Have your cake, and eat it, too!

Who eats the same thing every day? Our pets! Cats do. Dogs do. And their weight never fluctuates unless you change how much you feed them. But once and awhile, I'll catch my sweet, hungry little feline noshing on my dog's food. See, even animals like a little variety in their diet!

It's unrealistic to expect me to eat whole grains and vegetables at every meal. I'll give up on my goal. I love the way certain things TASTE. I don't necessarily need a full belly from my craving, but sometimes I want a salty, crunchy something....or a sweet and chocolatey another thing. And that's why I really love Weight Watchers. Because they want you to look at your eating habits from 2 perspectives....WHAT you're eating and HOW you're eating.

A woman in my Monday evening meeting celebrated a 35 lb loss. When asked what her struggle was in getting there, she replied that it was seeing her husband eat 2 McChicken sandwiches while she downed one cheeseburger...she wanted to eat 2 of something, also. I almost fell off my chair. Wait a second. This woman lost 35 lbs and she's eating McDonald's cheeseburgers? No way. Uh uh. I don't believe it. But she was proof sitting right there that you can have your cake, and eat it, too!

First, I'd like to clarify that you'll never catch me eating a McDonald's cheeseburger. Not after watching the documentary Food, Inc.! That's an entirely new blog subject in itself! But, this woman taught me something. I can indulge in things I enjoyed as a skinny girl...but I have to PLAN for it to succeed. So, making a batch of chocolate chip cookies just to eat the dough is TOTALLY ok. As long as I plan for it in my day...and get my servings of dairy, fruits, veggies, healthy oils, blah, blah, blah....

So, after spending 7 days writing what I ate, making better food choices and plans, I lost a measly 1.6 pounds. Ok, I'm not doing backflips over my loss and you're all probably thinking..."yep, she cheated, she dove into the frosting can with spoon and duped us all"!. I wish! In fact, I was really mad at myself for not losing more. But I read something in a Q & A session with Jillian Michaels--ya know, the kick ass trainer on 'The Biggest Loser' that gave me an aha! moment. So, I'll leave you with my aha! moment...as I'm off to take a nice jog around the block.

My week 2 challenge: EXERCISE!

Q: I've tried every diet under the sun in my life, and I'm really afraid I've ruined my metabolism. I seem to gain weight no matter what I eat now! Is there any way to fix this?

A:

This is such a good question — I'm so glad you asked! Many people suffer from the backlash that can result from years of yo-yo diets. What happens is this: When people let their calorie levels drop too low, their body's survival mechanism kicks in, lowering their metabolic set point (or basal metabolic rate). When they go off that crash diet and begin to eat normally again, they gain back any weight lost — plus. And what follows that? Yup, another crash diet.

The cycle is often very frustrating, but it CAN be reversed with time, consistency, and patience. What you'll need to do is the exact opposite of what we call shocking the metabolism; you have to allow your body time to adapt to a new metabolic set point — by being consistent, you'll force your body to adapt.