Why Diet Now?
The first syllable of DIET IS DIE - Enjoy your Thanksgiving!
My body changed when my mind changed
The first syllable of DIET IS DIE
DIET is a sword like any other wielded word, wounding at will with a wicked wish. The very definitions and various meanings implicate us all in the image and identity interpretations imprinted early upon us.
I’ll have a spoonful of that, please. The word can be used to describe a “healthy diet” or a “carb-loaded diet” so it’s actual meaning is fluid. Or solid. Or in a pill. Or powder. Gimme Gluten-Free, Fat-Free, Sugar-Free. Go-Lo or Keto. Are you a weightwatcher or Marie fangirl? Adkins or Nutrisystem? Paleo, Raw, or Macrobiotic? How ‘bout none? Have any readers tried any of these “Diets”?
Because of my background as a chef, I’m often asked about my DIET. My answers early on were rudimentary and related to the cooking process. Do this: Get that. That simplicity drives many cooks. Repetition is routine. Routine is bounty. Bounty is beautiful.
The concept eluded me then, but now, it’s my fall back. Simple wins. Cook=Eat. So many eaters want a silver bullet when all they have is a broken palette. Easy In=Hard Out. So many eager to eat but remorseful to reap. What do you eat? And when?
My lived experience informs me and eating is not as easy to write about as theory. What I write is what I live. Writing about my eating is like writing about my breathing. DIET to me is motion, not emotion. Why do you eat? How do you breathe?
Jumping from the frying pan into the fire circa 1997, I went from $50K/yr to $5.50/hr to be a cook. From appraiser to dishwasher I went, tumbling upwards in a journey of culinary delight. I ate all the time and as much as I wanted. Nothing was off-limits. Ribeye at midnight and chocolate torte at 2 am. What a life!
Because of the level of activity most jobs demand, many of us are able to put in around 7500 to 10,000 steps a day. Anything over 12,500 steps is considered highly active. Perspective: one mile is about 2000 steps. The highest daily step count of my last job was 31,422. That was an ass-kicker of a day. Now I WFH and am lucky to get 25 steps in. A shift in approach is needed.
Let’s just say I’ve always had the luxury of high metabolism, and when combined with an active job or lifestyle (read: youth), the result was effortless weight management. Five years ago - 2018 - which now seems like a million miles away, my self-perception changed. One image shattered another. When you can’t go back, you go on.
Before then, I never considered myself old and fat. A picture of me kissing The Youngest at her graduation stunned me. Who was that old fat dude kissing my daughter? I couldn’t believe my eyes. And that’s the day my body changed.
Not immediately, and I still see a different image in the mirror than others see in reality. But that’s just motivation, not dysmorphia. My body changed when my mind changed. Watching the results of that change keeps the process going. Measuring wins is easy - using a new belt hole, purging the fat clothes, skipping the chips.
I didn’t know it at the time, but the actions I took in the weeks after that epiphany became habits and routines that are with me today. If you take nothing else away from this piece than one thing, let it be this: Start today. Take the step.
I’ll have a bunch of other take-aways, so keep reading and plan that step and some of the next ones. Here’s the thing about plans, they only work if you do. And stepping is work. Especially when working from home or remotely working, which by nature reduces steps.
Think about steps like staircases and phrases like “Run upstairs and . . . “. Run upstairs? That takes talent. Or repetition. Out of that comes habit. Eating Healthy is Running Upstairs. It’s not done easily the first time. Or the one hundredth. Or thousandth time. But the ten thousandth time it’s easy.
If you run upstairs enough times, you can do it in the dark. Or blindfolded. Sometimes even downstairs without falling too much! So you CAN eat healthy, but only if you put your mind into it. Your body will follow and obey any direction you give it. Your mind puts the food into your mouth. Your body pays the bill.
So what’s that first step?
Start with Super Foods - a simple Google search will give you however much data you want. Start with your top three superfoods and incorporate them into your daily food plan. My top three are Beets, Greek Yogurt, and Berries.
Five years ago I made a Beet Smoothie in the morning. I’ve been doing that almost every day since then. I’ve written about it here as well - I’m a beet fanatic.
So make that your first step, a superfood smoothie every day to start the day. It takes me literally 7 or 8 minutes to make a smoothie, and the benefits to your body are uncountable. My brain actually craves this every morning. Mind leading the body.
Another step you should make immediately - don’t eat after 8 pm if at all possible. If you have to eat, something like mashed potatoes and chicken breast will settle a lot better in your prone body than a steak salad or lobster ravioli.
Read about intermittent fasting here and here
There are a few ways to do intermittent fasting, but they all involve alternating periods of fasting and eating. Some research suggests this may have benefits beyond weight loss, like improved brain and heart health.
And it’s easy, or at least it is for me. And that’s step three - make it easy. If you don’t, you won’t. We’re human beings, with millions of years of built-in evolution. Why would you commit to a plan knowing full well that it’s too hard and you just won’t do it in the end. Be honest with yourself. If you don’t like it, you won’t do it.
As I prepped my thoughts for this post, it made me chart my daily eating, which I strongly suggest you do as well. Include water at all times.
530 am - coffee
7 am - smoothie
8 am - breakfast burrito
10 am - cheese, protein, & crackers
12 pm - avocado toast or PB & J sandwich
2 pm - dinner-lunch - spaghetti bolognaise or sirloin and broccoli
5 pm - 7pm - light protein (fish or chicken), starch, and dessert
8 pm - no more eating
Some people have a problem eating the same thing every day. Professional cooks don’t. Ask this question before you eat something: Is it fuel or is it flavor? The answer provides your selection. Fuel you can eat a lot of usually, flavor not so much. Think veggies vs vanilla wafers.
The next step is critical for success - meal prep. You will fail if you don’t prep. Period. This is the work. This is what makes the clothes fall off. It has to be methodical and measured. And simple. Not easy, but simple.
Put beets in the rice cooker, then dice and freeze them. Pretty easy. But making 20 breakfast burritos requires a plan. I selected burritos because they’re the perfect breakfast vehicle - it carries all the goodies: chorizo, refried beans, baked potato, scrambles eggs, and cheese.
Set up a production line, cook the chorizo and add the beans. Nuke the potato for 5 minutes, cool and dice and add to beans and meat. Scramble eggs separately and add to mixture. Warm tortillas (I use regular, but use wheat or low-carb), then roll’em up and freeze them.
Daily breakfast on the go in under 2.5 minutes. It looks like this
I’ve decided that this topic deserves more than an occasional post. So with that in mind, stay tuned for a series I’ll develop based on this principle. I’d love to hear from you about what works and what doesn’t. You are the expert on your body.
On this day, of all days, adhering to a strict eat this and don’t eat that regimen is a recipe for failure. By planning your meals and thinking about the food that you put into your body, the anxiety created by food shaming will end. But your the boss of your body - not your spouse or kids, or your friends or family. Nobody but you controls what you put into your mouth. Nobody else but you can change your mind. Once you do that, you’ve changed your body.
It’s within your power. Happy Thanksgiving, eat what you want, not what you should.
Ric