Author: Juliana

Okay, they are not my top 3 food tips. They are my only food tips. Here they are:

1. Eat less, but do not deprive yourself

Deprivation of the foods you enjoy is a disaster awaiting to happen. I should know, I have done it many, many times. I once tried to completely cut potato chips from my diet. After about two weeks I ended up devouring a bag of chips…and I’m not talking about the small bags of chips you get out of the vending machines. Yup, that’s right, I went for the party size bags. Sufficed to say, it wasn’t pretty.

Since that food disaster, I have learned that moderation is the key. When I have a craving for potato chips, I take 5-10 pieces out of the bag and store the rest for later. I also make sure that when I start eating the chips, the rest of the bag is far, far away from me (ie. I’m in the living room but the rest of the chips are in that hard to reach cupboard in the kitchen). That way, I am less likely to get up and get some more.

2. Supplement with green leafy things

When decreasing portions of meat, try and supplement them with green leafy things (yes, I know that they are called vegetables). I recently cooked myself a steak and instead of eating the rather large portion I usually like, I cut the serving in half and added a spinach salad to the meal (this is in addition to the other fruits and veggies I usually have at dinner). The benefits of this is two-fold: I ate a more balanced meal and I was not left with that hungry deprived feeling.

3. Keep the rich, yummy, tasty foods at a distance

We used to buy the family-sized portions of chocolate ice cream and 12″ chocolate cake whenever we went shopping at Superstore. What would happen was since all that stuff was right in our fridge, we would eat it more often. Now we have stopped buying those items and if we find that we have a craving for them, we would go out to a specialty dessert place to get them. While buying a slice of cake or a serving of ice cream may be more expensive at a specialty dessert place than just getting them in bulk at the grocery store, we found that we would only make the trip if our cravings out-weighed the effort needed to get any of these items. And frankly, that doesn’t happen often.

I have found that these three strategies work well for me. I found that I can’t completely cut certain foods out of my diet, but by putting putting obstacles in the way of obtaining certain foods and by reducing the portions I can get a workable balance in my diet.

What are your tricks?

My top 5 reasons for why I don’t like to do exercise (in no particular order):

1. Would rather watch TV
2. Would rather eat chocolate icing
3. Makes me tired
4. Makes me all sweaty
5. Muscles ache the next day

You think I’m kidding, but I’m dead serious – I really don’t like to do exercise.

So why have I joined the gym and committed myself to working out 4-5 times a week and joined a running club that meets once a week?

The answer is so that I can eat whatever I want and still look good. It might sound shallow and vain, but it is totally and absolutely true.

I like to eat. I love food. I think eating is one of the most wonderful and sensuous experiences a person can have. I have been moved to tears after an especially decadent slice of chocolate mousse cake and I have transcended to a state of heavenly bliss after a particularly delectable piece of coconut cream pie…..

But I digress.

In order for me to continually have these transcendent experiences with food, I will need to work out. If not, those blissful, heavenly transcendent experiences will go to places that I choose not to discuss at this time and they will give me a shape that I will not be happy with. Vain and shallow, I know, but the truth.

So my exercising journey began 2 weeks ago. I went to the gym and spent a half hour on the elliptical. I wish I could say that it was a great experience and that I was now embarking on a love affair with the gym, but that would be a BIG lie. After working out I was all sweaty, achy and tired. The only reason why I didn’t quit in the middle of the workout was because my gym had installed a flat screen TV and I was watching an episode of “The Real Housewives of New York City”.

And the only reason why I kept going back to the gym after a week of this torture, was because I kept getting complimented by random people on how refreshed and bright my face looked. I know it’s vain and I know it’s shallow, but it worked.

Perhaps as the months progress I will start exercising for other reasons, such as improving my health, managing stress levels and increasing my energy levels.

I sincerely doubt it, but you never know…miracles do happen.