Skinny Eating

Confession time…. Today I weigh more than I ever have and (on that terrible chart) would be classified as overweight. Yikes! 

Working over the past year or so to get fit and healthy, the changes in MY behavior that have taken me from skinny girl to… let’s call it comfortable… Well, I’ve started to notice more & more. It’s interesting the changes that happen over time. Maybe you’ll think so too.

Call it what you will, there are habits & behaviors that skinny people have that people who are not skinny don’t. (Gibb-slap to the forehead) Right, Mrs. Obvious :).

The psychology of weight-loss is pretty complex. Just watch an episode of Extreme Makeover Weight-loss Edition. There’s what you eat, why, when, how much and with who. There’s how much you move, when, with who. As a friend and co-worker used to say “the goes-intos and goes-out-ofs.” There’s certainly more but I’m not a psych major. At the same time this isn’t rocket science. 

Habits form slowly and are hard to break. (I read somewhere 28 days to a new habit…)

The habit of  “Skinny Eating.” 

Simply put. I ate much less, paid attention (most days) to what I ate and moved more when I was a skinny girl. (And it sounds much easier to manage than a diet. DIET… has morphed into this terrible, horrible event. The actions over a short period of time that cause the number on the scale to decrease. It isn’t an event, it’s what you eat day-to-day.)

“Skinny Eating” worked. I don’t think there was anything wrong or  anything as extreme as an eating disorder, just an obese grandmother as a role model. Honest motivation. I did not want to look/move/be in the body of this fantastic woman whom I respected & loved dearly. And it felt good to be thin & fit. There was tons of energy bundled in there.

It was easy, we grew up eating “Skinny.” The habits (conditioning) were good. Not neurotic but we had few snacks/pop in our house growing up because… wait for it… we would eat it!! Mealtime was big… desserts and between not so much. It really is a habit, a routine, a mind set or way of life. Call it what you will. Mom was highly motivated to keep fit, she saw first hand what being overweight meant as you age.

Honestly, I don’t think more than a dozen or so chicken wings passed these lips until I hit 40. Oh my gosh, all that fat and for what… no meat on those things. How could anyone? I don’t remember them ever tasting that good.

Fast forward to today. When the boys come home we make it a point to grab wings. And I eat them… more than 2… usually around 10. Oh my gosh! They are heavenly.

Let’s talk about pizza. Skinny girl would choke down a piece of pizza. It wasn’t hard, I really wasn’t that hungry. Once & a while I’d go crazy and have… wait for it.. two pieces. Jump to today… two pieces are the routine, three if I’m going crazy.

Dips… Why on earth would you want to have all that fat? Today… well silly, because it tastes good!!!

So habits and tastes and quantities have definitely changed. Many researchers are spending millions/billions of dollars investigating high fructose corn syrup, pesticides in our food chain, the impact of a fast food diet to name a few topics.

Just ask me I’ll tell you… Yep, there’s something there (send millions for my research…)! Once you start, it’s hard to stop. Once your behavior changes to be putting more into your mouth, there will be more on your body (you crazy athletes aside).

If that behavior includes more fat and fake (processed) foods. Well… there will be more ramifications… on your hips, waist, back. Like me, you’ll start adding those pounds.

Not sure how much is the content of what goes in or the changes in what or the quantity that’s acceptable, but there’s something to each.

I never liked some of the food that now I look forward to. There are so many factors to it. Not trying to over-simplify, just never paid attention to the creep… until now.

So, now it’s about moving more and…

Taking small steps…

To change the non-skinny habits… back to the skinny habits.

Wishing the bar had never been lowered.

Do I really need that second piece of pizza? Nope, try half for now or skip it and have a salad.

Like I said before, changing habits is… tough. Let’s just say that and take credit for small steps.

Are you a “Skinny Eater?”

Do you want to be?