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You can debunk
old adage, “How do you spell flavor? F-A-T.” by purchasing a steamer and experimenting with some of your old favorites. We’ve forgotten how wonderful foods taste when they are fresh and lightly cooked to let natural flavors shine through. If foods were meant to be fried, they wouldn’t grow that way?
Tale #6: “You don’t have to be hungry to eat ice cream.” Theoretically, this is also true, but not just with ice cream. According to medical research, our stomach is about 12 inches long and 6 inches wide at its widest point. The stomach of an average adult has capacity to hold approximately one quart. One quart equals four cups or 32 ounces of food and drink. Compare that to fact to fact that a “biggie” coke by itself at Wendy’s is 32 ounces.
So, when you get that full feeling, that “unbutton-your-pants-Thanksgiving-dinner-full feeling,” think about sheer volume of food that is packed in your stomach. You’ve stuffed over a quart of food into yourself. Do you feel as gross as I do?
Our stomachs hold, on average four cups of food; but we do not need to fill our stomachs to capacity in order to feel full. There is a difference between being full and being satisfied. In addition to hundreds of health benefits of water, simple fact that it fills up part of capacity of your stomach is reason alone to drink it.
Eating only when we are hungry, stopping when we are satisfied as opposed to waiting until we feel full and removing emotional aspects associated with eating will help us move toward a healthier lifestyle.
Tale #7: “I’ll eliminate “x” from my diet and I’ll lose weight” The Susan Powter, “Fat-makes-you-fat, so-if-it’s-fat-free, eat-all-you-want” logic went out window years ago, but many of us still hold on to that hope. We want to eliminate one part of our diet for a short period of time and watch miracles happen!
Diets that restrict your intake of a particular food will work in short-term, but hold no weight (no pun intended) in long run. Restricting carbs, or sugar, or protein, or fat…all of these restrictions will enable you to lose weight, but when you reintroduce these elements into your diet, whether you go on maintenance or quit diet, you will gain weight. You must permanently change way you eat and your lifestyle in order to have permanent success with weight loss.
Concentrate on why you turn to food for comfort, or reasons you overeat -- once you tackle emotional battle, with a little bit of education on fitness and nutrition, you can make long lasting, positive and easy to live with changes that don’t exclude ANY foods.
Tale #8: “If it’s all natural, it’s good for me.” Even though products are labeled as “organic” that doesn’t mean they are low in fat or calories. Become a label reader. Know what you are eating. When I purchase fruits and vegetables, I use a fruit and vegetable wash on them when I return home to remove any pesticides used in growing and harvesting these items.
And with regard to supplements, remember that FDA does not regulate these items and there is no guarantee that label will keep its promises or ingredients are tested and safe for you.
Myth #9: “Eating cures all.” Eating is designed to give our bodies fuel it needs to carry us throughout day. We’ve buried this logic under layers and layers of chocolate cake and cookie dough ice cream. Food has become our cure all for emotional problems; and occasionally physical ones as well. After a bicycle accident as a child, my mother eased my tears with chocolate chip cookies. After my tonsils removed, it was ice cream that soothed my aching throat.
And now? after a long hard day, most of us would rather sit in a nice restaurant and be served rather than fight traffic to make it home only to slave over stove, or even put a frozen dinner in microwave.
The only problem food cures is hunger. Period. Food can temporarily relieve symptoms of other problems, but it’s not a cure. Stop treating symptoms and treat problems. Uncover unhealthy associations you’ve made with food and tackle those issues. If you fix your life, you won’t mind fixing healthy food.
Tale #10: “I have to lose weight before I can love my body.” This may be single saddest tale we tell ourselves. It is only when you begin to love your body that you give it attention it deserves. Give only body you’ll ever have most precious gift of all, self-care.
Our cars come with owners manuals that tell us when to change oil, have engine services and even when to rotate tires. Develop an owner’s manual for your body. Prescribe how often it should be moved and stretched and what kind of food provides maximum performance.
Take a moment now that you’ve read all these tales and email me your thoughts. Are their tales you tell yourself that you’d like to share? Email me at: Linda@facethefat.com.
Yours in health, Linda Lindsey
Linda Lindsey is a compelling speaker and author of an e-book entitled, “Face the F.A.T.” Linda focuses her time and energy on helping to make a difference in people’s lives through public speaking and writing articles with a focus on nutrition, exercise and Food Association Theories©, an innovative weight loss approach that involves finding an individual’s root cause of obesity and reversing its power in their lives. To contact Linda, send her an email at linda@facethefat.com.
