Sunday, October 26, 2014

That time food almost killed me

Better known as, the past 8 years or so. When you're eating as you please and not getting anywhere near your required servings of fruits and vegetables and eating fatty meats and tons of carbs and sugar, you may not recognize that the reason you're always tired, crabby, sluggish, bloated and have other health issues is because of the food. The truth is, I KNOW this. I tell my therapist this often - I KNOW how to eat. I could teach anyone how to eat, and what to eat - especially my patients who are working on healing. I have gone through numerous diet plans and felt the benefits of healthy eating, yet fallen back into old bad habit of eating "whatever". Honestly, I don't know why I fall back into bad habits. This is why I'm in therapy. But I can tell you that in 3 weeks of eating 80-90% clean and getting my daily requirements of veggies and fruit, that I feel like a different person. Prior to this, there were very few days I could get through without having to take a nap because I was that exhausted - even with 8 hours of sleep the night prior. I've been on anti-depressants for 9 years, and this summer had to double my dose because my original dose wasn't cutting it. Three weeks. Actually, I felt it by two weeks. I am no longer on edge all the time. I am no longer short tempered with my daughter. I've taken 1 nap in that time. And I'm actually working harder and stressing my body more than I have been in a long time. The fact that I'm losing weight makes me extremely happy, but what makes me even happier is that I FEEL good. I've done the Weight Watchers thing and struggled because they let you eat "whatever". You can spend all your points in one day on ice cream sandwiches, or you could eat fruits and veggies. They recommend you eat healthy food, of course, but you can use your "points" however you choose to. I've counted calories, and inevitably I use them on heavier foods, not fruits and veggies. Because of this, I may have lost weight but I still felt crummy. And all the excess carbs that broke down to sugar just made me hungry faster. And they made me crave even more sugar. So here's the deal - if I had kept on eating the way I was eating, things would have gotten worse. Inevitably I would have gained more weight, but when I think about how I felt, I know that the food was doing a number on my body. I know my blood sugars get way out of whack, and I know I can work on keeping them steady by eating well. I know that if I kept eating poorly it could greatly affect my future. Trust me when I say I still am relatively miserable. I weigh about 100 lbs more than my "normal" adult weight. I feel GOOD because I am eating well, and I have lost close to 20 lbs now. I still get winded when I walk too far. I still can't fit into the clothes I really want to be wearing. I still have a long way to go. But I FEEL good, and when you FEEL good you're more motivated to continue to feel good. I challenge you - start small. Take a week and eat clean. Cut your carbs. Increase your protein. Eat your fruits and veggies. And get back with me and tell me what kind of change you feel.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

The cost of being overweight

One of the misconceptions about eating healthy is that it costs more. While some foods may cost more (i.e. grass fed beef, organic veggies and fruits, lean cuts of meat), that is a very short term cost. In the long term, not eating healthy can cost you thousands more in health related costs. This is an infographic I got from Medifast. I did the Medifast program last year and lost 65 lbs. It's not the program for me anymore, as you don't eat enough "real" food, but the point made by this infograpic is very important.


Cost of Being Unhealthy