Diet Drinks Are Terrible For You Unless You Want To Be Skinny

 

                So, as I was losing weight this time around, I was definitely warned several times about the dangers of diet soda drinking.  Oh, it has awful chemicals in it that you can’t pronounce.  The chemicals will make you want to drink more (I think that is because they taste good).  The chemicals will make you want to eat more (I think that is because you are dieting).

                However, I am here to tell you, there were several times then (while I was losing weight) and now, where I am really close to going over the edge and giving up the whole shebang.  (This whole weight loss thing is not for people who love food).  The only thing that saved me was a little something sweet.  My options were candy bars, fruit, cereal, or diet drink.  I know fruit should have been my choice.  And, it was most of the time.  But, sometimes, I chose the diet drink.  As I have mentioned before, it actually tasted good to me now.  So good, that it took care of that deep level urge to snack on something.

                So, for me, the problems with diet soda are like anything else.  If I am drinking it in excess 4 times a day, it is a problem.  However, if I am drinking it from time to time at dinner, or to curb a snack attack temptation, I think it will be ok.

               If you don’t like the taste of diet soda, drink more water.  Eventually diet soda will taste like a precious sweet elixir.  Also, try out the newly packaged “10” sodas with just 10 calories each.  I think there are Sunkist, Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, variations.  And, Coke Zero definitely tastes better than Diet Coke, if you are interested.

Skinny People Know That Gross Healthy Food Changes

 

                I happen to believe that God gave us French fries to have a piece of heaven we could ingest.  I LOVE FRENCH FRIES!   I think my passion has become greater for them ever since I began this weight loss journey.  However, if you have been doing this weight loss thing for a little while, like me, you quickly realized French fries were not going to work so hot at keeping you thin. 

                This is the best solution I have come up with: Sweet potato fries!  Now, no worries, I am a purist.  I like my fries to be French.  When I tasted sweet potatoes every time in the past, I always turned my nose up at them.  But, once you begin doing strange things with your eating habits (changing them) you will notice you begin to not just appreciate new foods, but enjoy them.  This was my experience with sweet potato fries.  What before was a poor substitute for food crack became a treat I craved.  I LOVE SWEET POTATOES NOW!            

                This same process exactly played out with real and diet soda.  What was pretty vile diet soda  before has become something tasty I treat myself with on special occasions. 

                When you change your eating habits, your taste buds change too.   They seem to become much more sensitive.  Go back and try previous “good for you” foods that you hated.  You may just find you like them, now.   

Skinny People Know the Best Day of The Week to Diet

               

                This is one of the biggest truths I have learned from dieting and trying to keep the weight off.  There is never ever a good day to be dieting or exercising.  The kids have scouts tonight, the toilet is clogged, I’ve got a sniffle, the cat needs to be washed.  You get the idea.  There is always some reason that today is a bad day to diet and exercise.  If you actually waited for the perfect day to do all of these things, you would never diet or exercise. 

                The funny thing is, there is only one way to beat this negative way of thinking.  Go to the extreme the other way.  Every day is a good day to exercise and diet!  Or, in other words, let nothing stand in your way of exercising and dieting every day.  By dieting, I mean, watch what you eat, count your calories, and don’t go over your maintenance calorie goal. 

                Skinny people know this already.  It is exactly why they are skinny (well that and some good DNA sometimes).  But, seriously skinny people are usually skinny until they hit 25-30, then they have to work at it like the rest of us.  Most skinny people by that time have already got in the habit of having a healthy and active lifestyle.  It is the only way to stay skinny!

The Secret of The Fat Marathoner

 

 

          So, the most I have ever run is 5 miles. And, I thought I would die when I accomplished this monumental feat. Well, last weekend I ran a real race for the first time. I actually entered, ran, and completed a 5k race. If you are like me, I had no idea what a 5k even was. Well, a 5k is 3.1 miles long. It is the distance most high school cross country runners compete at. So, this was our goal from the beginning; to at least be able to compete on a high school level (This seems awfully silly now that I see it in black and white).

          Well our race was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. There were lots of hills on our course. Hills!!! Yikes, it was a major miscalculation that almost had me walking in the middle of the race. But, I finished, and eventually went to a social event where many other runners were gathered and only slightly modestly talking about what they had accomplished earlier in the day. The vast majority of them had not run in the 5k (my paltry level), the 10k (something I only dreamed of), and had instead run in the half-marathon.

          As I looked around the room, I could see how this was possible. Everyone there weighed 142 lbs, and looked like they had chests of iron which would allow them to run and breathe indefinitely (kind of an iron lung reference). But, then, my eyes rested on one guy. He easily weighed 75 more pounds than I did. He was laughing it up with the other half-marathoners and talking about having completed the half-marathon as well. But, what was his secret to finishing a race 4 times as far as the one I had barely just completed? What was the secret of a fat marathoner?

          He simply said, “You just pick a slow pace you can move at, and then, you move until you’re done. It isn’t that bad at all.” Seems so simple, yet how many of us run way faster than we are able, stop being able to breathe or move, then say we hate running, and can’t do it?

          I even picked up a copy of How to Train for a Marathon (or some other equally generic title) from Runner’s World, and they also said that “if you can’t breathe or carry a conversation with someone the entire time you are running, you are doing it wrong.” With this advice, I went out the very next Saturday and completed a 10k distance (6.2 miles). The fat marathoner’s advice was right on the money.

 

What Skinny People Eat For Breakfast Every Day. I Mean, Every Day.

               

                I used to have 2 and 3 bowls of cereal for breakfast every day.  Big Bowls.  Not the recommended ¾ of a cup serving size bowls.  We are talking at least 2-3 cups of cereal in each bowl! 

                I can still remember hearing a podcaster say that he thought cereal was the bane of humanity.  He was on a health kick, and he was giving up cereal.  I thought not only was cereal NOT the bane of humanity, it was actually a miracle food.  What other food tastes so good and is prepared so quick?  I dare you to find another.

                When I say I ate cereal every day, I mean at a minimum I ate cereal every day.  Usually, it was more like 2 bowls 2-3 times a day.  I was a cereal lover.  No incredibly fattening bowl of ice cream available in the evening?  No problem.  In fact it is cause for celebration because I got Honey Grahams!!!

                Then I began to diet.  My love affair with cereal was ended, and as a massive temptation, it did become the new bane of my humanity.   It still calls me late at night from the dark corners of the pantry. 

                Now, yes, I do love cereal with all my heart.  It was my first love.  But, I have broken my addiction with cereal, and have found a new more mature love.  Eggs!  2 eggs, fried, sunny side up with garlic salt on top, to be exact.  I honestly cannot say I like my eggs as much as I liked, no loved, my cereal.  However, I went from eating 500 – 1000 calories at every breakfast, to a measly 186 calories.  That means cereal was 4 to 5 times as bad for me as my eggs are.  So, the big question is, was the cereal worth the extra calories?  Was the cereal really 4 to 5 times as good as my yummy eggs?  Nope.  Sometimes the cereal was twice as good.  I can admit that.  But, I do not know that I can say they were ever 5 times as good. 

                KEEPING THIN TIP:  It doesn’t have to be eggs.  But, I promise you, there is something better for you than cereal.  And, there is something out there that is at least almost as good as cereal to you.  You just have to experiment.  But, no matter what, put down the Lucky Charms.     

Why I am Writing This Blog

    To me, it is astounding that 95 percent of people that lose weight gain it back. I decided to write this blog because I am doing my best to be in the 5 percent of people who are successful at keeping the weight off once they have lost it. I have tried twice before and completely failed!  Believe me, it is a daily struggle. 

     The past two times I have tried to remain in the 5 percent, I had worked really hard and was successful in losing over thirty pounds. Both times it took several months to accomplish the goal. Then, within about 1 or two months I had gained it all back. So, I became very interested in the idea of what it took to maintain the weight loss after it was already lost. 

     So, here I am again. After several months of pushing myself, I have now lost 40lbs. I am not perfectly fit, trim, and muscle bound, but I am pretty happy with my current weight (205 lbs at 6'4"). It remains to be seen what will happen next! My hope is that this blog will explore what it is like to struggle with remaining in the 5 percent of people that can actually keep the weight off.   Who knows, maybe I'll be one of them when it is all said and done:)