My Secret Diet Revealed

This afternoon my neighbor commented on how different I looked with my weight loss. I have to admit that I hear this often. Instead of making me feel good, it makes me really defensive. It was only ten pounds people! It's not like I just got off the Biggest Loser. That's when I realized that no matter if it's ten or fifty pounds, weight loss can make you feel and look like a new person.

So, it's time to come clean with my "secret" diet. Don't worry, this won't cost you a penny. My secret... I just changed the ingredients in my food and added a little exercise. I'm enjoying my food more and have no guilt. In fact, as I write this I'm eating coconut ice cream.

SECRET REVEALED

(1) Get Informed. This will take a little time but is worth the "research." When I say research I mean look at the ingredients in the "food" that you eat. There's a quote from a Michael Pollen book that states, "Eat Food, Mostly Plants, Not Too Much." I equate food to mean what God created for us to eat. He did not create high fructose corn syrup. However, he did provide us with herb crusted halibut, garlic baked asparagus, mushroom risotto, and your favorite wine.

• You will see me referencing quotes from the book "Omnivores Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food" in future blogs. These books are written by Michael Pollen and I highly recommend them. Reading them is like the scene from the Matrix where Keanu swallows the pill and becomes aware of the world as it really is.
  

(2) Make the Switch. Switch to whole foods. Exchange your white rice with brown. I did this slowly over time because my husband didn't like brown rice. At first I used 3/4 white and 1/4 brown. Then added half and half. You get the idea. Now we only eat brown rice and instead of complaints I get yums. Turn in your bread for whole wheat that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup, processed soy, or other nasty stuff. Future blogs will focus on simple changes to make. One quick one is to eat more fruits and veggies.

(3) Add Exercise. It doesn't matter what you do...as NIKE says, just do it. I started running. (See future blog on the day when pigs flew). You should really try different things out. You might surprise yourself. There might be one thing you hated ten years ago that you might love now. (Hint....me running). After two months of running four times a week, I went from a size 8 to a size 4.

• For those of you who need to lose more than ten pounds, I would recommend one more simple step. Count those calories. A few years back I had gained 20 pounds. (Thanks to special legislative sessions). I decided to find out what was making me fat. I did one thing...counted calories. Back then I still didn't exercise. What I discovered was that there were days when I consumed 4,000 calories on what I thought was "healthy" food.

Now you know my secret. As I mentioned before, I'll be posting more on the little things that make big changes. Adding coconut to your diet is one of those fun things I'll share with you next time. For now, stop looking at those check-out stand magazines, pinching the fat that you may find around your body, (Still guilty of that one), and remember... God made you a beautiful woman . Whether you accept that or not doesn't make it not true.