D.I.E.T.

These days I blog only when something big is on my mind - and I don't have a good public soapbox to stand on, nor do I think it's appropriate to rant about it on Facebook.  I come here, to my private space on the web so that only a select few of you can read my thoughts.  Hopefully I am not judged, and that you can take my words as being just woman's opinion - and that each of us are entitled to that.

Diet.  Dieting.  On a diet.  I hate that word so much.  I wish I was someone who could truly "diet", but I guess I just don't have a huge amount of self control because I can't seem to cut out anything for a long period of time... unless I had to cut out veggies.  I don't love veggies.

Recently I was asked if I was on a diet, and what I was doing to lose weight.  I had to chuckle.  First, I am not really losing weight.  Several months before our Christmas vacation I got inspired to try an herbal metabolism booster, plus I got really motivated to reach a certain weight goal by Christmas, so I very diligently did an exercise routine almost every day for 3 months.  I did reach my goal, which was not huge, and now I am just sitting at that weight.  On purpose.  No intention to lose more.  I told her that my diet has not significantly changed for the last 20 years. 

Here are the rules for my personal "D.I.E.T.".  It is an acronym for "Daily Intentional Eating Technique".  Yes people, I came up with that on my own!

• Eat.  This is important.  Not eating is not good for you.  Eat when you are hungry, and at meal times. 
• Don't eat ANYTHING you want.  Think about what you ate last.  Have you had something good for you that day?  Did you have a supper laden with cream sauce yesterday?  If so, don't eat that again today.  Make something today that is less fattening.  Did you eat a huge dessert after supper?  Don't eat it again at bedtime - grab something smaller.  Try to make it healthy.
• You NEED sugar (healthy sugars preferably, but not artificial sweetners).  If you are happy with the taste of other sweetners, use them.  If not, use real sugar, but use it sparingly.  If you LOVE a heaping teaspoon of sugar in your coffee each morning, put it in.
• You NEED sodium in your body to process many things.  If you like to salt things, use lower sodium soups, etc.  If you don't, use the regular and enjoy.
• You NEED riboflavin, thiamin, folic acid, vitamin D... these are found in many wheat and grain products.  If they don't make you feel ill, eat them in moderation.  Try to avoid yeast doughs when possible - like wraps and tortillas.  Use paste sparingly, and try to use whole wheat.  When all else fails, just make a box of KD.  It is COMPLETELY okay.
• Everything seems to be a carcinogen.  Don't smoke.  It's one of the few things that is PROVEN to cause cancer.  If it isn't proven, perhaps don't sweat it.  The truth: we are all going to die, and it probably won't be from eating bread.
• Enjoy some sweets.  Or salty things.  Or greasy things.  Sometimes.  It's good to treat yourself to the things you crave.  If you don't, something somewhere is going to crash and burn.  It is not a failure to like foods that taste awesome.  Just don't do it all the time.  Moderation.
• Exercise.  Don't change your life to do it if you don't want to.  Don't force yourself to be a morning person if you aren't one.  That's not fun.  But why not run up the steps instead of walk.  Run out to the road to take out garbage instead of walk (or don't drive it, like I've seen some people do).  Play tag with your kids for 10 minutes.  Do jumping jacks while you wait for the water to boil.  Dance like you are drunken fool.  These get your heart rate up. They count.
• Be kind to yourself.  Don't stress out about what everyone else and their dog are up to.  You need to be healthy in your mind too.  If you are free in your mind, you will be free in your body.

I truly hope that this inspires you to be intentional about what goes in, but not militant or stressed about it.  I truly, truly believe that by living by these rules we can all be very healthy people.  There are lots more things to be said for certain diet changes, etc.  I just don't think that it works to make huge cuts into your regular eating patterns.  You can eat as often as you like - just be smart about it, and don't overeat.  Your body is often full about 5-10 minutes before you actually FEEL full.  Try to eat slower, take breaks to let your body adjust.  Over and out, and happy eating, snacking, drinking, and so on.