My Husband Would Be So Mad If He Found Out

My advice for the new year is to start living and ditch the diet mentality. It seems so easy to get caught up in the conversations about new year’s resolutions and weight loss. “Lose weight” was certainly a trending topic on yahoo on January 1.lose weight_trending topic 1 1 2016

For years I promised myself I was going to lose weight “this year” on January 1. I thought all the smart, successful people made resolutions and therefore I should as well. So it was the general “lose weight” and “go to the gym more”– nothing about getting healthy and fit. And yes, I was going to stop eating the gummy bears and Swedish fish and peppermint patties! Hah!

As you can imagine, my resolutions didn’t work. Year after year I was disappointed and wondering why I didn’t have the willpower of others, why I wasn’t as strong as other people to make positive changes like they did. I wasn’t in tune with the notion of self-growth and personal responsibility so I beat myself up and figured I just didn’t have “it.”

Now that I know what I know, and as a result of working with my clients and my own personal growth, I get so angry when I see and hear the media hype of the “perfect diet,” the “best diet” and the “right way to eat.” I used to chase after these like mice to cheese (and I hate the thought of mice so you know this really gets to me!). If the media said it was the best or perfect or the right way to do something, then I was listening, because I was constantly searching for the missing piece of my perfection puzzle. If I followed the perfect diet, I would be skinny and wouldn’t feel the need to stuff my face with candy all day long.

Which is why, if my hubby knew what I was about to do when I saw this on TV, he wouldn’t be too happy.

HMR diet_2016_cr

As he left the apartment, the Good Morning America promo mentioned that coming up was a report on the best diets of 2016. I was listening. GMA was going to cover U.S. News & World’s ranking of the top diets based on the following criteria: had to be relatively easy to follow, nutritious, safe, effective for weight loss and protective against diabetes and heart disease.

Imagine my surprise when I saw the HMR diet come on my television screen. To be honest, I’m not familiar with the HMR diet. But when I saw Beef Stroganoff with Noodles in a box, I knew it couldn’t be good. And I had my doubts about the shake. So I looked up the ingredients:

  • There’s fructose, sugar, soy protein isolate, aspartame and artificial flavors in the shake; and
  • The beef stroganoff contains autolyzed yeast extract and yeast extract (MSG!), dextrose, soy and many other ingredients.

You might lose weight on the HMR diet by restricting calories, but there’s no way those ingredients can be considered protective against diabetes and heart disease. Think: inflammation!

I grabbed my iphone in one hand to snap a picture and in the other hand I picked up the remote. OH! I was sooooooo close to throwing that remote at the television. I was screaming, “why can’t you just talk about eating whole foods?????” Oh yes, I wanted to smash the TV screen to bits. That certainly would have made my loving, supportive husband just a little angry!

C’mon – vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices – there’s a lot of great meals you can make. You don’t need to have “no refrigeration necessary” entrees shipped to your home.

I understand the pull of quick weight loss and sure, it is easy to have ready-to-eat food shipped to your home. And especially at this time of year when everyone around you is talking about their grand plans to lose weight, you want to get in on the action. Peer pressure!

I encourage to be strong. Think about your special place in the world and what makes you unique.

The key is to love yourself enough to choose healthy, whole, unprocessed foods that truly nourish your body. You can do that and lose weight.

Doing what’s best for your health and well-being is the best diet for you.

 

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