03/11/2025
EVEN TOO MUCH HEALTHY FOOD CAN MAKE YOU GAIN WEIGHT
I’m on a journey to follow my own advice. Read on if you want to come along.
I use a visual with clients that shows plates of increasing size that hold healthy foods—and increasingly larger calorie counts. Sadly, I don’t need as much food as a young construction worker.
Step #6 in my book, Wellness is More Than Weight (Amazon), emphasizes “Eat Only as Much as You Need.” The keyword here is “need.”
I often remind clients that it takes about 20 minutes for the brain to register fullness. If I feel unsatisfied after a meal, I check in with myself 20 minutes later and often find I'm perfectly content. Even better, I don’t have that uncomfortably full feeling. Maybe I do follow my own advice…sometimes!
I was resistant to tracking calories, but research shows those who log their food often succeed more. It provides valuable feedback on what fits or exceeds my needs.
I encourage my reluctant clients to at least try looking at their calories for a few days to see what they learn. It can be very eye-opening.
I tried to make it easy for people to get the right quantity of food by including a sample meal plan in my book. The plan is based on the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in research supporting its benefits for various health issues. It emphasizes variety, which is crucial for meeting our nutritional needs.
Have you ever said, “My eyes were bigger than my stomach”? Unfortunately, that can lead to bigger bodies. What will you tell yourself the next time you’re tempted to have a second or third helping?
“We need to not let food master us and take the throne of our lives. We need to make food submit to us, rather than us submitting to food.” —Lisa Bedrick
