. Since you’ve got the food part down, portion control is your only challenge.
That’s it. I could go into greater detail, but the bottom line is, it’s simple. Connect to your food, stop seeing it as an enemy or something forbidden, and make your body a priority. Once I changed the way I thought about nutrition and what I was putting into my body, I stopped craving processed and fast food. Part of that, mind you, is actually not eating processed and fast food. Eating it will only keep the bad stuff in and make you crave more.
So, I’m about 75% through with step one. In the last week, I had moments where I turn to “processed” food. However, the beauty of my process is that the steps can coincide. I’ve upped my workouts and am working on portion control. However, I’m not holding myself to an impossible standard, because I recognize that I haven’t fully completed step one.
Basically, I’m a genius, and have solved all dieting woes. And if that’s not true, well, I’m at least starting to feel like I’ve solved mine.
