6 laws I live by
1) I EAT REAL FOOD.
If I do not know the ingredients I am eating (let alone know how to pronounce them), I don't eat them.
Now there are a lot of vitamins and good ingredients with crazy names. But over time I have studied those things out and have found for myself what ingredients will harm me and those that will help me.
I am not perfect at this law, especially when I am at someones house eating dinner. But when I buy my own food I always observe this law.
The responsibility is ours alone, for what we put in our mouth.
2) I DO NOT DRINK SODA (I'll have been sober for 3 years in February of 2015).
There is absolutely no value at all in drinking soda. It doesn't make sense on any level to drink soda.
Why drink calories that do nothing for me?
I'd much rather eat more meat, pasta, fruit, or some kind of (real) food that gives me nutritional value, than drinking calories that do nothing but harm me.
You may say, soda keeps me awake! I say, stop drinking soda for 1 year and a few pieces of candy will give you the same buzz. I say, stop drinking soda for 2 years and fruit will give you the same awakening effect!
3) I DO NOT HAVE CHEAT DAYS (I have cheat meals but I do not have cheat days).
Many who start a "diet" go full throttle and set standards that are unsustainable. As a result they have a huge binge day. They eat whatever they want, and tell themselves they deserve it for all their hard work. Its like saying, I have kept all of God’s commandments perfectly for a month, and now I am going to have a full day of sin. How does this make sense?
Make slow sustainable changes in your life, and you will have no desire to have a binge day. Don't starve yourself from unhealthy food, slowly take it away month after month, year after year.
So it is with conversion, as we slowly turn our lives over to God we create lasting change within our soul. God never intended us to turn our lives around in a day, He knows it takes time to overcome the carnal desires of the body. He knows we will fail if we do too much too quickly!
That is why He gave us an infinite atonement.
That is why He is eternally patient with us. :)
4) I STOP EATING WHEN I AM FULL.
Hunger is a wonderful thing. Hunger is okay. Hunger is the body saying it needs nourishment! So when the body calls, answer it with some food (real food and no soda)!
But when the body says I'm full, have the discipline to stop eating.
I don’t count calories. I’m all about simplicity. I figure God created the feeling of hunger for a reason, and for millennia people didn’t have apps on their cell phones to count calories, and somehow people survive? haha.
So I just eat when I’m hungry, and stop eating when I’m full. It’s as simple as that.
5) I ALWAYS EAT BREAKFAST.
If you don't eat breakfast, thats like driving a Ferrari for hours on an empty tank... it doesn't make sense! Some may say, I get sick in the morning when I eat breakfast. So did I wht,en I had a lopsided eating schedule and drank soda as my morning pick-me-up! It takes time to change this situation, but you can do it! Be patience with yourself, it took me years to make this change.
Also, if you eat a dense (tons of good nutrients) breakfast, your soda habit will be much easier to quit. It will give you the vitamins you need to keep your body alert and productive. :)
Ps. I have also made a recent goal, that I can’t eat my physical breakfast until I have eaten my spiritual breakfast (reading my scriptures). Food for thought. ;)
6) I AM NOT ON A DIET.
I hate the word “diet”. Diet means temporary change. Starting a diet means that you’ve already decided the changes you’re making will one day go away (once you’ve reached your health goals).
Over the last 3.5 years I have lost 85+ lbs.
Over the last 3.5 years I have never been on a diet.
Over the last 3.5 years I have slowly made permanent lifestyle changes.
Over the last 3.5 years I have not had a weight loss goal, I just want to live life as healthy as possible.