Food – What to Eat – Part 1 – Breakfast

One of the most frequently asked questions is, “What do you eat?” Before discussing this topic at some length, there are a few statements that are important to be made.

*”Diets” simply do not work; the very nature of the word implies the “beginning” and an “end” to a way of eating that has, historically, been unhealthy.

* A lifestyle change is needed to successfully lose weight and keep it off.

* Changing your lifestyle is fun, exciting, rewarding and an exploration into new and heightened flavors, an adventure to new lands through various cuisines that allow for choices that are healthier and more nutritionally sound. It’s all in how you adjust your mind to a positive approach!

* The way I begin to counsel someone is to ask them to create a list of the foods they would normally eat if calories were of no concern. This provides a starting point and allows me to see where their tastes lie. None of us are the same and we must study this and make choices together to be successful.

* Next, we examine those choices and let them guide us in making comparable flavor choices while instituting better preparation choices and learning how to substitute and alter some of the key ingredients that can easily be exchanged for healthier components.

* Following success in changing our thought process about food and evaluating our willingness to look inward to the root of our behaviors, we can move forward in developing and instituting a plan to begin the most rewarding journey of a lifetime.

* Intuitive eating is introduced to assist in making the total transition and is a crucial component for a successful long-term lifestyle change.

*Basically, three meals and three snacks seem to be the choice of many of us who have experienced long term success. Here are a few things you may find helpful.

-Calories in, minus calories used, equal your weight loss/gain.

-Caloric intake must be regulated according to the amount of exercise a person is performing.

-My success was achieved with approximately 1,400 to 1,500 calories a day with moderate exercise.

* My meals were usually kept between 300 to 500 calories so that total meal calories were 1,200 throughout the day for my three meals.

* My snacks were usually kept between 100 to 150 calories so that total snack calories were 300 daily for my three snacks.

* These figures could fluctuate somewhat so that total calories remained between 1,400 to 1,500 calories.

* I lost 137 pounds, which averaged 1.67 pounds per week. There were weeks I lost nothing and a few I gained. Losing nothing is still winning! The weight gained was not put on overnight; it should take a respectable amount of time to lose it as well.

-Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day! This meal starts your metabolism, which enables your body to begin burning calories. It provides the nutrition to stimulate your thought processes and the stamina to begin your day energized and ready for action!