How Did My Weight Get Out of Control

How did my weight get out of control?

I know we’d like to put the blame on someone else, and in fact it is somewhat your parents fault, and I say that because they train you how to eat and what to eat, but in defense of your parents and/or other relatives, they eat the same way their parents taught them.

I’ve outlined five myths about eating habits.

1. No snacking! You'll ruin your appetite!

Actually, snacking can be healthy, as long as you choose wisely. A healthy snack serves many purposes. I eat a little smaller breakfast because I know I’ll be eating again in 3 hours. I’m not as hungry at lunch because I ate three hours ago and I’ll be snacking again in about three hours. My dinner will be smaller because I’m not as hungry, I just ate something three hours ago. And if I’m going to be up more than four hours after dinner, I’ll snack again about three hours after dinner.
I know that you’re thinking, all those calories, but it’s not that much, snacks can be healthy. My general rule is never go four hours without eating. This keeps your Blood Sugars stable. Fluctuations in blood sugar will cause cravings. And eating more often will avoid hunger. When your hungry you over eat and then your blood sugar spikes and when it drops or crashes you’re hungry again.

Tip: Try cutting back slightly on meals so you can have three daily snacks between 100 and 200 calories. Good choices include nuts, fruit, yogurt, and
vegetables with dip. And don’t forget to snack, that way you’ll avoid those big meals. At first you might have to count calories. When you eat six times a day it’s easy to overeat.

2. Finish everything on your plate.

It's fine to leave a little food, get in tune with your body to know when you've had enough.

Tip: As you're eating, notice how you're feeling. Are you full? Are you eating just because there is still food on your plate? Be particularly careful when you're eating out -- the food is appealing, the plates are huge, and you may want to eat it all because you paid for it. If there are large portions, ask for half now and have them box the other half. Remember the dangers of spiking your blood sugar.

3. Don't eat before exercising -- you'll get a cramp.

You won't want to go running immediately after dinner, but eating a little bit 30 to 60 minutes before exercising can help you maximize your workout. You'll get a quick boost of energy that helps you optimize the exercise session.

Tip: Choose high-carbohydrate, low-fat, low-fiber snacks with moderate amounts of protein in the 100- to 300-calorie range, such as a glass of chocolate milk, a slice of toast with peanut butter, or a granola bar. Fruit is also fine, although it won't have much protein (add a few nuts for that). Personally, I like a plain yogurt cup and I add dried fruit.

4. Hurry up!

Did your parents rush your breakfast so you were on time for school? If you still eat in a hurry, you might miss your body's cues that you're full. It takes 20 minutes for the brain to register that you feel full. If you eat too quickly, you can scarf down a lot of food in a 20-minute period, and then you feel stuffed.

Tip: Slow down. Take mini-breaks by putting your food and utensils down between bites. I like to eat with other people, I spend more time talking and less time eating.

5. You deserve dessert today!

We never want to use food as a reward; it sends the wrong message. The wires get crossed, and we no longer eat because we're hungry; we eat because we were good and we deserve something. This starts at childhood; a way parents get kids to finish their plate. Today we know to leave kids alone, there’ll eat when their hungry.

Tip: It's great to reward yourself, but not with food. How about a movie, a manicure, or time with friends? Soon, you'll realize that you shouldn't just eat because you think you deserve something.

I believe you have to understand why you have a weight problem if your going to fix it. Yes, I understand that everyone is looking for convenience today. The population is over worked, stressed-out, and looking to somehow make their lives a little easier. So we try to spoil ourselves whenever possible. If you think about it a minute, this is the reason for more than one of our problems today. Somehow people need to return to eating the way we did in the 50's. The way they still eat in other parts of the world were Cancer and other health problems are not so common place. It’s actually becoming a new tread with young adults today and that’s “to eat fresh”. Supermarkets are a great convenience but we're eating fresh food that ripens in trucks during shipping. Fruits and vegetables should stay on the vine or on the tree until ripe. But growers can't get it to the market fast enough, so it's picked weeks early an ripens in transit. Picking early causes a loss nutrition. Your paying for something you're not getting. Shopping for food grown locally is the only way to get real fresh food. In outdoor markets the grower is selling you the products he grows. Now I know that limits you, all your able to buy is whats grown in your area, but that's the way it use to be. Even frozen vegetables are grown by the large growers that only produce for the mass markets. And yes they do freeze the fruit or vegetable at the time their picked so their as ripe as possible, but those large growers use chemicals to grow their products and their lies the problem. Organic is better if your buying supermarket food but is it ripe? Did it stay on the plant or tree long enough to get the nutrition your paying for? Who knows. I prefer to get the product from the farmer, if the farmer says it's organic it probably is. Small farms don’t have the money to spend on pesticides and other chemicals so the chances are the products are organically grown.

Today we have more fast food, more highly processed food, and way more restaurants than our parents or grandparents did. Another reasons is that we have more spendable income and we indulge ourselves more than previous generations did. This is the underlying reason for our overweight problem.

Yes, I understand that everyone is looking for convenience today. The population is over worked, stressed-out, and looking to somehow make their lives a little easier. So we try to spoil ourselves whenever possible. If you think about it a minute, this is the reason for more than one of our problems today. Somehow people need to return to eating the way we did in the 50's. The way they still eat in other parts of the world were Cancer and other health problems are not so common place. Supermarkets are a great convenience but we're eating fresh food that ripens in trucks during shipping. Fruits and vegetables should stay on the vine or on the tree until ripe. But growers can't get it to the market fast enough, so it's picked weeks early and ripens in transit. Picking early causes a lose of nutrition. Your paying for something you're not getting. Shopping for food grown locally is the only way to get real fresh food. In outdoor markets the grower is selling you the products he grows. Now I know that limits you, all your able to buy is what’s grown in your area, but that's the way it use to be. Even frozen vegetables are grown by the large growers that only produce for the mass markets. And yes they do freeze the fruit or vegetable at the time their picked so they’re as ripe as possible, but those large growers use chemicals to grow their products and their lies the problem. Organic is better if your buying supermarket food but is it ripe? Did it stay on the plant or tree long enough to get the nutrition your paying for? Who knows. I prefer to get the product from the farmer, if the farmer says it's organic it probably is. small farms can’t effort the cost of pesticides, and other chemicals to increase crop production. It’s only cost-effective when farming hundreds of acres.

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