You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb it himself.
~ Andrew Carnegie
I was born in Holland (in case you thought my accent is fake), and was overweight (I had an award to be the heaviest baby in the hospital at birth) until I reached my teenage years. Being overweight helped me at the time, since I was the only Jewish kid in my neighborhood, and had to defend myself many times (I guess that’s where I get my sensitivity and compassion from – lol). Anyway, being involved with soccer and tennis at a later age, I transformed my body, making healthy choices and sticking to them. Not that I knew what I was doing at the time, but I understood the benefit from switching from coke to diet coke, cutting out candy, eating plain yogurt with fruit after tennis matches, preparing my own lunch and bringing it to school, etc. Each change I made was small, but critical over the long haul.
After moving from Amsterdam to NY I became passionate about working out. Still not knowing anything about nutrition, the gains I made were very little. However I enjoyed working out from a stress relief point of view. Learning more about nutrition over the years, I believe the ratio resistance training to nutrition is probably 30-70 percent in favor of nutrition (guestimate).
Even though I am passionate about training, you can make much more changes efficiently by supplementing your training with a healthy eating pattern. This includes supplementation as well, which will be addressed in the future!
Even these days I keep setting goals for myself; e.g. bulking up, getting lean (and I admit, I drive my wife crazy by requesting to either adding complex carbohydrates or cutting them out at of meals : -)
I continue to make small changes (e.g. recently changed from Whey protein to Isolate whey protein (higher quality), cut out pre-packed turkey due to the high sodium, etc.
These days I still have to be careful with what I eat, since I do have a tendency to gain weight easily. However, I do have a “cheat” day in the week. And the people that are close to me know, how much I like my French fries!! This makes the diet (and I hate that phrase) not feel indefinite, or too overwhelming.
In any case, I do understand “the battle” with food and the importance of the “small” changes, and sticking to them. Therefore, once more I am asking you to go thru the below list, and make a resolution to make a specific change to your diet, and e-mail that to me!
Instructions: Pick one goal each week that you feel confident you can modify in your diet for years to come. Every week, record date of commitment by goal. Share your goal with those close to you and put a note of your goal on your refrigerator so you are more likely to succeed.
Eat smaller meals throughout the day
Eat a snack during the time you are without food the longest during your waking hours
• Eat small meals every 2.5 or 4 hours throughout the day
• Plan 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks distributed throughout the day, every 2.5 to 4 hours
• If eating less than 3 meals, eat an additional meal
• Introduce breakfast by drinking milk, fruit or vegetable juice
• Add an additional food to breakfast
• Eat cereal for bedtime snack instead of a high fat snack food
• Prepare extra for meals so leftovers are on hand
• Plan time for preparing a nutritious lunch or snack for hard to get away times
• Slightly decrease portion sizes of your largest meals
Eat more fiber
Eat 100% whole wheat instead of white bread
• Add beans or steamed or raw vegetables to any meal
• Eat a green salad every day
• Eat fresh fruit for dessert or a snack
• Eat oatmeal or other higher fiber cereal for breakfast
• Stock up on frozen vegetables and fruits so they are always available
• Add raw spinach leaves to salad for more nutrients
• Add a vegetable to a meal: breakfast, lunch, or dinner
• Add vegetables to omelettes, pizza, sandwiches, stir frys, and other recipes
• If you find it hard to eat vegetables consider vegetable juice or gazpacho
• Purchase pre-cut veggies and salad mixes for convenience
• Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily; keep a tally of servings eaten
Eat lower/healthier fat foods
• Substitute meat with fish high in omega-3 fatty acids
• Instead of spreading butter or margarine on bread, dip 100% whole wheat bread in the equivalent amount of olive oil
• Substitute other saturated fats for polyunsaturated fats or polyunsaturated fats for monounsaturated fats
• Eat ice milk, sherbet, or non-fat frozen yogurt instead of ice cream
• Choose lower fat salad dressings (low fat, no fat) or olive oil and lemon
• Substitute plain yogurt for sour cream
• Substitute plain yogurt for mayonnaise in your chicken or tuna salad
• Decrease sandwich spread or salad dressing by progressively adding plain yogurt
• Eat lower fat cuts of meat
• Choose milk with lower fat (2%, 1%, 1/2%, Skim or non-fat)
• Choose lower fat cheese
• Eat whole grain cereal with milk for bedtime snack instead of traditional snack food
• Plan to eat healthfully 6 days a week and only eat sweets and higher fat foods one day a week
Appetite control
• Eat a snack before lunch or dinner to reduce the tendency to overeat
• Keep a food journal of the quantities of all food eaten
• Rate appetite after each meal or snack: 1) Very Hungry, 2) Hungry, 3) Satisfied, 4) Full, 5) Very Full
• Eat just until comfortable, leave food on plate if necessary
• Check your diet periodically using computer diet analysis software
• Weigh food and serve pre-determined portion before sitting down to eat
• Limit the number of times you eat out at restaurants
• Eat before being around processed snack foods (eg: party, shopping, etc.)
• Agree to do extra exercise if you eat more than you had planned
Planning
• Write weekly menu with accompanying shopping list
• Keep shopping list (with pen or pencil) conveniently located in kitchen
• Prepare foods the evening before and refrigerate for the next day
* Assignment
Make one change in your eating/food/behavior pattern from the above subjects, and stick to it for at least this week.
E-mail me your proposed change, and at the end of the week let me know if you were able to stick to it.
I EXPECT AN E-MAIL BACK FROM EVERYBODY !!!
“Once you agree upon the price you must pay for success, it enables you to ignore the minor hurts, the peer pressure, and the temporary failures.”
By Vince Lombardi
No success comes without any sacrifices. Some are bigger than others, but nevertheless, they are unavoidable.
As long as you are in “personal” agreement with your goals, and YOU believe in them, it will give you the strength to ignore those “minor hurts” and “sacrifices”.
Along the way, you will come along friends and family members who will try to corrupt you and take you away from your goals. At those times, you have to stay focused and think about your goals and those “sacrifices” you need to make in order to be successful.
In the extreme, you might want to consider a new support group!
In the past, I have addressed “temporary failures”; Don’t get discouraged by them, but few them as a learning experience. Try to figure out why you temporary failed! This way, you can avoid the same mistake(s) in the future, even before you get to them or be tempted by them.
