I just have to vent a little. I’m on a weight loss journey, which has its ups and downs. But I am committed to doing this with real food. I’m sick of yo yo dieting. I am convinced that what I need is a lifestyle change, one that is more natural and includes whole foods. I know it’s not going to happen overnight, but it IS happening. So far since January I’ve lost 9 pounds.
So why am I venting? Because it drives me crazy when, in a weight loss class, they suggest things like rice cakes, egg whites, frozen meals, and powdered doughnuts. Skim milk and soy this and that.
Fit Jerk said it best when he said “mother nature cries every time an egg yolk is thrown away.”
One of my favorite weight loss and nutrition experts is Jonny Bowden. He’s not afraid to take on ” the man.” Debunk the fat and cholesterol is bad myths. Advocate for grassfed beef and free range, organic eggs (including the yolks!)
Sometimes, though, I feel very alone. They don’t show real food in the fitness or weight loss magazines. (Probably because there are no advertisers for it. No coupons. No bar codes on real food).
Anyone out there who has been on this path before me?
This post linked to Fight Back Friday
I’ve been on that path most of my life. This year one of my main goals is to give up dieting all together. I even had my husband hide the scale. I’m not going to get on it for a whole year. It’s the most bizarre, unreal feeling to not weigh myself after decades of weighing at least once a day. No more dieting. I think it’s about the same as eating whole, nutritious foods–I’ve just also given up the diet classes and magazines. It feels so refreshing, so freeing.
Wendy – I’m a low carber. Whole foods. Real foods. 24/7/365. I wrote for awhile in 2004 about the latest in low-carb diet friendly products – but I won’t call them foods. And I decided after a few months that if something wouldn’t have found its way into my pre-low carb natural foods pantry, then it wasn’t gonna get in there while I low-carbed. I still wrote about those products, but I put in each column that, by choice, I didn’t use them.
My other regular column at the time was much more reflective of my *real* pantry – ‘Supermarket Low Carb’ spotlighted low carb choices available in anyone’s local grocery store, and emphasized reading labels on packaged foods to find the best unadulterated nutrition.
After all, the perfect low carb food is that egg you were talking about. Ingredient list? Eggs – period. 😉
The only exception I make to my ‘whole foods’ plan is micro-filtered ionized whey protein…which I use to make homemade protein shakes. Breakfast is my toughest meal (I need coffee to make coffee.) But I can make a killer protein shake with my eyes closed. When I went through cancer treatments, those protein shakes were sometimes the *only* things I could choke down. I managed to find an organic, high quality digestible protein with pretty much nothing in it besides whey protein, cocoa powder and a touch of stevia. The digestibility payoff outweighs, for me, the fact that it’s not really a whole food.
Being a low-carber isn’t exactly mainstream – but if it helps, I lost 45 lbs and was at goal weight before cancer. Low carbing after cancer treatment goes harder (because my metabolism is different.) But I lost the treatment weight after the first round, and I’m slowing losing it again after the second round. Renegade on, girl, and stand up for whole foods.
.-= Pat Steer (Gaelen)´s last blog ..Comfort Food Jam: Steak House Soup =-.
I haven’t gone before you, but I’m there with you. It’s taken a long time for me to get my body just back to “functioning” again from the SAD diet I was on. Yeah, I’ve lost about 300 pounds through the years, up then down. But I just can’t focus on my weight anymore. I’m going to get healthy and get my body working at optimum efficiency. If weight loss happens (which at optimum efficiency, it can’t help but happen) great. If not, I’ll be healthy and overweight. I’m cool with that.
wendy, i’m sorry.
blame me whenever you feel the need, i can take it.
and i’ll blame the mediterranean.
but really, truly, if we are eating the right proportions, and Moving our bodies, the only thing standing in our way is fake food. because when we put chemicalized or processed food into our mouths, our stomachs kind of go, “well now what the hell am i supposed to do with THAT?” and it honestly wasn’t created to process chemicals and odd combinations of what used to be food- so it just tucks it away as fat.
“sometimes what looks like normal is actually insane.” (rob bell, last week’s sermon. listen to it. it will be help.) and wendy, you are not the insane one.
.-= holly´s last blog ..TED, day one. =-.
So TRUE!!! Mr Chiots and I have always been healthy and maintained a healthy weight and fitness level. Several years ago we nixed anything but REAL food. We started eating lots of raw milk butter, drinking whole milk and eating bacon, beef and a lot more fat that we used to consume. Oddly enough, without even trying, we both lost weight. It’s amazing how much fewer cravings you have when eating real food, probably because your body is actually getting nourished. I believe cravings are a symptom of not getting enough of the vitamins, minerals & healthy fat you need. If you feed yourself well, your body knows it’s being nourished and cravings subside. I no longer feel famished at night, or hungry between meals and I rarely feel the need to snack between official meal times. It’s amazing the difference eating real foods has had our lives and our health (not to mention our waistlines).
.-= Chiot’s Run´s last blog ..Make Your Own: Brown Sugar =-.
I notice my weight is much more stable and I’m much more satisfied eating real foods. I did lose my pregnancy weight this past time using *real food* and not calorie restriction. And I gained 65 lbs, so it wasn’t ‘just a little’ 🙂 I think I lost the last 25 lbs that was holding on in 2 months by cutting out refined sugar and flour and upping the coconut oil/milk. I didn’t particularly low carb it, but that would have been my next step if the weight hadn’t come off.
Just recently been there – finally arrived at my destination. It has taken me a year and a half to lose 36 pounds, but I did it eating whole, unrefined, unprocessed foods. No natural food was off limits at the beginning of my journey. I reached a plateau after a 15 pound weight loss and became desperate. I then did some research and cut out all dairy, meat, and eggs. Vegan diet – but heavy on legumes, green leafies, fresh fruit and veggies. Eating this way works for me – but it is not for everyone. Listen to your own body. Dont be afraid to try different things. Just make sure the different things you are trying only changes the combination of foods – not the foods themselves. Some do well on low-carb – I do not. My body functions better with healthy whole grain carbs and veggies – including potatoes. But I bake a potato and eat it simply plain. And I like it. I cannot do the coconut oil healthy fat thing. It literally made me sick. But it really works for many people. I eat almost no sugar, no fried foods, and no fake anything, and I bake all my own bread from fresh ground wheat berries. I am 44 yrs. old and have never felt better in my life. So, research healthy eating plans and then stick with the one that fits your body. You will never regret it.
What a beautiful and inspiring blog! I totally agree with you. There’s no way I’m going to lose weight eating rice cakes and egg whites. Why? Because I’m going to quit 2 hours into my diet. I want to lose weight the realistic way, while eating realistic food. I can commit to a lifestyle change, but I want it to be a realistic one. Give me real food, please!
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. I enjoyed stopping by yours. What a great blog post!
Kristi, Live and Love…Out Loud
@TweetingMama
.-= Kristi´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday – It’s Snot Funny! =-.
i’m completely with you and encourage others to eat their fats – when it’s coming from nuts, healthy oils, etc…SO much better for you than fat-free fake food! 🙂
I think my only way to lose weight is like…. eat once a day xD with coffee in the morning and dinner at night and then walking my son to and from school. and then winter came… and screwed up everything.
I think you are right, but sometimes to lose weight I resort to the low fat alternatives, even though I feel like its not as good for me. But having the extra weight feels worse. When I am at a healthy weight I eat whole foods.
I am all about the real food…I’ve spent too many years eating *man-made* “food” products to still be above my ideal weight….now it is about *God-made* food for me. One of my favorite sources for real food recipes is Cooking Light magazine. Check out their website.
Keep up the good work!
Blessings!
Gail
Been there. Definitely been there.
I’ve been doing Weight Watchers since right after Christmas, and I told myself when I started that the only way this was going to happen is if I could do it without sacrificing my food principles – in other words I was not going to buy specially engineered products, I was just going to eat good food and keep track of how much fat I cook with and my calories. It’s been completely easy to do so, too. It’s interesting to see the difference in the way my mother and I do WW because she buys all the special no fat, Splenda-sweetened WW yogurt (which is NASTY and has strange chemicals in it) and I buy Fage 0% which is made with exactly two ingredients, skim milk and bacteria, and add homemade jam to it. As soon as I find the time I’m going to start making my own yogurt but I’m happy with that for now. I’m also skimming the raw milk I get and using the cream for special projects that I can share with people.
Keep doing what you’re doing and don’t be afraid to tell people about it. I think when women who are on silly diets hear about people losing weight while eating real food, it gives them hope that they don’t have to live on rice cakes forever, and what better way to inspire people?
.-= melissa´s last blog ..I’m baaack =-.
Hello!! I am very late on this post but I just found it while googling losing weight with real food. I’d like to know how you are doing at this point?
It’s going slow. But at least it’s going 🙂