One of my biggest pet peeves today is whenever someone refers to my weight loss as me being on a "diet." In fact, I find it pretty insulting. However, I try not to get too upset because that person probably doesn't know that I'm not on a diet, I just changed my habits and therefore my lifestyle. I hate the term "diet" because in my opinion, it means that I'm only eating right and exercising to get to a particular weight only to go back to junk food and skip workout sessions. That undermines my efforts to become the best version of me.
So I repeat -- losing weight and KEEPING it off:
- Does not mean going on a diet.
- It means changing your lifestyle.
Seriously, I can't stress enough how much you have to change when you decide to change your body. I can't stress enough how there are no shortcuts or easy fixes to weight loss. You simply have to put in the work and change each bad habit one at a time. For instance, one of my bad habits used to be going to McDonald's every morning for breakfast on my way to class. The food was cheap, good and could hold me over for a couple hours until I could get lunch. Here's what I'd get:
Sausage Egg McMuffin with cheese:
- 440 calories
- 850 mg of sodium
- 27 g of fat
Hasbrowns (2):
- 300 calories
- 620 mg of sodium
- 18 g of fat
That's a 740 calorie breakfast that also contains 45 grams of fat and 1,470 grams of sodium. I ate that five days a week. Which adds up to: 3,700 calories, 225 grams of fat, and 7,350 miligrams of sodium. That was just breakfast. For lunch? I usually switched up my fast foods everyday, so I went to places like Moe's Mexican Grill, Hibachi, Subway, Jimmy Johns, Waffle House or one of the dining facilities on campus. I did better with dinner, I guess, I always cooked something healthy every once in a while. That's a small victory right? NO! Absolutely not. I probably would have had to spend hours at the gym just to maintain my weight at that time.
I changed that particular bad habit and started cooking breakfast. My typical meal became two eggs, two slices of turkey bacon and whole wheat toast.
Eggs: 140 calories, 130 mg of sodium, 10 g of fat
Turkey bacon: 70 calories, 280 mg of sodium, 5 g of fat
Toast: 120 calories, 1 g of fat, 220 mg of sodium
That's 330 calories, 630 mg of sodium, 16 g of fat, and 24 g of protein for one breakfast. It's also 1,650 calories, 3,150 mg of sodium, and 80 g of fat over a period of five days. The McDonald's breakfast contains more than double the fat, sodium and the calories.
Making better breakfast choices led to better lunch choices which led to better dinner choices. I started saving calories and money, and the money I saved went to the supermarket so I could continue to buy healthy food. Also, my love for cleaner foods grew the more I experimented with different recipes using my favorite ingredients. Plain scrambled eggs became scrambled eggs with tomatoes, spinach, onions and garlic. Roasted chicken was no longer accompanied by white rice, but brown rice and/or kale greens and carrots. Why buy canned tomato sauce when I could buy fresh tomatoes, blend them and make my own pasta sauce? Why buy crystal light when I could just add flavor to water by simply adding a splash of lemon or lime? Why buy the flavored Quaker oatmeal when I could buy plain whole oats and add my own brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins? Why add a lot of salt when I could use herbs, spices and sauces like basil, garlic, cayenne peppers, and vinegar to season my food? Its those little changes that add up and make a difference. The changes in my body weren't the only things that were noticeable, my attitude towards food did too. My cravings for junk food weren't as frequent, I could taste different kinds of seasonings in my food, and I was more open to trying new fresh foods and even started taking trips to the farmer's market!
The better I ate, the better I felt. I became happier, more energetic, even a tad more patient. I was happy to nourish my body with the things it needed. Even exercise became more fun! Exercise became my way to give me energy for the day, a way to unwind after a long one, and my outlet for whenever I had a bad day. I became addicted to running and the runner's high that followed. I loved going for morning and evening walks and working out to my cardio DVDs. I was freed from the days where I'd sit around, eat bad foods and do nothing. I was able to think clearer and make better decisions when it came to other aspects of my life like work and school.
So, no. I didn't go on a diet. I really changed my life. I couldn't continue to eat all the junk food in the world and exercise whenever I felt like it. I had to get out of my comfort zone and make change happen. I had to change my mindset and ask myself, "Am I willing to do it whatever it takes to get where I need to be?" If the answer was anything other than "Yes", then I wasn't going to see any results. There you have it folks, if you're going to commit to losing weight, you have to commit to a healthier lifestyle. It's the only way to make true progress and then you'll realize life is better the healthier you are.
Talk to you soon,
The Nubian Nerdy Fit Girl
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