Mind, Body, Spirit - May 2017

D.I.E.T.: Change Your Outlook For Optimum Health

Feeling fluffy?  Forget traditional dieting this summer and try a general lifestyle change instead.  
- by Christina Richardson, PhD

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There are literally thousands of dieting books, programs, supplements and plans for the dieting consumer to choose from. All of these are part of the $60 billion-dollar diet industry. If there are so many plans and gurus and ideas being presented why are more than a third of us so fluffy? I prefer the word fluffy to obese. Obese sounds judgmental and insurmountable.
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Food is the reason for the fluffiness not related to a health issue. We have to eat; we love to eat. We are bombarded with advertising and encouraged to eat. Eating is social, cultural and what keeps us going. It is the overdoing and making the wrong choices or eating too much of a good thing that does us in.

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Tips 2 and 4: Move more and enlist the help of friends

Five Tips for Healthy Summer Eating:

Tip 1. Eat natural food instead of processed.

1. Eat as close to natural as possible, choosing salads and foods from the garden and farmer’s market with a high water content. Watermelon and leafy greens are wonderful. When you eat foods with a high fat content — protein or carbohydrates — it takes energy to digest and body temperature rises.

2.  Eat less than you do in the winter — you need less fuel to keep your body temperature in balance. Graze throughout the day. Make your regular three meals a day six smaller ones. Think about what your body needs today. Savor what you eat and do not give up what you love. Eat a few French fries, not an entire serving. Deprivation just makes you want something more.
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3.  Move more by parking your car further away from your destination. Take a morning walk. Avoid exercising in the middle of the day. Do a class with friends in yoga or at the gym. Enjoy!

4.  Enlist your friends to help you stay on track. Ask them to join you in eating close to natural, eating less and moving more. No matter what task we set out for ourselves, we accomplish more with a little help from our friends. Some years ago I read the transcript of a sermon given by Dr. Robert McNeish, pastor of the Northminster Presbyterian Church in Resistertown, Maryland. In 1972 He used the example of geese flying in formation to show how people can work together.

My favorite line is, “The geese flying in formation make loud honking noises, called contact calls, to help them stay together.” Pastor McNeish’s lesson was that we need to make sure that our honking is encouraging, supportive and that it brings out our best. Here is a video based on McNeish’s sermon.
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5.  Remember that tomorrow is another day. Every day is a day to begin again. Stay away from the weight scales. Every day jot down how your body feels. Diets do not work. Lifestyle changes do.