“Have a kick ass body that stops traffic without jumping in front of it”

How I did it: I didn't, really. Just a lifestyle change that happened whether I liked it or not.  I moved from overseas where I was a comfortably-kept nanny in a family with the world's most amazing Italian cook for a mom.  They vigilantly ate 3 large meals a day plus 2 substantial snacks.  They lived in a warm house on one level so I never had to climb stairs, and although I ran every day, I was in a 2-mile rut and never felt like adding distance or doing anything other than that 2 mile run for exercise.  The chocolate there was truly, madly addictive and I couldn't resist a bar of it each day.

Then my time was up so I came home.  To my own family, who has never had the luxury of eating together or organizing mealtimes because of my parents' work schedules.  Our culture, unlike theirs, does not place the same importance on family meals together except on holidays.  So I'd often find myself skipping meals because my structure was gone and my stomach was not hungry enough to cry out "feed me!"  I also have to climb 2 flights of stairs several times a day to go to my bedroom.  Our heat never works so I am constantly burning calories conserving warmth because it gets so much colder here than it ever did there.  And for some reason I always have the energy to run, in fact I run more because of how warm it keeps me.  And the chocolate here's ok, just, not addictive.

Another significant factor is prissiness.  I got used to such amazing food that nothing I used to eat here is appetizing.  To be appetized at all, I have to go to the store myself and get loads of fresh vegetables and bring them home and spend an hour or two making a recipe my boss taught me.  I've always been a vegetarian but lately I have cut down on milk and cheese because it's kinda gross compared to Switzerland's, and I worry about the chemicals and stuff fed to the cows here, which I imagine I can taste.  I wish I didn't because I used to love dairy here...but I'm more than making up for it in vegetable nutrients.

& I have much more time to myself to take care of myself.  I was always working over there.  I wasn't fat to begin with, just not-toned and average and 'ok.'  I had nothing to complain about, just nothing to flaunt either.   Now I feel sorry for my ex-boyfriends for losing me every time I see myself in a mirror before I get in the shower because I'm comparable to whoever's in the porn they watch, only real, un-retouched and not a whore.

Lessons & tips: Most of what you eat should have fewer than 5 ingredients, and never ingredients that you can't understand. 

Never follow fad diets, but you may need to spend more on fresh natural stuff, although you will not need as much of quality food to get the nutrients you'd need 10 times as much crap food to get.  Consider it an investment, though, because better food keeps you alive longer. Can't argue with that. 

& learn ways to prepare vegetables that make them tasty to you.  I swear, it's always possible.  It gets easier as you develop a taste for them - which you will if you keep eating fresh ones.

Replace soda with tea or cranberry juice. 

Don't eat out every meal for Chrissakes - I know so many people who do that and no amount of going to the gym ever makes them look any better even though they probably work out for two hours a day.

Don't obsess about diet and exercise, just live your life and listen to your body.  If it's hungry, feed it right away, but only feed it pure good vegetables or homemade bread or real cheese, just a little, and because you didn't feed it junk it will fill up and you'll be satisfied and not craving more.  If it's sluggish, do an excercise video or dance while you do housework or go for a run to wake it up. 

Use olive oil instead of butter.

Eat homemade stuff instead of takeout or frozen food.

Handwash your dishes enough to notice how certain foods behave, if they come off easily under running water or if they harden and would stick on forever if you didn't pry them off with a knife.  This is important because food often behaves a similar way inside your body.  The stuff that sticks real bad makes you fat and constipated and sluggish and could eventually give you cancer or heart disease.  It also makes your body work harder than it has to so your equipment wears out before your life does and you spend your last 2 years on a feeding tube.  Eat stuff that makes easy dish clean-up.  It'll be just as easy on your system.

Feb 25, 11:27AM PST | 1 comment | 1 cheer