The View From Here

Have you ever heard someone say (or said yourself probably), “I am going on a diet.  I need to lose some weight.”  I have said those words before.  As a person who is very aware of words and their meanings it would behoove me to talk about what the word diet means.  Yes, it can mean specific foods designed to improve health in some way but the more traditional meaning is as follows:

diet - food habitually eaten; anything that is habitually provided or partaken of; the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group

In this case diet is, simply, what you eat on a daily basis.  I think it is better to view your diet as a constant thing, not as a stop and go way to get back in shape.  Your diet is what you eat all the time.  Changing your diet in order to improve an aspect of your health is just that, a change in diet, not a diet itself.  If we always have a diet (food habitually eaten) why don’t we make our diets good ones to begin with so that we don’t have to alter the way we eat to regain our health?

The cycle for most people seems to be that they eat however they want until they are unhappy with their body, then they do some kind of overkill diet in order to bring them selves back to something they are happy with only to fall back into their previous eating habits. (Rinse, Wash, Repeat, Rinse, Wash, Repeat…)  So instead of focusing on our small diets we should focus on our life diets.  How do we normally eat?  What foods do you normally eat?  Is healthy the norm or is that only when you need to loose some weight?  Changing your diet into a life habit instead of a quick crash diet only to revert is the best way.  It might not get the extremely quick results that some crash diets get but you will be healthier in the long run.

I don’t even know if crash diets are healthy.  Most of them require that you get rid of a whole part of your nutrition.  No carbs, no fats, and the list goes on.  Here are some of the things that I have implemented into my life diet:

1. Portion Size:  The restaurants here in the US serve far too much food in a dish for a single person, especially for someone who sits at a desk all day.  The rule I follow is only eat half of what is served to you at  restaurants.  You can extend this to what you eat at home as well if you want.  The less you take in, the less you will store as fat.  Another thing to consider here is that we have switched the portion sizes of meals around.  Breakfast is typically our smallest meal while dinner is our largest.  This is backwards.  Breakfast gets you geared up for the day so you should eat more here and dinner is closer to the time when you go to be so you should eat less here.
2. Fried Food:  As delicious as this kind of food is, it is one of the worst for you.  Cut out all fried foods.  This includes chips that are fried.  Look for the ones that are baked instead.  Or better yet substitute carrots or some other fruit or veggie for them as a side item.
3. Soft Drinks:  Talk about unnecessary sugar.  These things are nothing but sugar.  On top of that the phosphoric acid in them can weaken your bones (for all you diet drinkers).  Drink water instead.  It is better for you and you will save yourself a few buck in the grocery store and at the restaurant.   Water is also a good way to curb hunger at work.  If you get hungry get a glass of water before you search out the snacks.
4. Sugar:  Ah, the bane of my existence.  If you can go without sugar then good for you.  There are plenty of natural sugars in the everyday foods we eat that we do not need sweets at all.  They are an indulgence only.  For me however, I have to try to limit myself to one sweet thing a day.  To accomplish this I don’t eat sweets at work and I don’t keep sweets around the house (very often).  If it is available I will probably eat it so I just don’t make it available.  Keep sugar to a minimum.
5. Timing:  Our culture supports the three meals a day idea.  This is ok if the meals are small but most of us spread them out long enough that by the time we sit down to eat we are ravenous and then we overeat.  Instead, try eating smaller meals throughout the day or supplementing your hunger with small snacks.  Also, I set a time for myself that I try not to eat afterward in the evening.  The closer you eat to when you go to bed, the more calories you haven’t burned off yet so the more you will potentially store up at night.  Another part of timing is to get your body in a routine about eating.  Try to eat at about the same times everyday.
6. Exercise:  I know this isn’t an eating tip but the two go hand in hand since we are talking about this in reference to the diets most people go on to become healthier.  Do some kind of regular physical exercise.  Walk, run, lift weights, do jumping jacks, or push ups.  Just do some kind of physical activity.

These are the things that I try to do.  Don’t try to create a habit for a few months only to stop. Change your diet permanently not just for a short time. Make a life habit out of eating healthy.  Not only will you be in shape but you will live a longer healthier life.

One other thought before I close.  I also think that being healthy is something that God requires of us.  Not only is it being responsible with what he has given us it shows Him that we are ready to follow where ever he leads.  How do we know what he will call us to?  If He calls me to something I want to be ready and this includes being physically capable of carrying out what He asks.

Brian