My dinner plate at a Mother's Day brunch. Not so bad, you say? This was AFTER a plate of breakfast food and before a slice of carrot cake!
Getting plenty of exercise....No Problem! Eating healthy....that is an ongoing battle for me! When I began this triathlon adventure, I thought I'd lose weight. Didn't happen! Researching the subject, I've learned that your weight situation can be broken down like this: 10% of what you are is hereditary. Another 10% of your weight is how much activity you average in a day. Now get this: 80% of your weight situation is what you eat! If you are like me and have no problem getting activity in and wonder why you are not losing weight, this can be extremely discouraging. I've pondered, "Why do anything if all this activity only accounts for 10% of my weight?" I instantly answer back with the gazillion reasons why activity is so healthy. I've remained off of medications because exercise has reduced my blood pressure, increased my HDL (the good cholesterol you want high) that counteracts my borderline bad cholesterol, keeps my blood sugar low and although I haven't lost weight, I haven't put any more on either (and often I believe I deserve to put more on!).
In light of all this, I still need to acquire a right mindset about diet. We Americans spend too much time thinking about food and that is probably half the problem. May is a big food month, as bad as December, in my opinion. Year end banquets, retirements, graduations, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Teacher Appreciation Week, etc. Events = Food and plenty of it! My mindset becomes, "Why bother...Eat all you want, when you want and start over in June. But then June becomes a problem because there is a vacation coming up. Why bother since half the month will be blown. July....Independence Day, out of town visitors, Rib Fest...August... Back to school, birthday celebrations, and on and on. The problem is not that there is an event coming up. The problem is PERFECTIONISM. I read an article years ago that said the clinical definition to perfectionism is not that the person creates a perfectly clean house, is super organized and everything just right (and who has ever really achieved that), but that this is what is desired and because it is impossible to achieve, nothing is done. This is an all or nothing approach. So many of us see the perfect diet as impossible because of these events and throw in the towel since the event will disrupt the perfect diet.
DO THE MATH: Say in two weeks there will be two events coming up; a family barbecue and a year-end banquet from a committee you've served on. Both will have enough food to feed an army. If we "perfectionists" say to ourselves, "Why bother..." and indulge each day before that event (say 2000 calories VS 1500, for example) and 3000 calories on each of the two days of events, we consumed 30,000 calories in a two week period. That's an average of 2,143 calories a day for the two weeks. BUT...if you followed your plan and averaged 1,500 calories a day on 12 days of non-events, and still over-indulged on just those two days with the events (3000 calories for each event in this case), you would have consumed 24,000 calories. A difference of 6,000 calories! Since it takes 3,500 calories to gain a pound, you would have gained at least a pound and a half from fretting over two events that caused you to "throw in the towel". By following your healthy eating and staying within normal limits, even over indulging on two days would have had no affect on your weight assuming you returned to normal eating. Dear me: It's not rocket science. It all comes down to this: LIVE DAY BY DAY...Not month by month or week by week. Even better...look at the event eating as a time to have a little extra something, not a free for all eating day. But if that is not going to happen, tell yourself at the very least, I have today and today...I choose to eat right! There will ALWAYS be an event around the corner that involves a lot of food. My Mother's Day meal caused me to have a bad week because I kept thinking about it and had the all or nothing mentality. Today is a new day and another event is coming up. My goal: Don't think about the event and its' food until the day actually gets here. Live today TODAY...Live tomorrow TOMORROW. I'm off now to eat my Flax Oatmeal and fresh strawberries!
Happy Trails....and Happy Healthy Eating!
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