My advice is to take a scientific approach. And eat lunch!
We are a heap of habits wrapped up in a shell of set-backs! How do we re-set? Why do my default habits keep calling me back to the same foods, the same patterns of eating, the same schedule? What does it take for me to break through?
Well, the theory is that it takes a minimum of twenty one days to break an old habit and replace it with a new one. Of course your psyche is going to fight you this week, because you are only seven to ten days in; this is the hardest part of making a behaviour change; stick with it. Rely on discipline, graft, science – do not, yet, engage your wonderfully creative brain, that can come up with endless ways to make this meal or this day an exception to the new rule. JUST FOLLOW YOUR PLAN.
If you have embraced the Mediterranean way of eating, that I sampled in my e-book Say NO to Menopause Weight Gain, then you are well on your way to success AS LONG AS you follow it prescriptively. Science backs-up this approach to eating, as being one of the most beneficial for longevity and long-term weight maintenance. Science also backs up the notion that if you follow a plan, relentlessly, for three weeks, that you have the makings of a new habit. Science further, sadly, supports the notion that your current trend, weight-wise, as a member of the population at mid-life, is towards overweight – unless you do something about it. NOW!
Take heed of the science and trust in it. You do not, right now, this week, need to question it and go back to doubting your ability to lose the weight that has stuck so rigidly to your frame for so long. You will not succeed by questioning every theory and proving to yourself how you are an exception to every rule. You need to trust the simple science of calorie restriction for weight loss – it needs not be more complicated than this. Other plans may have worked for you, momentarily, in the past, but here you are, at mid-life, wanting to lose the weight for good this time – wanting to celebrate an end to the cycle of dieting you have engaged in for years. This is what I want to support you in here.
Eat as well as you can manage and enjoy good food; is my approach. Simplify. Plan and shop for balanced meals and prepare as much in advance as possible. Follow my Mediterranean take, as per my e-book and you will have the bones of your plan sorted over the next three days.
LUNCH
When you find yourself floundering, somewhat, regarding motivation, prioritising your needs and fitting preparation into your schedule, make a start with lunch. Focus you attention here. What do I mean? Well, from years of one-to-one coaching on this I can attest to the fact that having a vague notion of what lunch might entail is where the day can suddenly go pear-shaped! This is the fulcrum of your day’s eating.
BREAKFAST
We all know the importance of a good breakfast – good does not mean huge! Breakfast can be small, but nutritious and satisfying (such as two small scoops of porridge with blueberries / a half cup of quality muesli with milk and a slice of melon / a slice of whole-wheat bread with peanut butter and banana / two slices of lean bacon or smoked salmon on toast with avocado and tomato).
DINNER
We know that dinner should comprise a carbohydrate, a protein and lots of veg, with a little fat for cooking /dressing /as a sauce. This is not rocket science – it is the stuff of a small steak/salmon darne/tuna steak/ large piece of white fish/chicken breast of meat/fish or vegetarian equivalent. To your plate add a small baked potato/ three baby potatoes/roasted sweet potato wedges/ cup or rice or pasta or quinoa/bulgar wheat/ noodles and more vegetables than you can shake an average-sized stick at! Follow a recipe for stir-fry/pasta sauce/ French dish to make a culinary experience of it, but the principles are the same.
Quality and quantity. Balance and nutrition. Taste and enjoyment.
As for lunch – if lunch does not form the focus of the middle of your day’s eating, you will never master the good habits around three meals per day that I talk of, with hunger a feature in between – and thus the weight-loss I am promising you here, in these posts, over these weeks of January.
My approach has always been that of level-loading throughout the day. Level-loading what? Blood glucose; triglycerides; energy; satisfaction; hunger; mood; emotions; mental acuity: these are all linked. There is no mystery to the misery of starvation dieting. When you’re hungry; you’re moody. Hangry anyone? If you expect to be sane, relatively hungry and still motivated to chop, cook and eat well at dinner-time, then you will need to have fuelled your body adequately at lunchtime.
Carbohydrates are easy to find when out and about during the day (crackers/bread/pastries /treats/smoothies/drinks) but will lead to high blood glucose levels, followed by mid-afternoon dips and what I have called ‘flashpoints’ over the years – this is when I see people fall into the vending-machine trap. Once the initial Monday-morning discipline has subsided and the motivation to stay on track wanes, these can become almost daily ‘flash-points’.
Fats satisfy instantly; think chocolate, cream, ice-cream; as they leave the stomach the slowest of all nutrients and so appear seriously tempting when we become too hungry and begin to crave – we tend not to crave high-fibre veg!
Protein takes quite a while for the body to digest fully and so tends to satisfy the longest. While we may not get the quick-hit and spike in blood glucose as from a simple carbohydrate; nor the instant satisfaction (and ‘mouth-feel’) of a high-fat food; protein, in particular, if combined with carbs and some fat, can satisfy for hours, while producing no sugar spike and thus no consequent cravings.
LUNCH
Lunch needs to feature a protein component, along with fat and carbohydrate. I am promoting lunch to the most important meal of the day for January, while you are forming your new eating habits. Some lunch ideas might be; vegetable soup, whole-wheat bread and cheese or leftover dinner of noodles, salmon, veg or three-bean salad with rice and salad etc. You get the gist. Make is tasty, warm and nutritious for January. Make it something to look forward to. Make it worthy of your full-on attention. Make is simple.
Make it the night before!!
Your success may hinge on it.
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