Ban the diet, spare the grief

No benefits in excess calories!

My internal alarm clock went off recently. Time to watch my food intake!

That alarm clock has been softly buzzing for a few weeks. Telling me, “Watch it, now. You’re flirting with trouble.”

But then, it went off! A distinct buzz I could not ignore.

In other words…Breasts a little too full. Midsection soft. Lower half thicker than usual.

I kind of figured that would happen.

I’d gone through a period where I felt I’d never gain weight (my jeans just felt loose no matter WHAT I ate!). It was like I was daring reality. I felt immune from fat gain.

So not so!

In the end, reality won. You cannot keep eating dark chocolate chips and organic chocolate peanut butter cups to your heart’s content.

What happened to me? Well, I can’t tell you whether it was the sugar calling me, or simply getting into an unproductive (but enjoyable) daily habit. (At least, I didn’t binge on the stuff!) Or the fact that I went through a “no cardio” stretch (just weights).

Maybe it was all 3 combined, plus my age and hormonal status.

NOTE: This may sound like an excuse to men, or to younger women. But the difficulty of maintaining your weight after 50 is quite REAL, as every woman over 50 will attest to. You are allowed far fewer “trespasses.”

And nightly chocolate? Come on, woman!

I knew this. It didn’t stop me, though.

And so what’s the first thing I did when I decided I needed to get back on track?

TMI!

Old habits die hard. I went to my book shelves and pulled out health book after health book. I scanned diet plan after diet plan, looking for ideas, inspiration, menus and meal plans.

I spent a good two to three weeks “searching” in this way.

At the same time, I told myself: This is silly. You KNOW what to do.

And what I finally did was really quite simple:

• Cease buying chocolate.
• Cease the weekday glass of red wine with dinner. (I may allow this on the weekend, as I had done before. That seemed reasonable.)
• Add 12 minutes of interval cardio to the end of my weight workouts. (This is for starters. If it’s enough, great.)
• Focus on adding more vegetables to my already veggie-heavy meal plan.
• Drink lots of tea during the day. (It keeps my mouth busy. Plus, different teas provide different health benefits.)
• Incorporate a little more culinary variety into my meals.

This is really it, since I eat pretty well each and every day. And I know, from past experience, that this will be enough. I’ll be back in my comfort zone soon.

One thing is obvious…

No matter how healthy dark chocolate may be—research says it can lower blood pressure and ward off clots—if whatever quantity you consume puts you over the amount of calories you require to maintain your weight, it will cause weight gain.

So, it’s back to the “Kathleen diet” for me. That’s the only food plan I have found success with.

It’s not someone else’s diet. In fact, it’s kind of a “no duh” diet: Lean protein to help build my body. A variety of vegetables and a little fruit to fight disease and keep me youthful. And some healthy fats in moderation to assist my body in all it has to do to keep me healthy and functioning.

I always say, “Do the YOU diet.” (Insert your name here.) Finally got around to taking my own advice.

• Is there any food that tempts you to consume it in excess?
• What do YOU do to knock off a few pounds? Do you “do” a diet?