What are your limits on what you want to eat? Do you want to change your limits? How do you change your limits? We all have different points of view about what we are willing to eat and what we are not willing to eat. It might be helpful to understand that what you eat or don’t eat is a result of your beliefs. What do you believe is healthy? What do you believe is not healthy? What do you eat anyway even though you know it is not healthy and why?
There have been a couple news stories recently that deal with what an individual is willing to eat. These stories contain people who eat certain foods in amounts that most of us would consider to be too extreme. For example, there was a story of a teenager who had been eating chicken nuggets on a daily basis for 15 years and she collapsed recently as a result. Most of us would think that was extreme. I suppose that is why it was news.
Another story that has been out lately is about Paula Deen and her diabetes. People are angry that she hid the fact that she has had type II diabetes and still promotes the food she does. Now I am not going to talk about whether or not what she did was irresponsible. To be honest she is an adult and can cook, eat and sell whatever she wants to. It is up to the individual to recognize the things she cooks are not the most healthy. One of the recipes she has talked about is a burger with bacon, a fried egg and the bun is a doughnut! Again I think most of us would think that was outrageous. We would never eat something like that. That would be beyond the limit.
So what is my point? How is this going to help you lose weight and get healthier? Think about what your limits are. I will tell you one of mine, though I have many. In our family, we do not eat at cheap fast food restaurants anymore. I have mentioned after seeing Supersize Me that I don’t go to MacDonalds anymore. Even more so, a friend posted a picture of what chicken nuggets look like before they get to your table. It was absolutely disgusting. The picture was a bunch of pink slimy stuff oozing out of a machine. It has to be dyed white so it resembled chicken. Yuck! We always take our food seriously. I am willing to spend a few more dollars to get food that is real.
Maybe you think fast food is okay in moderation. Maybe you go to those restaurants once a week or once a month. Maybe your limit is that you don’t go every day.
We all have that place we won’t go. If you are struggling with eating unhealthy too often you just need to change your beliefs about what you are willing to eat. Take the food that you can’t seem to give up and research it. If it is chicken nuggets I hope you will have a bad taste in your mouth about them after really seeing what you are putting in your body. The key to change is education. Look up what is in those chicken nuggets. What is in the beef that most fast food restaurants serve? I remember that Taco Bell was accused recently of not having much actual beef in their beef tacos. What is that stuff you are eating? I bet you will be able to change your limits very quickly once you learn what is in fast food.
Maybe sugar is your weakness. Look up what sugar does to your body on my Sugar Dangers Page. Many people believe, as do I, that it is sugar and not fat that is the real cause of our obesity problem in America. We consume too much sugar. It is in everything we eat. A lot of the times we don’t know it is in the foods we eat. Read your labels carefully.
Besides education, how else can you change your limits. When you have a food you like and you know it is not healthy for you try to find something that could replace that particular food. For example I love ice cream. I would eat ice cream everyday of I could. When I was pregnant and breastfeeding I almost did! But now that I am not using those extra calories I can’t eat ice cream everyday. The other day I tried something different. I had made some pudding for my kids and there was a bit left over. I took a little of the pudding and added a bunch of blueberries to it. It was a great little after dinner snack. I plan on having that more in the evening when I feel the urge to have dessert. Plain yogurt sweetened with stevia would have been even better. What could be a healthier option for your unhealthy snacks or meal? You would be surprised at how you can be just as satisfied with a similar but healthier version of what you crave and you would feel better about yourself too! What could be better!
So the two things that really help me to change my limits are education and finding healthier options for foods that I would like to eat less of. You will be surprised at how easy it becomes with practice. What you are willing to eat is all in your head. Change the way you think about what you eat and you will change your fitness level!