Changing My Diet

“The foods you eat can either be the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison”.

I gained 150 pounds in 8 years -- that’s about 19 pounds year. For a large part of this period, I was working 50+ hours a week and going to grad school at night. I used food to cope with my stress. I used sugary Starbucks Frapuccinos and cookies to get through 3-hour grad school classes that went until 9pm. I used M&Ms to help get through writing papers. I used Domino’s pizza and chicken fingers with creamy dips as a quick meal when I got home from class, followed with ice cream to reward my exhausted self. In those minutes I was eating those comfort foods, I felt relief from all stress, relief from a life where I had allotted no time to take care of myself.

I never ate salad, fruit, or vegetables. Sometimes in an effort to be healthy I would buy fruit, but it would always rot in my refrigerator. I craved carbs and sugar. I always felt hungry. It was a battle to stop eating -- I always wanted more.

A typical day’s eating plan:

Breakfast:
Bagel and cream cheese and/or muffin, yogurt

Snack 1:
Candy or chips

Lunch:
Pizza or large tuna sub, chips, cookie

Snack 2:
Large Vanilla Latte from Starbucks

Dinner:
Pizza, chicken fingers or other fast food

Snack 3:
Cupcakes or ice cream

With the help of an experienced professional, I went cold turkey on my old diet. I was given a sheet that listed exactly what I could eat at each meal. My instructions where eat only what was listed on the sheet. If it wasn’t listed, I was not allowed to eat it. At this point it was very hard for me to fathom giving up pizza, but I went to the grocery store and bought what I needed to give the new eating plan a try.

My new eating plan:

Breakfast:
2 packets of original oatmeal
Add in strawberries, blueberries, rasberries, and any other fruit(s)
3 kinds of citrus
Coffee with non-fat milk

Lunch:
Salad
Add as many vegetables as possible
As much protein (chicken, beef, seafood) as you need to feel full
Balsamic Vinaigrette
One piece of fruit

Dinner:
1 can of beef stew (first 2 weeks)
Protein, as much as desired (3rd week and thereafter)
3 colors of vegetables

Snack (whenever needed):
Original Cheerios

This was obviously a huge change in diet but I liked that this strict plan took the decision making out of it for me. I soon realized it made sense to focus on enjoying what I COULD eat and not dwelling on what I couldn't eat. I learned that when you are really hungry, healthy food tastes great. Maybe not as great as pizza, but still great. The hardest part was getting used to eating salad and vegetables as those had never been a part of my diet before.

My coach checked in with me daily, and was very supportive --which is a good thing, because I went through some serious sugar and carbohydrate withdrawal symptoms. I was tired and on edge. I often contemplated giving into my strong cravings. Also, one day while driving in my car, I started crying for no reason.

During this period I lost about 3 pounds a week, almost as much as I had lost in the past 3 months. But best of all, after the three weeks, my out-of-control cravings for sugar and carbs were gone. I was actually enjoying the food I was eating. At this point I began introducing other foods such as eggs, Greek yogurt, cheese, nuts, and wheat bread back into my diet. A few weeks later I added in 2 treats per week. I stuck to this plan with these additions for months. There were some exceptions for holidays etc. but this plan became a structure of eating that my body became used to. I enjoyed this plan because I could eat as much protein as I needed to full. I learned that I was actually more satisfied on this plan then I had ever felt at any point in my life. I happily continue to follow this basic structure, with a bit more variation, at least 80% of the time.

One other important item to note is that with this change in diet, I also gave up artificial sweeteners. This includes diet soda and diet ice tea. I had never liked water or seltzer before, but after a few weeks I found that my taste buds adapted and that I loved water. I also found that natural foods like fruit taste sweeter when you aren’t overwhelming your taste buds with sugar and artificial chemicals. In fact, when I tasted an applesauce recently, I rejected it because I could taste the high fructose corn syrup (it was the #2 ingredient). I have also switched to more natural versions of products such as ketchup. Leading ketchup brands contain high fructose corn syrup as well. I learned that over time, your taste buds will learn to prefer more natural food.