Need Energy? Get Control of Your Diet
Originally published April 17, 2006
I love Easter. Spring has sprung. Good times are spent with family and food. Easter, along with Labour Day and Christmas are landmark occasions for the fitness industry. The week following these occasions is when everyone says, “time to start eating better and exercising.” Over Easter, my sister-in-law, a lawyer and mother of two, asked “what can we do for more energy?”. Everyone would expect my answer to be EXERCISE. That's important, but my immediate response was FOOD.
The first step to the post-Easter lifestyle change is to be honest about your diet. “Diet” means what you put in your mouth, not a “lose 10 lbs in 1 week Cabbage Soup diet”. Admit if your food is in control of you rather than you being in control of your food.
Step Two - keep a food journal. Write down what you eat, when and anything else surrounding this food choice (tired, famished, bored, guilty, drained, busy). You will see trends in your eating and make better food choices when you have to put it in writing.
Step Three - clean out your cupboards and fridge of junk, overly processed, stuff that doesn’t even qualify as food and “trigger food”. Trigger foods are ones that may be considered healthy, but for you they trigger an overeating cycle. Mine is pizza. No matter how healthy I make pizza, I'll eat an entire pizza and want to eat pizza for every meal, everyday afterwards.
Step Four - make a shopping list full of fresh vegetables, lean meats, fish, nuts and seeds, legumes (beans), whole grains, eggs, organic yogurt, olive oil, non-calorie beverages and about 10% of what you love – and follow it! Think of food the way it was meant to be eaten before we started taking good stuff out and adding bad stuff in.
Step Five - find a picture of the perfect meal and put it on your fridge. Pick one that is appealing to you, balanced, colourful and vibrant. You can train your brain to like healthy food. This will be a constant reminder of the type of meals you should strive to make and eat.
Final step - start eating those colourful, healthy, yummy foods in three square meals and two healthy snacks. Rememer to also drink non-calorie beverages all day long. Not only will you have more energy, you will be empowered by regaining control of your diet.
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Krista Schaus PICP CPT
Ontario CANADA
krista@definingedge.ca
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Arizona USA
kate@definingedge.ca
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