There are so many times that you hear/read people saying "I could never give up *all* my favorite things." And then they list of dozens of things that they eat out of habit instead of because they really LOVE them.

I chose to count calories because I don't like being told I can't have something. But truth is that there are many, many, many things I haven't eaten (and really haven't missed) since starting to eat more healthily. No one ever told me I *had* to give up Wendy's spicy chicken sandwiches, but I don't think I've had one in nearly 2 years now. No one told me I couldn't ever have another McDonald's bacon egg and cheese biscuit, but it's been over 18 months since I ordered one. No one ever said I could never eat pizza again - but it's been nearly 2 years since I ate Pizza Hut or Papa Johns or any store bought pizza.

But if you had asked me 2 years ago, I'd have told you I couldn't give up those things because they were "my favorites".

OTOH, I have a hamburger almost every week - either a homemade one or a splurge one from 5 Guys. I have pizza - just homemade pizza with wheat crust and piled high with veggies. I had cheesecake at the Cheesecake factory just a few weeks ago as part of an outing with some folks in my office.

So I think a lot of people have this knee-jerk reaction to giving up things and immediately everything they eat becomes "my favorite". And really once you get started, you begin to realize that everything *isn't* your favorite - there are things that you REALLY enjoy and won't ever give up and then there are things that you ate out of habit and thought you couldn't give up, but don't miss at all.

Portion Sizes and Calories

I have a few thoughts.

One is that you cannot NOT measure and say that you're pretty sure you're eating within your calorie range. The difference between 1T and 1.5T of olive oil, for instance, is 60 or 70 calories. Do that 2x a day and you've added 120 or so calories. Same with all your other foods. Most Americans have VERY skewed ideas of what a real portion size is - we've been fooled by years of eating out, super-sizing things, and even TV commercials. A real single serving of something is often much, much smaller than you would expect it to be. Even an apple - most apples that you buy in the grocery store are 2 servings, not one. That means the apple you ate could easily be 160 calories, not 80 or 90.

Everyone Knows How to Lose Weight

I think that deep, deep down *most*, certainly not all, people really know *how* to lose weight. They know they should eat lots more of the healthy stuff and lots less of the UNhealthy stuff and do some sort of physical activity.

I agree and disagree with this in a way.

I think most people know the concept, that's true.

But how many people have we seen come on fitness boards and be totally clueless about WHAT is healthy and unhealthy. Someone on here tells a story about a friend of hers who had a dinner consisting of a huge salad with creamy dressing, shrimp scampi, and strawberry cake for dessert (or something like that) and then pushed back from the table and said "That was pretty healthy - I had salad, seafood, and fruit for dessert!"

What about the people who come on this board and post their daily menu asking for help and they're eating things like this: Breakfast - a waffle with lo calorie syrup. Lunch - small hamburger from McDonalds (but no Coke or fries - yay!). Snack - granola bar. Dinner - Frozen Lean Cuisine pizza. And they really truly think they're doing a good job with this and are beyond upset when they're told that this is not a healthy plan. 

What about the people who come on the board and say "I'm cutting out ALL FAT from my diet. I'm never ever going to eat any fat again." and get all bent when some people try to explain that you NEED some fat and that healthy fat is good for you.

These are the people who, when you say "eat healthy and exercise" will say to you "Yeah, that doesn't work for me. I must have some kind of chemical imbalance (or it's in my genes to be fat, or whatever)."

Not trying to slam on any one on the board - because we've all been there in one form or another at one point or another. But ... and this is one of my big soapbox issues, really ... Americans in general are woefully, disgustingly uneducated about nutrition and food. We have no idea what a real portion size is because we're beaten over the head with the concept that "value" is what's important, so we should always upsize for $0.39. We have no idea what is REALLY healthy because 80% of the food in the grocery store is pushed on us as enhanced in some way - whether it's by adding nutrients or removing fats or whatever. Who wants a plain old apple when we can get EXTRA SMOOTH APPLE SAUCE NOW ENRICHED WITH CALCIUM!!! We are inundated every day with the idea that doing a "colon cleanse" or drinking lemon water with cayenne pepper or just buying this "As seen on TV" miracle device will solve all our health and weight problems.

And there is NO real, actual, honest to god, nutritional education anywhere to refute those concepts. "Health" class in high school or jr. high is a joke. I read a fairly reliable statistic from a college entrance survey that said over 65% of students entering college didn't know how to cook a meal - ANY MEAL, much less a healthy meal.

I dunno ... as I said, this is a real soapbox issue for me. I think most Americans DON'T know how to be healthy. And that's a huge problem when trying to lose weight. Because they concept is there: eat healthy. It's the implementation of it that most people are clueless about.

Baby Steps

I think that a lot of people, when they first start to lose weight, sabotage themselves with the idea that they have to completely revamp their lives and that they have to do it all at once.

Now, I won’t lie - my life now is NOTHING like my life 2 years ago. And if you had told me 2 years ago that this would be my life, I’d have given up. I’d have said “I can’t do that” and just quit then and there.

Where I am now is the result of changes made step by step by step over that 2 year period.