Teaching Yourself to Eat Responsibly

Even though I have been in maintenance mode for the better part of a year now (and struggling!), I still run into people that ask me the magic question: "What did you do to lose all that weight?!" I then commence with "the speech". I refer to it as "the speech" because it's probably much like the speech that most of my readers have given at some point during their journeys.

Come on, you know the one. It starts with the "Well I started working out and watching what I ate" and ends with "and that's how I lost ____ pounds". I always get the same bewildered look, almost like they are doubting that  such a simple answer could have led to the results. It's not suprising, however, considering that the vast majority of people (including myself on occasion) do not eat responsibly. Our horrible eating habits are our biggest enemy in our war against obesity.

If this is your first visit, let me let YOU in on a little secret: I am a binge eater. When left alone to my own devices (especially at night), I am a monster. Lucky for me I have been able to "cage the beast" these past few years and fight the good fight. I am definately NOT saying that I am better than anyone else at eating responsibly (I'm not - trust me), but I want to help spread the word on the benefits at least...  :)

That being said, here is the one simple thing to remember. Live by it and you will succeed in all your weight loss goals. Are you ready? Here goes:

Don't eat it because it tastes good, eat it because your hungry.

There. I said it. Kinda perverse actually... Wait? Wha? Slow down. Let me explain. Think of your favorite food. Now think of the last time you ate it, and more importantly, HOW MUCH of it you had and WHY you had it. If you are like me, you like huge portions and won't stop eating certain things until they are GONE. And that, my fine friends, is the root of all our weight issues in America. We love to eat things that taste DELICIOUS. When we eat, we eat because things taste good and don't stop until they are gone.

"Portion Control!" That, my friends is the key. I still eat what I want (and try my damnedest to squeeze it into 1700 cals a day), but I watch how much I eat now and try very hard to only eat when I am truly hungry. I also count my calories and measure my portions so that I can still enjoy the foods I love relatively guilt free. It's not about cutting out all your favorites, it's about eating them responsibly.