
A look at what you need to be better prepared. With success comes rewards and the whole idea of better preparation which leads to better habits will conversely lead to more energy. Typically, you should see a drop in your blood pressure, even if it is slight, and a loss in your weight, for the love of food.
You will feel better about yourself, beyond that you will have more energy because your body will be functioning better. Some of these go hand in hand, you eat better, you feel better which gives you more energy. As your health improves because you have taken better care you will see other results like be.
If you are like most that are reading this, you have chosen or thought that there is a better way. You have tried and failed at traditional methods. One thing that will not change is the fact that you will still be faced with challenges that will question your path. In your quest to achieve improved health you will be faced with life issues that get in the way.
For the Love of Food
My aim here is to give you some tools that will assist you in working through some of those issues. You will learn about meal planning,
You will gain recipes that will assist you in cooking more healthful foods. With your commitment to this, you will be able to plan your day, week and more for a balanced approach to eating.
This is a long journey more than it is a quick trip. We want to help you prepare for your journey so that you don’t give up part way to your destination. Just as you would pack, take the car to the mechanic for a check-up, pack some necessities and fill your car with fuel. Your new diet takes as much detailed preparation to realistically reach your short term goals, then your long term goals.
Goals-
If you haven’t considered what your goals might be, this is a good time to consider this. Hopefully, your ultimate goal is overall health, which will yield a stronger immune system to fight off sickness as well as an increased energy level. You will feel more confident in knowing you are healthier and more responsible to yourself.
Your goals in doing this may also be to lose weight which will come in part to your new pattern of eating. You can set out to plan your goals and work towards achieving your desired results. This will be covered in planning more thoroughly.
If you are responsible for feeding your family, you might want to consider a healthier way to feed your family. As a child grows they will make their own decisions. When we show them a better way they will be able to make an educated decision. They will most likely stick to what worked for them at home if it is maintained in a positive spirit.
Nutritional living is a choice that you are making that you will benefit from for your entire life. It is up to you to decide how intense you will be in doing it. As you continue on you will become aware of many different thoughts and practices that can benefit you. You are the one who will determine the level at which you will approach it.
Levels:
Weight Loss only – not recommended by itself. Achieved by reducing caloric intake while increasing your metabolism
Balanced – this approach considers nutrition and considers the needs of the body
Organic – like the balanced this considers nutrition and compliments it with organic foods
(organic foods are ones that are raised or grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, drugs, and hormones)
Supplemental – this is a balanced approach possibly organic with the addition of supplements. Supplements should be used under the instruction of a registered dietitian or a medical Dr.
You will want to set out goals that are achievable. You will want to make an assessment of yourself and where you are. The further you are away from a healthful lifestyle the more careful you should be in setting your goals. The last thing you want to do is set yourself up for failure. Small attainable goals can and should be placed back to back and built upon.
You will get off track periodically, however, your ultimate goal is for a life of healthier habits. This goal of a life of healthier habits will be just that so when you fall it is important to get up and get back on track. Sometimes getting others interested in the same idea leads to increased accountability and even a support system, find a buddy.
For the Love Of Food
Short Term
We are going to Disney!!! We are packing up the car and family and going to the amusement King of the US. If we are to compare this with our short term goals it is easy to relate the excitement of this journey to Disney with the new goal of our Diet. The destination is EXCITING, and the joy we will experience is so close you can almost experience it before we get there. Then we begin the journey and 100 miles into the trip we are tired of driving. You wrestle through it knowing that the midway point to the trip is full of excitement.
Just like dieting you can sense the new look or the better health even the more energy that you will experience part way through your journey with the new eating habits. Just like your journey to Disney part way into the trip you get tired of it! Your goals need to keep you victorious, and excited. Periodically treat yourself to a special meal or snack maybe dessert, then get back on track!
Long Term
The ultimate goal is more daunting in the beginning then it is after achieving some of our short
term goals. If you were going to Disney you wouldn’t think of the 50 hours of driving from the start, if you did you may never leave your house. The end goal is actually returning home mediated by a visit to the theme park. Eventually, you leave and head back home saddened to be going but excited to be going home. Along the way, you make some stops and as you get closer you again get excited by the anticipation of sleeping in your own bed.
Your diet is going to be small goals grouped together which eventually make up a long term goal. Don’t think too far ahead or you will never leave the starting point.
Transition
During this time you are figuring out how this is going to unfold into your life. You will gather information try different things. This is the exciting time when you are going to get in shape for a marathon or a bathing suit or whatever it is that has brought you to read this book. Crucial to the success of this is to get busy, start planning and make your goals attainable. You will achieve results but remember it is more of a long journey than a quick trip. Just as when taking a long journey you want to prepare yourself for what you may experience on your journey.
One thing that you do when going on a long trip is you get into a mindset for being in a car, bus, etc. for an extended period of time. Prepare yourself here as well for your commitment to these goals and the long haul. The more you do this the easier it will be transitioning to attaining your short term goals than your long term goals. During this process you will face adversity:
being hungry and not having good foods to eat wrestling with your family not being on the same page going to a restaurant and wanting the “worst” thing on the menu stress loving ice cream sundaes, etc. being hungry for snacks being rushed for time and not being able to plan appropriately
These are some common things that people wrestle with when taking on new dietary habits. This is an important time to remember that your plan won’t be perfect. You will falter, but you need to forget the past and get back on track. Eventually, you will stay on the path to your destination more often than getting off track and you will cruise.
Commitment – a pledge or promise
Opening the pages of this book and digging in is the beginning of your understanding the importance of a pledge or promise to yourself that your health is important. Executing that pledge or promise will not go without problems, distractions, and roadblocks along the way. Your commitment to seeing this through is crucial to your success.
I don’t doubt that you can get to the goals that you want to achieve. I believe I have put together some tools to help eliminate or at least identify barriers on your journey. You are the one who needs to do the work. You are worth it, pledge to yourself you will see it through.
We love food, it is all that we eat. We have taken our freedom and our love of food to an abusive level that can end in the depreciation of our health. In some cases, our food is killing us. In fact, we love food so much that we eat it without realizing the consequences.
In the first part of this blog, we determined that many of the foods that we eat regularly are meant to be treats. We asked you to take a look at the foods you eat and make a comparison to some of the nutritional requirements recommended.
We have said that we believe we are going in the wrong direction. Now it is time to look at why we do what we do and look at changing our habits. These habits, when successfully changed, will set our paths on the right course.
Before we start, we need to make some hard choices. There isn’t room for everyone in the vehicle. We will need to choose wisely. Let us take a careful look and consider all the options. Comfort, enjoyment, sustainability, fellowship are several very important things to consider.
Comfort - We began a journey of love for the foods that we eat early on in our lives that will later become foods that comfort us. At an early age, we began a mental list of our likes and dislikes of the things that we eat. We are drawn to those favorites as we get older and often narrow what we eat to a small selection. While some have developed a taste for vegetables, others have for sugar, carbohydrates, and salt.
Enjoyment - I’ll be honest, the fast food joints present a certain enjoyment. It isn’t like they say, “come spend your health and wallet here and enjoy it.” No, it is much closer to home, reasonably priced options, and that oh so good feel after eating in this warm, new, welcoming place.
Without a marketing degree, I would say that they have mastered, and I mean mastered, the way to making you and me feel like we are better if we eat there. Not unlike our favorite sports teams celebrating a championship and we act like we had some part in it.
It is important to consider enjoyment. Eating in fast food joints isn’t necessarily the enjoyment or your choice that may exist. There need to be times when you splurge or enjoy outside your regiment. You are more likely to succeed if you do this occasionally. Important to note that this is a treat, a reward, this isn’t an all the time thing. Once you have this treat, you get back on track.
Fellowship - It is in our soul to get together with others and share of ourselves in some fashion. At our core, we desire to get together with others. The difference here, we are saying that food is involved. There are two things with food and fellowship. The foods we eat when we gather with others. More importantly, the fellowship is a service of supporting each other.
Food surrounds so many events and you should consider the options that you provide having some balance. Whether you are having a birthday party or a cookout, a get-together or a New Year’s Eve party, food and fellowship are involved.
Whether you use your enjoyment times with others in fellowship or you guard your fellowship times of the food you eat. You need to spend time with others and share and work through life with others.
Sustainability - You need to eat more than one food type. Sustained health isn’t done easily on food consumption that doesn’t contain smart proteins, wise carbohydrates, regular fruits, and vegetables. These are the building blocks. We have been created able to withstand a lot of different scenarios from a nutrition standpoint, however making the most of our nutrients is a goal.
We have traveled a journey to get here, however, we are not to our final destination. Let us enjoy the journey together as we set and stay the course. So, let’s take a moment to determine which car we are going to take on the journey.
Which of these might be your goal, they might take one of these titles? This will determine how you get there.