My Journey With Weight Loss – My Non-Diet

This week I knew I was going to have some challenges. Because of my blood tests on Wednesday I knew I wasn’t going to get my morning walk done. However, the day went quite south and the only walking I did that day was 1 hour with the dog. I had ramped my walking up on Monday and Tuesday to make up for the planned missed walk and then did some extra Thursday and Friday to make up for the 2nd missed walk. End result was by today I had done my usual time and distance for the week. Yes, I could have just let that day go but I am on such a roll with my training I wanted to keep going.

I thought I would talk about what I eat. Before I started on this life changing journey I usually only had 1 meal a day and normally it would be from a restaurant. Now I have 3 meals every day and probably eat more than what I had previously. The difference is in what I eat as now it is mainly healthy choices.

Before I do my first workout of the day I always eat breakfast. I have a list of go to choices such as fiber cereal, fruit with plain yogurt, rolled oats or an egg. Sundays we sleep in a bit and then enjoy a nice breakfast which can be pancakes, french toast or sometimes a ham, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich (homemade and using whole wheat English muffins which are awesome). I keep everything as healthy as possible and even make whole wheat waffles which turn out great. I’ve learn it is really about eating balanced meals whenever possible.

Lunch is always hard for me because I don’t necessarily feel like eating but I know I need to have something as I do a workout after lunch (note I read an article saying you may lose more weight by exercising before meals but I think it would drop my glucose too much as I do very long workouts). I now lean towards a light lunch such as an apple with cheese, toast with peanut butter or my favourite which is a spinach and feta salad. I try to balance my lunch with what I had for breakfast to make sure everything is well rounded.

For dinner I make sure to have a protein, carb and lots of vegetables. Fortunately I like most vegetables but admit I prefer them to be quite crisp (some I just like to have raw). Yes, I eat red meat at least once a week but more often it is chicken or pork. I’m also trying to make sure that I have fish as often as I can. As for the carbs, I love quinoa and eat it frequently. I also enjoy brown rice (though it takes forever to cook) and maybe once a week I’ll have potatoes (because of the potassium content and my brother’s diet they have to go through a process before cooking them). I’m always conscious of choosing healthy carbs and they make up a small portion of my plate.

As for snacking I try to avoid it and just eat meals at regular intervals. I do admit especially on training days I can feel hungry part way through the afternoon. I keep a bag of roasted almonds handy so when I feel the need to have a snack I just grab a few. They are a great source of both protein and fiber and they do the trick every time.

As you can see, I don’t diet. I haven’t banned any food from my lifestyle, I just make proper choices and those choices have helped me lose 94 lbs. Ok, that and walking 100+ km each week. So keep the word diet out of your head and replace it with healthy choices so that you can sustain a healthy lifestyle.