By Jeremy Likness
1. Enjoy what you eatWhether someone is
following the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, the advice contained
in Tom Venuto's e-Book, "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" or even a
program of their own design, success depends on enjoying what you eat.
When you don't enjoy your food, you resist it. Resistance creates stress
and stress is counter-productive to fat loss. It is important to look
at eating as a part of your life, not a chore that interrupts your life.
The
question ultimately becomes, "How do I learn to enjoy healthy foods?"
Most people did not enjoy their first cup of coffee or can of beer. What
happened is that in their environment, external pressures - stress,
fatigue, peer pressure - created a desire to enjoy that steaming hot
espresso or to be able to chug down a draught of beer with the best of
their buddies. Eventually, a strange thing happened - when the coffee
cup was repeatedly associated with more energy or productivity, or
simply the pleasure of settling down to read something while draining
the cup, or when the beer became associated with fun times and great
parties, they "acquired a taste."
You can acquire a taste for
healthy foods. It is important to understand how you operate, to
determine if it makes sense to go "cold turkey" or transition. Many
people cling to diets that allow "free days" or "gorge fests" because
they never really learn to enjoy the healthy food - they need the
psychological crutch of getting comfortable again (if comfortable means
bloated and nauseous from overeating junk food) and live from "free day"
to "free day." Is this you? If so, you might start transitioning and
looking for an alternative. Instead of a free day, how about this: have a
few free meals and then focus on enjoying the food that you consume
throughout the week. Experiment with new recipes. Don't like raw
vegetables? Try steamed. Don't like them plain? Spice them up. As you
lose weight and gain energy, focus on the connection between your
healthy foods and your new physique. Before long, you might even
"acquire a taste" for healthy foods.
2. Believe in what you are doingBelief
is an important component of any lifestyle. If you don't believe what
you are doing will work, why should you continue to do it? Often times,
the lack of belief is not in the program you are following, but rather
in yourself. Food is an addiction that is no different than addiction to
cigarettes, alcohol, or illegal drugs. To overcome this addiction, the
first place to look is within you. Without faith, you are going to allow
fear to maneuver you into a position to binge, overeat, and sabotage
yourself.
When you don't believe, you simply "do." It is a
frustrating concept, especially for analytical people, because they want
to have a simple set of rules. It is easy as an analytical person to
get into your comfort zone. Find an equation that spits out a number of
calories. Get a "ratio" of foods - 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat,
right? Then you have that exact formula and you are ready to go.
Unfortunately, if it were that simple, more people would be sharing
their success story (and their formulas) with everyone else.
The
fact is that it is not the calorie or the formula or the ratio that
determines your success. It is you. Whether you are on a high protein,
low fat, no-sugar, or other program, your success will be determined by
the level of your belief. I have witnessed people achieve success using
many different nutrition styles, and the common element that linked
their success was belief. If you asked them, "Will you lose your
weight," they would reply, "Absolutely." If you cannot state that
without confidence, it is time to find something you can believe in ...
and more often than not, it will not be a new program, but you. Believe
in you.
3. Practice moderationModeration is the key to
everything. Many people operate in an either/or mode - either they are
following a program perfectly, or they are simply going wild with their
eating habits. A true lifestyle plan will be easy to follow because you
won't have to worry about counting calories or weighing foods. Why?
Because you are operating from a zone called moderation. This zone is
tough for many people to find, and sometimes it requires going through a
strict dietary regimen in order to create the control you deserve to
have over food, instead of allowing food to control you.
Moderation
simply means permission to enjoy without excess. When you want a glass
of wine, you pour one and savor it. You do not suddenly feel guilty and
then punish yourself for having it. If you are having a slice of pizza
or ice cream, you don't create a license to eat until you are stuffed.
Instead, you have a slice or two and enjoy it. If you are full, you are
done. If not, then you might share a dessert with your spouse or someone
else at the table.
Those who are successful at keeping their
weight off don't overeat and they don't create limits. Some people truly
enjoy healthy foods and eat these all of the time. Others have a
balance they create. What is common is that they do not become a victim
when they cannot eat a certain food - if a special occasion arises, they
are happy to enjoy a piece of cake. The key is that they are in control
and don't overdo it ... and when it is done, they don't allow guilt to
override their success.
4. Be flexible with new ideasChange
is tough. Change is scary. If change were easy, there would not be
millions of dollars in books about how to face change being sold. Change
in your nutrition or health is no different than change in other areas
of your life. Embracing a new style of eating can feel uncomfortable and
unfamiliar. I know - I have been there and done that myself.
The
key to success, however, is not to become so boxed into your comfort
zone that you cannot open to new ideas. For example, I had been
conditioned to combine protein and carbs at every meal, that when my
wife suggested I attempt food-combining (a concept where you do not eat
proteins and starches together - for more information, read "Fit for
Life" by Harvey Diamond or "Total Health Makeover" by Marilu Henner) I
simply resisted. "No way - that's not right! I've learned that ..."
Eventually,
however, I came to my senses. No matter how much I have read or
learned, the reality is experience. You can argue with me all day long
about what color the sky is - but if it is blue in my reality, then that
is the reality I will embrace. Everything productive in my life has
come from being able to embrace change and try out new things. I discard
what doesn't work, and embrace what does. This ability to not fear the
unknown allowed me to try food-combining even though it did not fit into
my existing reality. What I found was an eating method that gave me
more energy and helped me feel more comfortable. By stepping outside of
my comfort zone and trying something new, I was able to integrate more
freedom into my eating plan.
Don't be afraid to try new programs,
new dishes, and new recipes. Don't pre-qualify your decisions by going
to research and reading about calories and studying the fat content.
Instead, just try it. Keep a journal. Record your feelings in the
journal. Observe how your body reacts. Create a dialogue with food that
works for you rather than living in someone else's system. Don't fear
change - change is required to move from overweight or obese to healthy
and lean!
5. Learn to hear your bodyMost of us tune out
our body's protests. It is a requirement in modern society. When we are
constantly stuffing our bodies with foods that damage and harm us, our
bodies cannot continue to sensitize us to the pain or we would be in a
constant state of suffering. So instead, the brain tunes out the signals
like background noise. We no longer realize the harm that we are doing
to ourselves. We confuse cravings with hunger. We think we want sugar
when our body is screaming for healthy fats. It creates a state of
constant stress that we are not conscious of, and it impacts the core of
our health.
This is why I believe it is great to quiet and calm
things down. Don't be afraid to juice fast for a few days. Try a "5-day
high-fiber cleanse" to reconnect with your own health. Don't listen to
your friends who will scream "starvation" and swear you are going to
lose pounds of muscle. Muscle doesn't disappear overnight, and
starvation is when you have NO food, not when you go on a modified fast
that provides nutrients but gives you the ability to break out of a
cycle of cravings and self-abuse that modern, processed foods create.
Learn
to eat when you are ready, not when it is time. This doesn't mean that
if your preferred style of nutrition is consuming six meals per day that
you stop. What this means is that you get in tune with your body. If
you are not hungry when it is time for meal two, go back and adjust meal
one so that it doesn't fill you up so much. If you are starving by meal
two, change meal one so that you are satisfied - increase the portion
size, add healthy fats, or introduce new foods.
By learning your
body, you can break out of the cycle of measuring and weighing foods.
You come into contact with yourself, and learn to flow. When you feel it
is time to eat, you eat. You don't eat a pre-allotted amount of
calories. Instead, you listen to yourself. Think about whether you feel
like having a lot of protein. If the thought turns your stomach, focus
on salads, or fruit, or whole grains. Find what feels comfortable and
then eat enough to satisfy you without leaving you stuffed. Practice
this for a few weeks and you'll find that you can think yourself into
the shape you desire without having to obsess over calories.
These
are the five keys to successful, healthy living that I have observed.
The people I know who have conquered their weight and are comfortable in
their bodies used different methods. Some are vegetarians, some
advocate low carbohydrate diets and others feel that high protein is
important. Despite these differences, however, ultimately the plan they
settled into addressed these five key points and allowed them to live in
their health rather than having to work on their lack of it.
To
learn more about yourself and how you can conquer the mental barriers
you erect to sabotage our own progress to good health, read
www.losefatnotfaith.com - this e-Book goes beyond the mainstream to
focus on personal development and the success mindset. It will empower
your transformation through inspiration and easy-to-understand
information about nutrition and training.
Jeremy Likness is the
founder of Lose Fat, Not Faith He is a Certified Fitness Trainer and
Specialist in Performance Nutrition. Jeremy is a freelance writer and
entrepreneur. Jeremy lost 65 pounds of fat and was a Top 2000 Finisher
in the 2000 Body-for-LIFE Competition. He is the author of the
internationally-selling book, Lose Fat, Not Faith: A Transformation
Guide [http://book.losefatnotfaith.com].
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