Mindful Eating and Weight Management

As a personal trainer (and a former fat chick!) I can tell you that the biggest obstacle when it comes to people managing their weight is by far, diet. Not being ON a diet, as by know you have probably figured out absolutely NOT a fan or supporter of any diet of any persuasion, but diet period. Diet, by the definition I refer to as "the usual food and drink of an animal or person". Usual is the key word here, and how a person normally eats. What we normally eat on a day-to-day basis. Habitually, regularly, usually...whatever you want to call it.

As a society we are completely obsessed about our weight - not because we are concerned with being a HEALTHY weight for our bodies, but because we're concerned with how we look. We freak out about how much we weigh (which is why I have not stepped on a scale since I was 19 years old and I wanted to DIE!), obsessing about every pound lost & gained, wondering if we're going to be able to wear the bikini this summer, and making ourselves feel guilty if we indulge in foods that we know are fattening. We eat the lousy food, beat ourselves up, hate ourselves even more, and then do it again tomorrow and repeat the cycle. Then we sign up with RIDICULOUS weight loss programs where we eat these packaged, processed, low calorie boxes of things pretending to be food, all in the name of weight loss, because some celebrity did it, and lost 40 pounds. That celebrity got paid to sign up for that program and be their spokesperson, to make you a consumer. They were not paid to care about your health - that's your job.

Okay seriously - let's get over this nonsense already!! I'm not going to lie to you - we all know there's nothing quite like looking at yourself in a pair of jeans and feeling smokin' hot in them, but being a healthy weight is about so much more than the way we look. Along with the vanity, there's a ton of health benefits to being a healthy weight and exercising. Being an unhealthy weight and eating a diet that contributes to it can lead to being at increased risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, fatty liver disease, premature death, stroke, breathing problems, and social/psychological issues as well. Having excess visceral fat (abdominal/belly fat) puts you at higher risk for these diseases. For women, a waist circumference of 35 inches signals that danger zone, and in men, it's 40 inches. If you think about it, 35 inches really isn't that big. In my opinion, the health risks associated with being an unhealthy weight are a bigger motivator to stay fit, healthy and strong than being obsessed about a number on a scale.

If you want to lose or manage your weight, there is no secret: it's called EXERCISE and EATING RIGHT. Period. For reals, no tricks. Yes, there needs to be a "calorie deficit" if you want to lose weight (by this I mean you need to burn off more calories than you intake if you want to lose weight), but it's not about calorie obsessing. Exercising off the box of Oreos doesn't erase the damage done to your liver, and the inflammation to your arteries that occured when you ate them. By eating right, I mean eating real food. No packaged, processed crap that does not have any nutrition, even if it only has 100 calories. Those 100 calorie packs of food are just empty and nutrition-less - you'd probably find more nutrition in a piece of paper, and you know what - the paper might even taste better! Just exercising 4 times a week and then eating crap doesn't help you either.

Here are some things that help you both lose excessive, unhealthy weight, and maintain and manage a healthy one:

• Exercise. You can't get away from it! Working out with weights specifically keeps your metabolic rate up, and helps you burn fat more efficiently. This is why I am a HUGE fan of circuit training. I just love it, and man, has it changed my body.
• Eat a real food diet built around lean protein, lots of vegetables, and no flour, refined carbohydrates or sugar.
• Keep your starch levels low (they have a high glycemic index), and get your starch from things like oatmeal, legumes and beans.
• Eat more veggies. Their fibre will fill you up, they taste great, and are beneficial to your health for at least 50 bazillion other reasons.
• Eat low sugar fruits like berries, grapefruit and apples. I also love cherries - they've got a low glycemic index and there's no arguing they're deee-lish!
• Eat fibre and then some more. Please, don't eat those fibre bars - have you seen how much sugar is in them?! Toss some flax seeds into your meals. You'll load up on fibre and Omega 3s. Bonus!
• Drink your 8-10 glasses of water a day. See my last blog about water? SO IMPORTANT!
• Don't eat late at night - my personal rule is 9:00 PM. Your body & metabolism slow down at night to prepare your body for rest, and the restoration that occurs overnight. While you're blissfully sleeping away dreaming about your fantasy life, your magnificent body is healing itself, keeping your systems going and getting ready to do it all over again tomorrow. Seriously awesome thing, the human body. We're so lucky!

Remember, the purpose of eating is to provide your body with NUTRITION. Your body needs that nutrition to do its job for you. It is an awesome, sophisticated machine that will do all kinds of things you can't imagine - if you just give it the nutrition it NEEDS. Exercising and eating mindfully will help make you strong, fit and healthy. Get yourself to YOUR healthy weight - the one that's right for your body, and let's all try to focus on being well instead of beating ourselves up over a stinking number on a scale.