Healthy Diet

Article Summary:

Article Content:
I am a cautionary tale.
I am the story of What Not To Do.
I am what the statistic I swore I would not become.
I am the one you see and say, "Oh dear, she gained her weight back."
I am a failure.
I know.  I know all the answers.  I know how important it is to drink water.  I know that refined sugar and refined flour raises my insulin and packs weight onto my belly.  I know that it's a mathematical situation and that you must eat less than you burn.
I know that daily exercise is important in maintenance and a little less important to weight loss–but that doesn't diminish it's effect on your mood, energy and sense of well-being.  Cardio burns fat.  Weight training adds muscle and muscle increases your metabolism.
I know that diets don't work.  That your lifestyle must change. 
I know that emotional eating only makes you fat.
I know that eating in secret makes you fat.
I know the calorie counts of almost every food.
There are three ways to lose weight:
1)  Portion control.  Count calories/points or portions. 2)  Cut out certain food groups.  (Usually carbs or fat; sometimes refined foods or animal products.) 3)  Eat when you feel hunger.  Stop when you feel full.
I have done all those things.  I know how to do them.  I am a rule follower.  I am a rule-breaker. 
I know it's important to eat breakfast, especially one containing protein.
I know that five or six small meals are better than two or three big ones.
I know that eating at night can set you up for failure.
I know that overeating can be a response to emotional issues or just a bad habit.
I know.
I know.
I know.
But some nights, I am deaf to the knowledge that talks in a rational voice in my head.  Instead, I find myself rummaging in the kitchen and later wishing that I hadn't done that. 
The cautionary tale goes like this:
If you lose weight, don't stop doing what you're doing.  For instance, eating Life cereal out of the box while you're watching television is a bad idea and will only lead to bad things.  Bad.  Things.
Do not get a job with split shifts which forces you to stop your morning walk because once you stop exercising, you'll find the weight all too eager to return to your middle.  No matter what, don't stop exercising. 
When you gain ten pounds, do not roll your eyes and decide to bake cookies since you're getting fat anyway.  Don't try a million different things to get the weight off and start a new diet every Monday because that will only make you fatter.  Just start now.  Right now.  Not tomorrow or next Monday.
Don't eat white sugar and white flour because that's how you got fat in the first place.
Don't buy clothes in a bigger size.
Don't give up.  Don't despair.  Don't eat that and that and that.  You know better. 
The end.


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