The Diet Roller Coaster – How To Stop The Ride

Diet should be viewed as a daily choice. You make conscious decisions about what you put in your mouth every day. No one said they were easy choices because Heaven knows that we are surrounded by food temptations every day. Plus, we live in a culture that celebrates everything with food. So, how can you go about living a “normal” life and maintain the physique that you desire?

Take Small Steps

It’s time to stop the ups and downs of the diet roller coaster. If you try to quit all your regular eating habits cold turkey, the likelihood of quitting after a few weeks of what feel like torture and your body rebelling is much greater than if you can make small changes over time. We are creatures of habit. However, if you make one change to your habits at a time, you are much more likely to keep the change.

Restaurant Hacks – Learn To Manipulate The Menu In Your Favor

My mom is diabetic. One day I told her that my competition diet would be good for her. She became upset with me and said,

“I am not going to give up the quality of my life.”

She was talking about food, or was she? I replied,

“I didn’t know that the quality of your life was determined by food.”

After internalizing what she said I realized it was about more. I have had to live parts of my own life on prep for bodybuilding where I can’t fully partake in family events or birthday parties involving food or drinks because of my prescriptive diet. It sucks.

No one wants to stop going out to eat with family and friends or socializing at happy hour because they are on “a diet.” So, don’t be on a diet. When you know what foods and drinks to avoid or how to make food and drink substitutions, you can still “live.”

PS – I hate eating SALAD as a meal, bleck!

Here are some tricks I use at different restaurants:

• Burger joints: Peel off the top bun to make an open face burger even if that means getting double meat to fill you up. Skip the fries! The double protein is better than the carbs.
• Panda Express: Get a Panda Bowl with half steamed veggies, half rice and look for the healthier meat options. They post the nutrition information at eye-level. Try the mushroom chicken. It’s lowest in calories and high in protein.
• Subway: Order your sandwich with double meat for only $1.50 extra. I opt for the meatball sandwich and have the additional meatballs put in a cup. I have them load the sandwich with veggies. I don’t actually eat the bread. So why not order the salad you ask? I save money going the sandwich route.
• Pei Wei: If you haven’t had their Traditional Chicken Lettuce Wraps you are missing out. No rice involved, but you get a tasty, filling meal.

READ Cooking with Protein Powder

• Chipotle:  Ask for half the rice and just a sprinkling of cheese. Skip the sour cream. The salsa is salty, but at least it’s made from fresh veggies.
• Non-alcoholic beverages: Tea trumps soda all day long. Go for half sweet half un-sweet. Continue to lower the sweetness over time until you are able to drink un-sweet. Or opt for water. Ask your server for a bowl of lemons. Use the lemons and a packet of stevia to make lemonade. Very refreshing.
• Alcohol:  If you plan to have drinks order vodka and soda (not Sprite). Carry around the sugar free water flavoring that you can buy at your local grocery store and use that to add a fruity twist. Skip all creamy drinks and high sugar beverages.

I’m not here to tell you that carbs are an enemy. You actually need them, but you should not eat processed, refined carbs or devour sugars. These are the present day diet killers and they are highly addictive.

Making Changes At Home Impacts Everyone – Including Your Children

What’s not available in your house you can’t eat! Don’t make your bad habit foods available for yourself. In times of weakness, you will eat them. It’s harder if you have children, but you should not feed them all the junk either. Otherwise they will struggle with their diet as adults just like you are.

Food Substitutions at Home

• It Texas, tortillas are a staple. However, you can get low-carb tortillas that taste great. My children even eat peanut butter and jelly on them.
• Switch to Stevia. It’s 100% better than artificial sweeteners like aspartame or saccharine. Cook with it. Use it in your drinks.
• Many baked goods can be made with apple sauce instead of sugar. You still get some carbs and sugar, but significantly less than if your dessert is made with refined sugar.
• Pasta is an easy switch. Go with whole grain pasta, or now you can find pasta made from beans and lentils. Google it! I’m not sure if it qualifies as pasta anymore, but it replaces pasta, has fewer carbs, and lots of fiber.
• No fruit juice. It’s horrible for you. You drink in extreme amounts of carbs and sugars. It’ not good for you or your family. Make your own fruit infused water. As a novelty, get everyone in your household one of the super cool infuser bottles and make fruity tasting water. It adds to the buy in. I posted a link to the bottles at the end of the article.

Train Your Body Off Of Sugar & Carbs

Your body actually becomes addicted, addicted to carbs and sugar.

A study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2013) measured brain activity when high glycemic carbs were given to men who ranged in age from 18-35. Brain activity in regions that involve reward and craving lit up thus showing that foods like potatoes, sugar, and processed grains are highly addictive. Your brain actually rewards you for eating them. The same regions of your brain light up when you have addictions to nicotine and narcotics.

Interesting!

How Long Does It Take?

It could take months or even a year, but the health benefits are worth it. In one study by The European Journal of Psychology (2009), researchers found that on average automaticity was reached after 66 days, but for long-term habits it could take as long as 254 days. It really depends on your mindset. You must plan and be mindful about your choices so you don’t fall back into bad habits.

READ Junk Food and Its Impacts on Brain: Junk Food Addiction

Consistency counts. Over time, you will not crave carbs and sugar in the amounts that you once did. As a matter of fact, the foods you once thought were delicious don’t taste the same, and you may decide you don’t like them anymore.

Conclusion

The diet roller coaster is full of ups and downs. It’s time to get off the ride for good. It’s all about making small strides every day that lead to longevity as far as your health is concerned. The long-term benefits of a healthy lifestyle far outweigh the temporary satisfaction that some foods seem to bring. Start making permanent changes so that you don’t deal with the consequences of an unhealthy life in the future.