Thursday, June 19, 2014

You're Doing It Wrong: Dieting {A Three Things Thursday post}

I've been doing something novel lately. I've been eating eggs.

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Like the whole egg - yolk and all.


Not too long ago, it was rare for me to eat a whole egg much less two as I do now. I thought it was better, because it was lower calorie, to just eat the egg whites. I would scramble them with some veggies and top it with low-fat cheese, making a main dish breakfast that came in under 100 calories. By doing that, I was able to save "room" (calorie-wise) for things like bread, hash browns or turkey bacon.

But since I've transitioned, for at least the time being, to a lower carb and higher fat diet, I'm skipping the bread and letting myself have the higher calorie whole egg times two, along with some full-fat cheese and veggies. The product is similar but tastes much better and offers a more impressive nutritional profile. {Read here, here and here.}

Eating just egg whites, a habit I developed while a Weight Watchers participant, wasn't terribly bad but I'm not sure it was terribly good. It was a means (diet) to an end (weight loss) but there are better ways to achieve the goal, at least from the way I see it.

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Here's when to know you need to reconsider your means:

1. Cover it up. I sort of cringe every time I think of post I wrote a couple years back. I was sharing hot chocolate "recipes" for the winter season, and each variation consisted of a packet of diet hot chocolate and an extract - peppermint, vanilla, almond. While peppermint extract does add a festive flair to hot chocolate, the taste wasn't the only reason I was adding it. The truth was - and still is - that diet hot chocolate does not taste good. In fact, it tastes bad and the only way to drink it with some satisfaction is to doctor it. I did it, though, because it was 25 calories per packet compared to 80 or 110 calories for more traditional versions.

If the diet food you are eating requires help to taste good, do not eat it. Find a better, more palatable option or find another way to cut calories such as a smaller portion.

2. Health binge. One of my Weight Watcher leader's favorite lines was, "No one got fat by eating watermelon." Her motivation was to encourage people to eat fruit and to eat it to satisfaction. She didn't want people to be scared or restrictive. It's probably true but it doesn't mean that you can eat an entire watermelon and still lose weight. Almost any food, no matter how healthy, has an effect on you - whether it's a caloric load or affects your blood glucose level.

3. Add-on. I was in a seminar the other day and someone asked about a pasta found at the store. "White Fiber," it is labeled and the participant wanted to know how it compared to other pastas on the market. The moderator seemed a bit stumped and asked for an email address. Obviously, she had never done Weight Watchers before. When I was on the plan, I would look for the highest fiber foods because the greater the value, the lower in points they were. The theory, I believe, is that higher fiber foods have a lower glycemic index and thus reducing the affect on blood sugar. They are, then, "healthier." However, these "healthier" foods included Fiber One and Gnu bars (which gave me the worst gas possible), VitaTop muffins and SmartTaste pasta. I got more bang for my points buck and felt like I was cheating the system.

The only thing I was cheating was me.

In my lowly opinion, if you need to seek out foods with added vitamins, minerals and other nutritional benefits, then you are most likely cutting corners other places. Example: When I gave up bread, someone asked me about fiber and where I would get it. My answer? Vegetables - and I'd probably get more fiber from them than I would from bread. A sandwich thin, which I also used a lot during WW, has 5 grams of fiber and a few vitamins and minerals. A sweet potato, on the other hand, has 4 grams of fiber, as well as vitamins A and C, calcium and iron. Add a side of broccoli to the potato, and you'll get an additional 3 grams of fiber plus Protein, Thiamin, Pantothenic Acid, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese. I don't need a sandwich thin for fiber if I'm eating enough vegetables.

Now, for my fourth bonus rule: You are doing it wrong if you believe the only way to diet/eat healthy is the way you are doing it. I follow certain guidelines, for the time being, because it works for me and it makes me feel good. It's important to find a way that benefits you.

Tell me: What are the signs of a bad diet?

14 comments:

  1. "I follow certain guidelines, for the time being, because it works for me and it makes me feel good. It's important to find a way that benefits you." <---genius statement right there! Every time someone challenges the way I'm eating (gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, whatever) I always just tell them "this is working for me, it's what makes me feel the best I can".

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    1. I love your response - so much so that I'm going to steal it. I have a friend who almost find it offensive that I say no to candy in the office.

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  2. I just try and eat a good mix of carbs, protein, and fat. I let myself eat treats but I try and only have 1 a day. That works for me! When I limit the treats too much I get in a bad mood and then nobody wants to be around me!! :)

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    1. You? In a bad mood? Don't believe it! It's so important to find what works for you and what makes you happy.

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  3. I've always eaten the whole damn egg because I figured they were the least of my worries. The cookies and crap are where my diet goes to hell. I'm an all or nothing kind of girl so I'm better off if I don't even start with sweets. That's where I go off in a ditch.

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    1. I'm with you! It's why I'm off the sugar almost completely right now (one or two a week). I'm a sucker for the candy jar at work. One piece of chocolate with the coffee turns to two to three ... well, you know.

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  4. I think there's a pretty major sign of a bad diet: You don't like the food you're eating. I'm happiest when I'm eating fresh, in-season food ... even if it's paired with whole eggs, regular cheese, or even *gasp* some creams.

    www.grossgetsfit.com

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    1. I love this point! You have to like what you are eating if you want to keep eating it.

      I recently switched to half & half in my iced coffee and ... wow! The difference is amazing. I'd much rather get good flavor with a bit of the cream than a meh flavor with a half-cup of skim milk!

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  5. I'm skeptical of any sort of diet that requires you to buy their particular food. You know I'm a Weight Watcher, but you don't HAVE to buy their meals, snacks, etc. to lose weight with the program. It's probably been years since I bought a SmartOne meal or dessert. Other plans, however, insist that you need their particular bars/shakes/pre-packaged meals in order to succeed. SCAM.

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    1. AGREE. I had a co-worker who did Nutri-System and, IMO, it was an epic fail. The food was depriving and bad, and she would get her "protein" (per plan) in form of roast beef sandwiches from Arby's. Very weird.

      Confession: I love(d) the bars from WW. I had to watch how much I spent at meetings because I'd stock up. Especially on the pretzel chocolate ones.

      P.S. Thanks for sharing the garlic chicken recipe. I might make it this week!

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  6. Wow, Kim, I'm so impressed by this post. Your eating has really evolved in a great direction! (in my grain-free, vegetable-heavy, add-some-healthy-fat, paleo-eating opinion) I love the way I've been eating (and running, and looking, and feeling) since ditching grains and filling my plate with meat or eggs, vegetables, and healthy fat. So glad to have you on the bandwagon! Have you noticed any changes in how you run, sleep, or feel? Where is your family in this eating journey? I know you and Mark used to eat very differently, but it sounds like your habits may be converging a bit closer to his now.

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    1. I definitely feel better. I'm no longer eating non-stop and, now that I think about it, I am sleeping better. I think people would expect my running to take a hit but I haven't noticed any decline. This past weekend, I experimented with no fuel on a 12-miler and it was the best I've felt in months. I'm almost wondering whether crashes mid-long run were due to taking gels. Overall, I just feel more focused and happier.

      Mark and Miles are not close to the NSNG/paleo bandwagon as I don't think I could convince either to give up pasta. However, Mark is much happier with the inclusion of red meat and higher fat/calorie foods. (And me too!) It's also helped cut down how much sugar is in the house and, subsequently, how much both guys are eating.

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    2. Same thing here with the running -- I forgot to bring fuel for a 3 hour run last weekend and only had one gel that happened to be in my handheld... and it was actually fine! I hadn't had much faith in the "fat burning metabolism" idea until then, but now I wonder... :-)

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  7. The sign for me, that I am doing it wrong, is if I feel bad about anything. I call it cheating...but really, it is living. If I do well 90% of the time, I need to be happy and proud.

    I also don't like any "plan" that requires me to pay money. The exception is WW because they don't have their own food. I have lost weight on WW, but mainly, I am healthy because my "plan" is to eat healthy and exercise. I just don't believe in any hype. "Diets" don't work. Healthy Living does.

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