Myths about eating “less”

Sometimes I can talk like I really know what I’m talking about. Yesterday was one of those times. I was even impressing myself, until the very end when I started to lose my train of thought and stutter. *I’m thinking I’m developing a stutter problem*

In light of yesterday’s post and all my cooking Sunday, I had a little more confidence with my knowledge and held onto it while talking with a co worker. This co worker is battling her weight and she declared to me and another co worker that she was going to lose weight! And by telling us, it was her way of holding herself accountable, whereas before she would keep it to herself and fail.

I’ve heard her talking before with other co workers a month or so ago, but I sat back and listened to their ‘advice’, cringing as they were steering her in the wrong direction. Despite my frequent lack of eating enough throughout my day, I know what I’m supposed to do. I’ve had personal trainers over the years, not to mention G-man who is constantly researching exercise and eating the proper amount of calories, so I have a lot of knowledge on the subject.

So when she made her declaration, I asked her what she planned to do. “EAT LESS!” was her answer. This made me nervous, so I asked her how less? And that’s when she said 1,000 calories a day. 1,000 calories a day. That is too low!

I really think this is the common myth women believe. That by consuming an awfully low amount of calories that it will take the weight off, and its just not true! Should you eat less? of course! But dropping to such a low amount is going to put your body in, ‘hold tight to that fat’ mode! Especially if you’re going to start incorporating exercise in your life. You need that fuel. I think this is a big reason women get so discouraged and stop working at it, because they’re not seeing the results they expected.

We got to talking about what she could do. I showed her the pictures from my cook fest and it got her all excited of the possibility. She even wants to pay me to cook it all for her. {if anyone can come up with my price, I’m up for suggestions} but I explained to her the importance of eating enough, especially if she starts to workout, drinking tons and tons of water and keeping it healthy.

I’m not sure if you thought avoiding eating until dinner was the way to lose weight. Or that by eating considerably ‘less’ and working out would burn all that fat. Or that weight training will add bulk when you’re wanting to lose the weight, but let me tell you. Starving yourself daily is not the way to go..working out requires you to eat more (of the right foods) to fuel that body and get the burn to work on the fat..and weight training will help you lose weight. It won’t bulk you up but help burn the fat more and lean you down.

Yes, muscle weighs more than fat but its m-u-s-c-l-e.

Am I professional? No. But I’ve maintained this physique for the past 10 years

Do I make the right dinner choices all the time? No, but even when I wasn’t eating enough food, I was still always eating healthy foods. Nothing processed. Veggies, sweet potatoes and chicken only. This is my current routine with my eating.

Breakfast
2 cups of coffee (1 level spoon of sugar and 1/2 and 1/2)
steel cut oats w/fresh fruit and flaxseed sprinkled on top w/brown sugar and a dash of milk

Mid morning snack
apple slices w/all natural peanut butter (every single day for the past 9 months)

Lunch
(this week) sweet potato wraps
{or}
a salad or chicken leftovers
next week I’m making this for lunches (and let me tell you, its delicious!)

Mid afternoon snack
(if I get hungry)
plain cottage cheese w/pretzel crisps
{or}
a piece of chocolate dipped in peanut butter (I have this obsession w/peanut butter)

Dinner
Chicken/fish/shrimp and veggies

Drinking close to a gallon of water every single day and I get 2-4 workouts in a week. Depending on my mood.

But that’s it. It sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t. I hope I helped my co worker. I really want her to succeed and feel better about herself, and hopefully this post can help someone else see the realities of what it takes.

What myths have you been told about losing weight?

Do you have a tried and true way you maintain your figure?


*remember, I’m not a professional. Only offering suggestions of what’s worked for me and what I’ve found over the years to be effective.

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