For most of 2016 I ignored the pesky ten pounds I’d put on when I stopped my long-established routine of stepping onto the bathroom scale every morning. I can’t remember exactly why or when I abandoned the one weight-management habit that seemed to work; but I’m guessing the extra pounds were payback for the smug attitude I had developed when the same number flashed up at me every morning for years. It wasn’t until last fall when my favorite jeans refused to zip that I was forced to acknowledge the expansion of my waistline and thighs. I’ll admit to being a bit dejected at first. But once I got over the blow to my ego, I wasn’t worried. I knew I could take it off easily. After all, it was only ten pounds. But since I wasn’t feeling my diet mojo last fall, I opted for a new pair of curvy cut jeans and set my sights on slimming down in the new year.
I was more than ready by New Year’s Day to jump into a diet and get that annoying, now fifteen pounds, off my bones. Yes, it’s not a typo, as an added show of confidence in my dieting skills I had packed on an extra five pounds over the holidays. My sister, Sandy, is a Beachbody coach and came to my rescue with a weight-loss program based on a balanced diet and strict adherence to portion control. She mentioned eating clean but it didn’t really click with me at first. It took a few days for me to get the hang of the rules around this new meal plan; but once I did, the results were swift and dare I say, easy. Fifteen pounds gone before I had a chance to get bored with my food choices or hit the dreaded weight-loss wall.
I was thrilled but totally confused. It hadn’t been nearly hard enough. Granted it was only fifteen pounds, and five of them were new pounds, which any experienced dieter knows come off easier. But still, the whole clean eating approach had been simple and I liked the food I was eating. That’s when it hit me; this wasn’t just a weight-loss program, this was what those nutty health-conscious types talked about being a lifestyle.
At first I resisted the idea; I had needed to lose a few pounds and I did. End of story. This trendy clean-eating-no-sugar diet thing was just a means to an end; no need to dive into the healthy living deep end. I had accomplished my goal and it was time to go back to eating whatever I wanted, and as a safe-guard I’d reinstate my daily weigh-in. But the thing I couldn’t shake was that I felt great; cutting out processed food, added sugar and white starchy carbs had most definitely agreed with me. I had more energy, had lost the bloat and never had that miserable too-stuffed-to-move feeling after dinner. That’s when it hit me: I didn’t want to go back to my old way of eating.
So, I didn’t. Stephanie, my daughter, had been dieting with me and had not yet reached her goal weight so I told myself I needed to continue to set a good example for her. Which was true; her willpower takes its cue directly from mine. Remarkably, the longer I ate this way, the less I saw myself going back. That’s not to say I don’t see myself deviating from time to time. It’s well documented that I love ice cream too much to resist it, and what’s TGIT without wine, and it would be impossible to forgo Egg McMuffins or Bojangles Cajun Filet Biscuits completely. I’m thinking a 90/10 approach to clean eating seems like the right fit.
But I still had a problem; I’ve found it disruptive and highly inefficient these last few months when everyone didn’t eat the same food. A temporary inconvenience while someone is on a diet is one thing, but forever? Dinner would have made me crazy if my husband, Tim, hadn’t been so great about fixing his own meal when our “clean menu” didn’t excite him – which was most of the time. But I can’t begin to wrap my head around bigger family gatherings, and then there’s summer. Our guests have come to expect tried and true comfort food, and plenty of yummy, sweet treats. Normally in late April I start stocking up on butter, sugar, sour cream and cheeses of all varieties – you know, the stuff that makes food taste good. I’m already searching for sales on the cases of mayo, barbecue sauce, salad dressings, salsas, and the other condiments needed to get through the summer. And then there’s the endless bags of chips – potato, corn, pita, and tortilla – and boxes of crackers, cookies and popcorn that seem necessary to bridge them from one meal to the next. Let’s face it, it’s processed food overload and very anti-clean eating.
Strangely, each time I step into a grocery store I expect to be drawn back to some of my old favorites, but so far it hasn’t happened. I stroll down the aisles, aimlessly glancing side to side but nothing jumps out at me. I used to love to read labels, priding myself in finding a reduced-fat or lower calorie choice among the relatively high calorie, low nutrition foods that line these shelves. Maybe I’ve just gotten lazy, but I don’t like reading labels anymore. That’s the beauty of buying real, one-ingredient foods; no labels to read, no confusing charts to decipher, no ingredients I can’t pronounce much less understand. I seem to naturally wander out to the perimeter where the food is mostly just food, and start filling my cart.
At this point, there’s no doubt I’m sticking to a clean diet. At least for now. Yeah, it creates some menu challenges, but I’ve been solving problems my whole life. I like feeling healthier. And I’m enjoying helping Steph lose weight and improve her overall fitness. Last week we set up a new Facebook page called – Murray Girls: FIT – to chronicle our fitness adventure. Steph still has some weight to drop and I need more attention on my strength and fitness. We think the accountability of our new page will help us stay on track and who knows, we might find other like-minded people to help motivate us along the way.
When I started this diet, I thought it would be a quick few weeks of depriving myself of enough high-calorie vices to shed a few pounds and then I’d get on with the more exciting work of reinventing myself. I certainly didn’t see myself becoming this wrapped up in improving my overall health and fitness, much less sharing it all publicly. But here I am, three months into my new chapter, and I’m a blogger and healthy living enthusiast. It strikes me as kind of bizarre and I wonder how long it will last. But then I realize this is what my Chapter 3 is all about. Sticking with it a week, a year, or forever really isn’t the point anymore – I’ve done the commitment thing to death. Now it’s about waking up every morning and having the enthusiasm and courage to go where my passion takes me. I think I’m finally starting to get it right.
