It’s been almost three months now since I started working out and trying to get looking as good as I did back in college (the “good old days”).  One of the things I’ve learned – and something I’ve really known all along – is that what you put into your body is as important as what you do with your body.  Very few people would know it by looking at me, but throughout most of my college and 20’s I was a 99% vegetarian (I occasionally had chicken and turkey, but very rarely).  I actually enjoyed the food – and to this day I eat very little red meat.  My meat of choice is chicken and turkey – good sources of protein I might add.

However, the last thing I’m going to do is sit here and tell you that you have to be a vegetarian to get healthy, or you shouldn’t eat your steak or whatever food you enjoy.  Diets are nothing more than ways to make you feel miserable and set you up for certain failure.  We all remember the Atkins Diet right?  Eat no carbohydrates (no bread, potatoes, pasta etc.) and stuff all the meat you want into your mouth.  First of all – that just sounds disgusting.  Second, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out all that meat isn’t good for you.  Third, I don’t know about you – but no pasta? Forget it!  Not for this guy!  Julia Child said it best when she said “The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook”. 

What I have learned in my journey so far is that the problem with most American diets is that we don’t know when to say when.  We eat delicious, hearty meals – three times a day!  The problem isn’t with what we are eating (for the most part), it’s with how much we are eating.

I’ll be the first one to stand up and say “Yep, that’s me!”  Of course my problem wasn’t that I was eating six-course meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner; my problem was that I was eating way too much throughout the day.  Cereal bars, peanut butter crackers, cookies, chips – anything pre-packaged and ready to go and I was all on it.  It’s not that you can’t enjoy a cereal bar or some cookies – it’s that you can’t enjoy them every day, multiple times per day.

We’re all in such a rush nowadays.  We all work longer and harder than our parents and grandparents did, and most of us wouldn’t know what a home cooked meal was.  We swing by to see the Colonel at Kentucky Friend Chicken and pick up a bucket of fried chicken and a box of biscuits and say “Bon Appetite!” Sure, our bodies think it’s delicious – and trust me, KFC now and then is a great treat – but when it becomes our regular dinner several times a month (or even a week) that is where the problem is at.

Of course when you start exercising – and start to see your body change – your whole mindset is going to change.  I used to go to Subway for lunch and have a turkey or chicken footlong sub on wheat bread.  No cheese, no mayo – but all the vegetables.  Yes, this is a great meal and its very healthy considering the other alternatives out there.  I would recommend Subway to anyone over McDonald’s or Burger King in a heartbeat.  However, as I started working out more and getting my body in shape I found my mindset changing.  No longer was I wanting a footlong – now I was content with a 6” sub (still no mayo or cheese, and still plenty of vegs) and some baked chips.  I was adding the baked chips to my diet, but getting rid of some of the sub.  I was seeing a net loss of about 200 calories in total and I was feeling full. 

Around the house as well I stopped eating peanut butter crackers in the evening and started eating more bananas and apples.  Instead of the two servings of baked chicken breast, I found myself feeling full after just one.  I started craving more vegetables – I just love steamed broccoli and corn – and found myself not so interested in the onion rings or meatballs so much anymore.

Again, it’s not that I am depriving myself of these foods – it’s that my mindset and appetite has changed.  It is simply amazing what a little bit of exercise can do for you.  I no longer reach for the cookies for a snack, I save them for a special treat!

The bottom line is you really can eat what you want.  If you like coconut cream pie (and I do!) then you can have it.  You should have it.  However, once you get into the fitness mindset you will find that you just don’t want it as often.  It really does become that special treat you have now and then.  You will find that your body tells you “no pie tonight, I’m full!” and you won’t even miss it.

So to all of you out there who are in the same boat as I am – keep at it!  Keep exercising and keep lifting those weights and running those miles.  You are going to find out soon (if you haven’t already) once you make it past the first few hurdles your body is going to go into auto-pilot mode and the changes you have been craving are going to come natural.

Best part about it – you’ll still enjoy that ice cream waffle cone from the ice cream parlor this summer and you won’t feel one bit guilty about it!

Photo Credit: Rakka via Flickr.

Tags: cravings, eating, food