Honesty

I'm going to be honest here ... this transition diet thing isn't working for me. Since I feel as though there isn't anyone else with their heart set on doing it, I'm going to change my strategy a bit for my own healthy lifestyle and invite you to consider it with me.

I feel as though the transition diet is an awesome guideline - but my problem with it is its lack of specificity. The first week, I really had a hard time figuring out what to cut out. There were the obvious things such as candy and Doritos, but I wasn't really sure if a slice of pizza counted as junk or as a meal; if going out to eat and ordering (greasy) beef tacos was junk, etc. As I said, it wasn't specific enough, and for me this is a problem. And when I don't feel clear on things, I usually just give up and ended up eating WORSE this last week and a half than I was the weeks before.

What I have been doing on my own these past few weeks though is doing what I mentioned in my last transition diet post: I've really been noticing how specific foods and quantities make me feel, and I noticed something that I hadn't really paid much attention to before. Processed foods, especially when we eat out, really make me sick. Panda Express literally tasted horrible to me this week after noticing how other similar foods had made me felt.

With that in mind, I've created a fairly specific list of foods I'm going to be keeping and avoiding in my diet. I've listed specific things that are in my cupboards, or foods such as "El Pollo Loco tacos" which are the tacos el carbon and are actually very healthy as eating out fast food goes (120 calories, very low in sodium, high in protein.) Because of that, you might want to make your own list, but here is mine in case you'd like a jumping off point.

(If the picture is not showing up in-text, click on it and it will open the viewable photo in a new page.) Obviously, I can't/won't (?) cut out foods on the right side forever, and that's why I'll consider them "treat" foods. But for the most part, I'd actually rather not eat them based on how they've made me feel in the past. Foods on the left side actually can be divided into two categories - I obviously will want to be eating more fruits and vegetables than noodles! :) I'll even be more honest - I've been putting a lot of thought into mostly focusing on eating fruits, nuts, grains, vegetables. However, I don't feel like a vegetarian (or more strict) diet is right for me now, so I'm starting off here.

If you're bored and skimming - stop here! Anyway, you're probably wondering where I'm going with this. As I said before, I don't feel like the transition diet is working for me, but I'm always trying to come up with new ways to make my lifestyle healthier and work for me. But I also hate the feeling of failing I was getting from the transition diet, so I wanted to share this inspirational movie clip:

Do or do not. There is no try.

It's kind of like the idea behind Nike's Just Do It! ad campaign. I don't want to try to be healthy and fail. I want to DO IT. I want to set my mind and set my will to decide to be healthier and decide to love my body for what it is and therefore treat it as it should be. I'm tired of feeling like I'm sluggish, that I don't like the way my body feels, etcetera. And while there is merit in learning to "love the jeans you're in" there is also a need to treat your body as the temple of the Lord that it is - and to me, as much as possible, that means keeping your body healthy, in good working order, not feeding it doritos and fatty fried foods every day.

I quoted this verse before, but I'll leave you with it again and encourage you to consider what it means for you and your healthy lifestyle:

¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 

-1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Week 2: Learn and Move On

Today starts week two of the transition diet! How did you do? Did you survive the week or was it more difficult than you thought it would be?

For me, it was a hard week. I was sick for two days. I was depressed from a bad score on a calculus test. I was tired from studying and not sleeping much, which made me crave sugar all the more. And as much as I told myself, "this won't make you feel better!" it didn't seem to make much of a difference in the moment.

So, for this next week, I'd like to challenge you to something in addition to the original directions of the diet. Every day, write about what you ate. How did that chicken salad make you feel? How did that frappuccino with whipped cream make you feel? How did those grapes make you feel? Try to focus on how your body truly felt after eating those things and, when you're eating a grape sucker, then real grapes later when you make up for it, notice how much truer and wonderful the taste of the real thing really is. The key in this journaling process is to not tear yourself down. So you ate an extra helping at dinner and it made you feel sick? Learn from it and MOVE ON! Don't think that just because you ruined your "diet" at dinner that you ruined the whole day. Try to remember that eating healthy, like most things in life, is about constantly making adjustments and readjustments. It's okay to make mess up every now and then, but again, just learn from it and move on.

Another thing to consider is this idea: did you know that even a ten minute walk after every meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) can make wonderful progress in your diet? This is for four main reasons (that I've come up with. Let me know if you think of any others!)

• First, those ten minutes will add up. By the end of the day, you've likely walked at least a mile and a half (even if you're walking unbearably slow) or even up to 2 or 2.25 miles. That's probably more than a lot of us normally walk or even exercise on a regular basis! 
• Second, walking after a meal helps our bodies process and digest the food quicker, speeding the metabolism, and getting rid of unwanted or unneeded calories. 
• Third, walking and taking time to enjoy nature outside, the people that take the walk with us, or even just the alone time helps us de-stress and detox. Stress induces a cortisol hormone reaction which causes most of us to eat more (and generally eat more of the foods we SHOULDN'T be eating!) By walking, we are not only burning off calories and speeding our metabolism, but we are also helping ensure that we won't be likely to eat something worse later! 
• Finally, I also greatly believe that these short walks also help us know that we're taking care of ourselves - and I generally don't want to eat a big bowl of ice cream in front of the tube when I feel like I've been taking care of myself and am feeling very healthy.

So, now that we've got these two challenges and tips for the next two weeks, let me remind you what the next week's diet instructions are. And please feel free to invite your friends to join you! Accountability with friends is the first step to a healthier lifestyle! And they can join in on this week easily since the "cut junk food" rule is still in its early stages.

Good luck and enjoy your healthy living!

Week 2

Each week's rules are cumulative, so the "no junk" rule from Week 1 will apply until the end, as will each subsequent week's rule. Remember that this is a learning and conditioning process. It's like you're in school and the subject is your own body.

Eat small, eat often. Eat four to six small meals a day, and don't eat anything for about 3 hours before you go to sleep. Following these rules will keep your blood sugar levels more static and your energy level will stay consistent. Try to keep each snack or meal balanced. Keep a 30 percent protein, 40 percent carbohydrate, and 30 percent fat scale in mind, though you don't need to worry too much about it. Just realize that you need a bit from each macronutrient group. Eat based on what you'll be doing for the next few hours (if you're working out, eat a little more; sitting at a desk, eat a little less). The 3-hours-before-bed rule is important, especially for fats and carbohydrates. By allowing time for all the carbs you eat to get into your bloodstream, your body will sleep in fat-burning mode, rather than in calorie-storing mode. This is important because undigested carbs in your stomach at night are stored as adipose tissue (fat).

Cheat Days: 2

Weekly focus: Carbs are not the enemy. Your body needs them, just like it needs proteins and fats. The trick is to choose the right carbs. As a society, we eat too much refined sugar. Complex carbs, like whole-grain breads, whole-grain rice, sweet potatoes, and legumes are outstanding foods. Even fruits, which have simple carbohydrates wrapped in fiber, are very good for you and hard to overconsume. While you don't want a diet based on nothing but carbs, making the right carb choices will maximize your body's potential. Try to avoid white rice and flours. Read labels, and try to avoid ones that use the word "enriched," because this means these products have been stripped of their natural nutrients, overprocessed, and then fortified with a few random nutrients.