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Shawn Phillips, Well-Being - Written by Shawn Phillips on Monday, June 29, 2009 11:50 - 5 Comments
How Strict Must You Eat to Lose Weight?
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With the Fourth of July holiday almost upon us, many of us will have food on our minds. It’s a great day for sharing delicious—if not necessarily nutritious—food with family and friends.
During a radio interview the other day, I received a question that is particularly relevant to this upcoming day of celebration. The question was, “How strict does a person really have to eat to lose weight and get fit?”
Like I did with the listening audience, to answer the question, I’d like to share with you some insight from Chapter 10 of Strength for Life:
Food cravings arise between your ears. It’s the satisfaction we hunger for, that good feeling that comes when we finally silence the emptiness. And there are few places where one can fill the void quicker than with food. When you’re eating that sweet snack, you may think you’re quieting the craving, but you’re actually feeding it. As it turns out, the more one reacts to and feeds cravings, the stronger they become and the more power they have.
When you eat like this, in reaction to cravings, your relationship with food is from the Cravings to Consumption phase of eating. When you have a craving, which may be in part physical, you promptly hone in on something “good” to eat that will calm it; consume, and it’s all over until next time.
If this sounds familiar, please don’t take it too hard; no one is immune. Few can say they’ve never allowed a craving to rule. For some, it’s now and then, but for others, it’s the predominate mode of eating.
I contend that the most important part of your relationship with food begins immediately after eating.
This relationship, which can literally elevate your existence, is what I call the “Consumption to Freedom” phase. It begins the moment you’re finished eating, and continues for the next one, two, three or more hours thereafter.
It’s the flip side of the cravings, where you switch your focus from how a meal fills the void, quenches a hunger or satisfies a craving to how it fulfills your nutritional needs, elevating your mood, energy and life. Releasing the dependence on food as a source of immediate gratification and focusing on how it enhances your life is the foundation for nutritional freedom. It lays down the wiring for enjoying the foods that are best for you, the most.
Scaling the heights of nutritional freedom is not accomplished through discipline, deprivation or dieting, but rather by the process of strengthening your awareness of food as a source of life fuel—how you eat to live—a transformation as big and important as you’ll ever make.
Please take 2 ½ minutes to watch: Cravings to Consumption
It’s comforting to know that you don’t have to live by the strict hand of a diet for life. Now you get that there is a better way to life—a way of fueling your greatness that is not diet, but lifestyle.
Now get out there, and enjoy the holiday!
Until next week…
Stay Strong,
Shawn
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5 Responses to “How Strict Must You Eat to Lose Weight?”
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Hello Nat,
Thanks for the carrot suggestion.
Gregg
[Reply]
Hi, Griley…I understand how you feel. I buy the mini carrots orgnic and some humis to dip the carrots in. It is a nice mid day snack…add a couple of slices of roast chicken or turkey for protein. I like to do my cardio eliptical and abs and then eat my lunch, making sure protein is present and the first thing I eat. The more we eliminate the foods that are no good for us…salt, sugar, white flour, caffine, alcohol, the sooner we see what Shawn is talking about take place. It becomes almost second nature to eat healthy. As I recall, it was suggested that we include some protein with each meal and snack. Keep the faith and keep working the program, one meal at a time. Plan ahead…only keep the right stuff in the fridge and cupboards. Another afternoon snack I have quite regularly is a couple of slices of baked turkey or chicken (I buy it in the deli at Safeway) and a nice cold fuji apple. Crunch, sweet and protein. Eat the protein first. I hope this helps. If I am misleading you, I hope Shawn catches it, but I think I’ve got it right. Good luck Griley…Nat
[Reply]
My challenge is the afternoon crunches, when I seem like I am craving salty items from my afternoon meal between meals. I am trying carrots because they are crunchy and are better than crackers.
[Reply]
Very good information Shawn. I think it is important that we are aware of the necessary shift in mindset when trying to stay healthy in our fast food, instant gratification environment. It takes discipline to have the right foods available at the right time, versus grabbing whatever is at hand or at the next drive thru. For me personally, it requires effort and planning to make sure I do what I’m supposed to do the next day. Since my workplace is an hour from home, and I am often without a car (on the days I carpool), I have to make sure my meals are done the night before. This is 180 degrees from my previous “I’ll grab something, anything, when I can” mentality.
Besides the nutrition part, the workouts are going fine. I need to invest in some more weights. I haven’t weighed myself but pretty early on I lost a belt notch, and now my pants are starting to get real loose again. My wife is seeing similar results. In addition I just feel a whole lot better than I did a month ago.
The only thing I really have trouble with is the reverse crunches. I had a hard time with regular crunches but that went away and now I actually enjoy them. But I still can’t complete the full number of reps on the reverse crunches. Just curious if anyone else has trouble with these, or has any tips to get better at them.
[Reply]
This is kicking in and I will ENJOY the holiday!
[Reply]