Dieting vs. Changing Your Lifestyle

I have pretty much been on a diet since my Sophomore year of college – and over the years, I have narrowed down my daily diet more and more. I actually wouldn’t call it much of a diet. It’s a lifestyle change. And eating healthy isn’t only for people who want to lose weight.

I am going to provide you a list of all (well, almost all) the foods that I eat. Of course, I don’t eat all of these each day! I stick to 1400 – 1600 calories a day AND work out. Eating healthy helps me to maintain my current weight – and running/working out helps me to actually lose weight. When you do work out, you need to eat enough to keep up with it – because if you don’t eat enough and starve yourself, your body will cling to the fat you take in and that’s just not healthy.

There are TONS of diets (lifestyle changes) out there for you to follow… but the best way to actually keep one going, is to find one you would be totally okay sticking with for the rest of your life. You’re going to have to find foods that you actually like and learn to eat in moderation. Of course, you can do weight watchers, which has worked fabulously for friends and acquaintances of mine! But you can do the same sort of thing on your own. I am not constantly losing weight, but I can when I want to. If you really want to lose the weight, you’re going to have to give up a few weekends of raging here and there (maybe even two or three – in a row)… It’s not easy for a twenty something, but it is possible. I always used to fear that I would miss out on something when I stayed in (so I never stayed in…), but now that I’ve been graduated for a while, I realized that the same thing happens every weekend… and sometimes I would rather look good in the long run than have an okay time out with friends and gain one or two pounds in the short run (I have to admit, I haven’t mastered staying in for an ENTIRE weekend yet, but I’ve been pushing myself to). Once in a while, though, you just have to splurge for a piece of pizza, an order of fries, and a couple of margaritas & mexican food with your friends… but if you really want to lose weight – you need to stay away from those foods. I recommend giving yourself a goal weight to get to before you eat your favorite BAD food again (for me, that would be french fries/pizza)… If you really motivate yourself, you can do it!

Here’s my list. It works for me, and it could work for you too. And once you get your “lifestyle change” down, you won’t even be counting calories anymore. You’ll just know what you can and can’t eat – and you’ll feel great. If you’re not trying to lose weight – and just trying to be healthy, this will make it perfectly okay to splurge on the weekend.

Chobani Greek Yogurt

Trader Joe’s Pesto Tortellini Bowl

English Muffin toasted with Nutella on it

Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Mac & Cheese

Special K Bars

Strawberries

Trader Joe’s Lite Kettle Korn Bags

Carrots with Hannah’s Spinach Dip

Pretzel Chips & Humus

Special K Cereal w/ milk

100 calorie bags of popcorn

Scrambled Eggs

Green Grapes

Apples

Fiber Plus Bars (I’m so over Fiber One Bars)

Smart Ones Three Cheese Ziti Meal

Hamburger without the bun

Salad! (with healthy, low calorie – and not too much – dressing. I put feta cheese, craisins, cucumbers, & almonds in mine.)

Chicken/Apple Sausage (they have these at Costco)

Turkey Bacon

Grilled Chicken

Rice

BOTTLES OF WATER

Here’s my weight-loss tip of the day: Stop eating bagels. Bagels don’t cure hangovers. I used to eat a bagel every morning I woke up hungover. Now, I eat cereal and stick to a normal, healthy diet. If you aren’t trying to lose weight, have a bagel – why not. Just make sure you factor it in to your day’s calories (if you’re trying to lose weight, you can do that too actually…) But my point is that you certainly don’t NEED to have one because you’re hungover 🙂