My End of Dieting

So… my fall last week broke the camera on my phone. I am now left with nothing to visually record my success and meals, at least for further notice.

I can say that I have been good about eating salads for lunch and something veggie like for dinner. It was a busy week, so I didn’t get to adventurous and try anything new. Also, because of my fall, I didn’t get walking in at all this week. At first it was because I was nauseated and a bit unsteady on my feet. Later in the week it was because I realized my knees were hurting me. It turns out I bruised them fairly bad.Walking also is a tricky when you aren’t positive where the ground is. I am seeing thing double without my glasses. It makes it hard to see clearly and to judge where thing are are.

Since I can’t really focus on a visual account of my healthy week, I decided to go back to the beginning and review what got me started on this journey. It started when my doctor gave the book The End of Dieting by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. I love this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get off the hamster wheel of weight loss. This book is about simple principles of healthy eating that worked for mankind for generations before “science” and money hungry individuals started their BS way of eating and turned eating habits into some kind of weird lab experiment.

The End of Dieting:How to Live for Life. A simple title. Who doesn’t want to end dieting and start living?

We all want it. This book promises it.

And it works. It has made my life simple. I don’t stress about food. I don’t count anything. I don’t weigh or measure a morsel. I just eat colorful, fresh, inviting food. I am not hungry (even with my added intermittent 16:8 fasting).

The most important thing I learned from this book is this: health=nutrients/calories. Done. Simple math. If you want to be healthy you get there once you start eating the most nutrient-dense foods available. The more nutrients per calories we manage to eat, the better we feel, the better we look, the easier it is to lose weight.

The second most important principle I learned from this book was this: Health is a priority – weight loss is a side effect. I can’t tell you how freeing that is! Okay. I will admit it is fun to see the number on the scale go down. But it really isn’t what I am focusing on daily. I am focusing on feeling better (too bad that fall placed a wrench in the works!).

I do avoid gatherings focused on food. I don’t go to church events and stuff were there is food. I just hate explaining myself over and over again. I really don’t like explaining myself and getting weird looks and judgement statements about being a nutritarian. I know it’s a word that the author made up. It simply means eating not to consume certain amounts of fats, calories, proteins, carbs, but consuming as many nutrients as possible with food. It’s what I choose to eat like. I don’t need the judgement and the comments. I am choosing to consume as many vitamins, minerals, photochemical as possible, maximizing the nutrition value of what I eat.

Sometimes it is hard to find those healthy foods. It is weird that “crap” food is so available and affordable. Foods that are full of chemicals and preservatives are easy to find. foods in there natural, unaltered states are not easy to find. I blame science and money hungry companies looking to make a buck off people claiming to make life easier.

The End of Dieting lifestyle I have adopted has helped me to eliminate toxic and never-ending hunger, physical and emotional food addictions, and cravings for unhealthy foods. I don’t even crave chocolate these days. LOL. This lifestyle has lead me to health.

It is fairly simple.

1. Eat a large salad every day as your main dish. I eat lots of greens, veggies, and a few fruits scattered here and there. I eat nuts and seeds and a few healthy dressings (although I am going to work on getting healthier dressings for those occasions I choose to have a dressing.

2. Eat at least a half cup to 1 cup of beans a day. Beans are packed with vitamins, minerals, protein, and slow-digesting carbs. Beans are great for fiber too. My favorite beans are lentils and black beans.

3. Eat one large serving of steamed veggies a day. I am loving “stir fry”. Broccoli, kale, zucchini, Swiss chard are some of the healthiest foods on the plant! Oh… and cabbage too! I actually now crave cabbage. LOL.Nuts are a great source of healthy fats needed for the hormonal system

4. Eat at least 1 ounce of nuts and seeds per day. Nuts are a great source of healthy fats needed for a healthy hormonal system, healthy brain and cell function, great hair,skin and nails.

5. Eat mushrooms and onions every day. I love these. My favorite.

6. Eat 3 fruits a day. Fruit is natures candy. Right now I am lucky and have strawberries in the garden that are sowing super well. It is so satisfying to walk out to the garden for a handful of berries in the evening! Fruit is helpful in staying hydrated as well.

Really… Could it be any easier? NO!

Give it a try! I have not regretted for one day my decision to End Dieting once and for all.