Eating naturally

I’ve been slacking on my 30 Days of Self Love posts — and I have only myself to blame. The topics have all been so meaty and meaningful that I want to devote plenty of time to my reflections … but  then I end up not getting it done at all.

Such was the case with Tina’s Thursday post, all about eating naturally.

Tina writes:

“I knew my body deserved respect. I wanted to care for the body God had given me. It could do so much for me by surviving years of binging, enduring months of brutal competition prep workouts, carrying a child, and beyond. Why should I not give it my best? And wouldn’t it make sense that the best I could give my body came in the form of the foods God gave us?

That was how I personally (began) to understand the importance of giving my body the best quality and choosing the apple over the 100 calorie pack every time.”

Those are, indeed, some weighty thoughts. I love that point of view … and I wish I could say it was mine. But I’m not there yet.

Tina asked if we’ve experienced any shifts in the way we view food.

I’d love to say that I have. And it’s true … to a point. I’ve gone from eating an entire box of Hamburger Helper or macaroni and cheese at one sitting to sticking to what a recipe says is a serving. (Most of the time. I sometimes still have seconds.)

I spent two-plus years on the Atkins Diet, consuming massive amounts of cheese, meat and eggs (deviled are my favorite). And I lost 100+ pounds on Atkins.

I’ve been counting Weight Watchers Points off and on for more years than I can count. (I think I began in 2007.) I still haven’t gotten to my goal weight … but then again, I’m not a very good WW member. I don’t track my food religiously, or even manage to stay OP every day.

Now I’ve started the CarbLovers Diet, which I think is like “the best of” WW. It encourages you to eat the whole foods WW labels “filling foods” (oats, fruit, veggies, chicken, beans) … and because those pesky 100-calorie packs aren’t on the list of approved foods, I’m doing it. (On WW, I tend to save my Points for junk food.)

Hmm … maybe my view of food has shifted toward where I want it to go, at least a little bit. That’s good to know.

Still, I struggle more than I’d like. I continually let one not-great choice snowball into a whole day (or weekend). I have trouble saying no to the temptation of baked goods. I succumb to the siren call of the drive-thru.

So in that way, my view of food has remained constant. If I could figure out what drives me to fall back into those bad habits, maybe I could finally make a lasting change.

Until then, I’ll try to keep in mind a thought Tina retweeted on Twitter today:

“How well you take care of yourself is directly related to how much you love yourself. Feed your body LOVE.”

Love this quote. I think I’ll make a dozen sticky notes with this saying on them and post them all over the kitchen (and in my cubicle at work). Something’s gotta work!