Tip: Bad Habits Make Dieting a Disaster

I've been browsing through other people's food diaries recently, and I'm astonished at what I've seen. Now, I know my daily diet isn't perfect. Every time I grab a protein bar, I know I'd be better off with a piece of fruit and cheese, or a yogurt, maybe a slice of deli meat or some vegetables. But sometimes we take shortcuts. Sometimes we have a craving that just needs to be satisfied. It's OK to take a shortcut every once in a while, and it's OK to satisfy a craving. But to do it every day? While trying to diet? It just don't work that way. Here are some examples of what I saw:

1. People starving themselves. If you only eat 400 calories a day, you'll quickly lose some weight, but your metabolism with slow down, and it takes a lot to speed it back up. Trust me on this one. I've made the same mistake. It sucks. Don't do it. I can't stress it enough. Your body goes into starvation mode. And it doesn't easily come out of starvation mode, particularly if you starve yourself for days, weeks or months on end. Ultimately, you'll probably end up fatter than when you began dieting.

2. Someone whose entire daily food intake consists of poor nutritional choices. I saw one woman whose breakfast was 8 saltines with margarine, and whose lunch was a cup of brown rice. At least it was brown rice, not white, but still! That's it. No other food. No protein. No fruits and vegetables. No dairy. Nothing except a bit of starchy carbs and an artificial fat! Your body needs food from all of the major food groups!

3. People who take a moderately healthy meal, then gorge themselves on it. I saw the diary of one person whose dinner included 3 cups of steamed vegetables, 9 ounces of skinless chicken breast, 1.5 cups of rice, 1.5 cups of fried chow mein noodles, plus some sauce. Let's count that up...it's at least 7 cups of food. Picture that. Seven cups. That's 1.5 quarts of food. Nearly half a gallon!

Tip: Does Eating Carbs Make You Crave Carbs?

Over the weekend, I had a few meals that didn't perfectly fit the 40-30-30 model. I was dining out and eating at a friend's house, so I wasn't in a position to be picky and make special requests. And I think that's OK. If a diet feels like a life sentence in prison, you're not going to stick to it. So it's OK to cheat every once in a while, as long as you still make good decisions while cheating. For example, just because you're eating a high-carb meal doesn't mean you have license to gorge yourself. Eat judiciously. If you're alreay breaking the rules, don't compound the problem by overeating.

I did OK. I weighed 132 this morning, which is exactly what I weighed last Friday morning, before I went off my diet a bit. But Monday, when I went back onto my diet, I found myself craving carbohydrates. I was yearning for a bag of chips, a handful of rice crackers, a piece of fudge. I wanted starchy food, and I wanted sugar!

But I resisted. Instead of breaking my diet for another day, I made a snack of grapes (sugary!) and steamed soybeans with sea salt (they taste a bit starchy, even if they aren't). In all honesty, I think the salt also helped curb my craving, because we eat a lot of starchy foods with a liberal dousing of salt (chips, baked potatoes, crackers, etc.). So even though I only used a little salt, I got a good taste of it.

Today, my carb craving seems to have been curbed. I'm feeling disciplined and ready to stick to my diet. (I'm traveling Thursday to Sunday, so I also know that I'll have the opportunity to cheat a bit while on the road.)

September 18, 2007 Diet Diary

Weight: 132 pounds

Breakfast: 1/2 cup of Fiber One, 1/3 cup of milk, 1 tablespoon almonds, 7 grams of protein powder (Ugh! I remember eating this once, years ago, but had forgotten how disgusting of a combo it is. Sickeningly sweet milk mixture. I won't eat this again.)

Morning Snack: 1/2 of a ZonePerfect bar

Lunch: Stuffed shells with turkey tomato sauce

Afternoon Snack: ZonePerfect Bar

Dinner: Morningstar Chickin' Nuggets, BBQ sauce, low-fat string cheese

Evening Snack: Blueberry smoothie

Exercise: Walk 2 miles