Day 219 The Amazing Cheese Diet and Keep It Simple, Simple, Simple

Day 219

The Amazing Cheese Diet and Keep It Simple, Simple, Simple

My portion of the program tonight at the “Lose To Win” Seminar was all about staying on track. I talked about motivating thoughts, keeping your goals in sight, not letting excuses or rationalizations creep back in, and much more. One of the big ideas that I've really grasped during the last 219 days is the whole good choices vs. bad choices and the resulting consequences of each. Fully understanding the rewards of consistency is also a major part of my success. I encouraged the audience to day dream about their future, visualize where you want to be, and make the good choices with consistency and honest responsibility, and you will arrive.

Our daily lives are not always perfect. Sometimes we have happenings that upset our “harmony.” These things that insist on rocking our boat can easily send us over board if we're not careful. I still occasionally react in a negative way under stress. I don't ever do it to the degree I once did, but I still have grabbed something and stuffed it in my mouth, not because I was hungry, but because I was stressed. The consequence of such an action is having less calories for dinner later or zero calories for a late snack. I don't allow rumblings in my harmony to throw me completely off course anymore because I immediately identify what I'm doing while I'm doing it. Deciding if we're eating for the right or wrong reasons is really pretty simple if you're completely honest with yourself. Emotional eating can still be a very tough cookie to crack, but the key is this: Go ahead and eat something, just make sure it's within your calorie budget for the day. And if you go over, realize it's not the end of the world. One bad day doesn't negate your entire progress, but believing it does will. That was always my problem in the past. I'd have a meltdown and eat a pint of ice cream in one sitting, then I would beat myself up over it to the point of giving up. That was it, done. Maybe next time I'll be able to do it. You can't give up that easy, this is too important!

Before I spoke tonight, Fitness and Life Coach Melissa Walden was taking questions from the audience. One nice lady asked a question about cheese and mentioned that she misses cheese. Misses cheese? I thought, wait a second, did I miss the memo? Can you not lose weight and still enjoy cheese? I addressed her directly during my speaking time. I told her to eat cheese! I had a grilled cheese and soup for lunch today. I eat cheese all the time. I've had cheese omelets, cheese on pizza, block cheddar on crackers, cheese on my green beans, I've had some port wine cheese ball, I've even had cheese dip and tortilla chips! It's all about portion control. I don't cut a half pound of sharp cheddar and grab a sleeve of crackers and go to town like I use to, but I do and will continue to make cheese a regular part of my foods. I've lost 146 pounds so far with the attitude that hardly anything is off limits. I do avoid a few things, just because I see them as a really bad calorie value, like real butter and real mayonnaise, but for the most part I really do eat anything I want. Cheese is a wonderful thing! Eat cheese and lose weight! Yes you can!!

The number one advice I can give someone is: Keep it simple. If you read everything that comes your way about how to lose weight and which way works best, you're going to read some things that conflict. Keep it simple. Count your calories and get your exercise. Keep a food log if you want, I don't anymore, but you can. Keep it simple. Don't try to make it difficult by worrying about every single bite you put in your mouth. How many carbs did it have? How many fat grams? Who cares. How many calories? That's the question I ask. Simple. Never deprive yourself of your favorite foods. Make them work in regular portions. If you like chocolate, by golly eat chocolate! I do! Not all the time mind you, and when I do it's in controlled portions, but I do! You can make losing weight extremely difficult and confusing. You can make it completely restrictive and absolutely zero fun, and if you do, I'll bet you will not reach your goal. Ultimately the goal is to be able to exist in everyday life and handle food in a responsible way. To learn how, we have to practice on real food in everyday life situations. It's OK to love food. That's right, it's OK to love food. My favorite channel is the Food Network. I love food. But I'm in control now. Food doesn't control me anymore. I'm the one who makes the good choices, I'm the one that treats food responsibly, I'm the one. But I still love food. Remember what I've said many times: Food is not the enemy here. We're our own worst enemy. Food is our friend. When we make a relationship with food a better one, a responsible one, a sensible one, and by sensible I mean a couple of cookies, not the whole bag, I mean a couple of slices of that pizza, not the whole thing, I mean a real honest serving of ice cream, not a whole half gallon, when we do this and realize that all of the foods we obsessed over in the past can still be a part of our thinner lives, then we've made a breakthrough. Our health will be better or worse because of the decisions we make with food and exercise. Make those decisions simple ones and save yourself a lot of confusion and trouble.

Courtney and I are heading out to the trail for a fast late night 5K. That's right, 3.2 miles! I feel like I could do a 10K tonight, but for the sake of time management, we'll stick with a 5K. It's so good to see so many out walking the trail these days. The increased numbers are really amazing. Feels good doesn't it? Thank you for reading. Good night and...

Good Choices,
Sean