The Shed

Sometimes I look at my dog Penny, and think about how good she has it.  At least from a diet perspective.  I feed her a set amount of organic dog food twice a day.  No table scraps, no third meal (or fourth meal – c’mon Taco Bell??). No sneaking in a candy bar or a bag of chips when no one is looking.  No donut at a gas station.  Just organic dog food, twice a day. 

My point is that Penny’s diet is completely in someone else’s hands.  All decision making is removed, and she is forced to eat a proportioned, healthy and organic diet.  What if life were that easy for us humans? 

If I won the lottery, I would gladly hire Katie “The Food Stalker”  to follow me around day and night, and give her full consent to slap the Oreo out of my mouth whenever I had a moment of weakness.  Unfortunately, I am in complete control of whatever I shove in my mouth.  And therein lies the problem. 

 One of the biggest benefits of being a part of BodySHED is the diet side of the equation. Katie expects all BodySHED’ers to do an online food journal.  Every meal and snack is entered, and then Katie “stalks” around everyone’s food journals (hence the nickname) to see what everyone is eating. She then shoots out many many personalized messages,  like a teenager texting their BFF on a new cell phone. 

“Maybe try organic peanut butter rather than Skippy PB?” Katie says.  Okay, I will concede that one.  Organic PB tastes just as good to me, and only has three ingredients – no stuff I can’t pronounce. 

“You should add more vegetables in your diet.  Try to get them in with at least two meals” Katie says. Annoying, but once again I have to admit she is right.  Well played Food Stalker, well played. 

Katie truly has a passion for teaching her clients the RIGHT way to eat.  Her helpful tips not only educate me on the good food options out there, but she also does it in a saleperson-ish way.  “Oatmeal is a good choice for breakfast, but try to switch from instant oatmeal to steel cut oats.  They are cut, not rolled – which makes you feel fuller longer”  Anyone in sales has been through training to use features and benefits… can  you spot the feature and benefit in that statement?  

 Spencer “Nickname TBD” made an interesting comment while wrapping up the Alumni BodySHED last Tuesday.  “Now comes the hard part… making good food choices the rest of the day today”.  YOU THINK THAT IS THE HARD PART???  You just finished kicking my butt up and down the hallway for the past hour.  All my articles of clothing are soaked in sweat, and my heart rate monitor is flashing 978 kcal burned in 60 minutes… and this ISN’T the hard part?  Driving home, I realize that Spencer is right.  Exercise is great for keeping the body young, and most of my aches and pains go away when I am consistently exercising.  But it seems that the key to long term weight loss is a combination of daily exercise and healthy clean eating, with an emphasis on the latter. 

I have been asked to keep a food journal at other boot camps.  Some trainers ask to see them, other’s don’t.  I could usually wear down a trainer by “forgetting to journal” enough times until they gave up.  This technique doesn’t work on Katie.  It seems to only move me closer on her radar.  

Everyone agrees that the key to weight loss and maintenance is using a food journal.  I am just not used to someone picking up my journal and asking me “what’s up with you eating pizza for lunch and dinner??” I really don’t have an answer for that question.  I tried to convince her that it was “National Pizza Day”; unfortunately she didn’t believe me. 

Interestingly enough, Katie helped me shake my lifelong sugar habit.  I can’t explain how it happened, or exactly when.  I know it was some time last summer when I took BodySHED for the first time.  Katie immediately noticed that I had quiet a few sugary items in my daily online food journal.  In no particular order she inquired, noted, cajoled, harassed, harangued, persuaded and demanded that I break the habit.  Somehow it worked!  I am not saying I still don’t enjoy a candy bar here or there… but I no longer “have” to have it.  And weeks can go by before I realize I haven’t had a donut – used to be a daily occurrence. 

Making lifelong food changes is the only way to be successful with weight loss. Small changes here and there add up to big changes in the long run.  Unless your name is “Penny”, it is up to you to decide what goes in your body every meal!