no such thing as a free lunch...

hey friends!

um... can i give a quick shoutout to all the awesome responses on monday's body torture post?

i hate how natural it is for self-hate to slip out. but let's do what we can to stop it, ok? i don't want our daughters and sons to grow up thinking they need to beat their bodies into submission to wear a size 2/8/12/20 or run 10 miles. deal?

i'm a tired puppy today - i did a swim workout this morning with a friend, who just so happens to be training for a half-ironman triathalon!

i probably should have considered that fact before the workout, but i am so proud i did it! he kicked my butt! don't feel too bad for me, though - he's pretty darn sexy :)

ahem. movin' right along!

i have a feeling some people might not like my thoughts today.

you know those diet articles that tell you the few, measly calories you're allowed, then list the "free food" you can have in addition? the food that doesn't count or doesn't matter?

there is no such thing as a free food.

i know it sucks, but you can't eat endless amounts of anything. no, seriously - nothing.

i don't care what you've read, what calorie count you know, or what your friend did to lose 10 pounds. it's not healthy, and it doesn't solve anything.

thinking you can eat something "free" causes problems. there are usually two reasons we rely on a guilt-free food: we're dieting and emotionally eating.

diets suck, first of all... but that's another post.

look, sometimes we do crazy things to lose weight... like believing we can eat without consequence. this would be great, except there's no such thing as a calorie-free food. other than water.

there are plenty of foods naturally low in calories like carrots, melon, raspberries, etc, but these things do have calories. when we think something is "free," we tend to go all out and pack away a fair amount... which kinda defeats the purpose of low-calorie, right?

let's just make one thing clear: gnawing on celery or sugar-free jello isn't going to give you an awesome bikini body. and don't even get me started on those no-cal noodles!

you're just going to be unsatisfied, still hungry, and move on to something else. probably a lot of somethings. and all those little bites you keep taking of "free food" along the way will just add up and keep you farther from your goals.

do you just feel like eating?

sometimes, we aren't hungry, but we still want a little something. we just need to be munching.

we feel like we've eaten enough already, so we search for consequence-free snacks. we want them on our tongue, but not our hips.

the problem? we aren't dealing with why we're munching. until we ask ourselves the hard questions, we won't be able to conquer the snack habit (like my gum chewing addiction).

we eat for all sorts of reasons: boredom, stress, loneliness, sadness... but there isn't enough food in the world to fix those problems. you have to deal with the heart before you can stay out of the kitchen. and no amount of grapes can do that for you.

whether you're trying to lose weight or try to cope, don't deprive yourself.

source.

if you're toning up (or anytime!), eating real, natural foods is the way to go. you don't need diet food - you deserve healthy food! eat a snack that will satisfy you and encourage you to stick with your new, healthier lifestyle.

if you're emotional, put the snack down and let yourself deal. haven't you been carrying that burden long enough? how many carrots/cookies will it take before you're ready?

something else to consider:

i am definitely a believer that food brings quality of life. what would a day be without a juicy, ripe apple, or a piece of dark chocolate?

but everything you eat should matter to you. it's super easy to tack on something here or there and not even notice you're eating it, but why do that? if you don't love it or it doesn't do something for your health, do you really want to mindlessly consume it?

source.

do you mindlessly...:

- dump creamer in your coffee?

- snack on fruit all day long?

- take bites off other peoples' plates?

- pop breath mints?

- eat in front of the computer?

- grab a few handfuls from the candy bowl?

for example, it totally took me by surprise to learn just how much creamer i actually used to use! for as much as i dumped in, i could have had a bowl of ben & jerry's. i didn't even notice the creamer! after i saw that, i felt cheated, wanted some ben & jerry's, and switched to drinking coffee black.

if creamer rocks your boat, then by all means, keep it up! just own up to it.

it frustrates me so much when people say they can't lose weight or barely eat anything, but they totally overlook their daily starbucks habit or the cookies they gobbled at the office copier. if those things make you happy, then do them, but most of us do them without realizing it... and we don't really even like them that much. think when you eat! 

let's get real.

source.

it's just a snack, i know, but when i can't turn on the TV or walk in the grocery store without being attacked by all this diet crap, i get frustrated.

if it's calorie-free, what's the point? food has calories for a reason - it gives us energy and delivers vital nutrients to our bodies. no-cal food is just... chemically-infused air. it does nothing for you except support a bad habit and a bad body-image.

i deserve good food, darn it! and you do, too. let's stop focusing on what we shouldn't be eating and start focusing on what we really want - healthy, strong bodies and happy, long lives. don't they require healthy fuel?

your thoughts?

-rebekah