The Head Food Coach

1.    Own up to it!

Philippians 4:13 – “I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].”You have to first admit to yourself that you have a problem with your eating habits and your level of activity. It is your responsibility to correct them. There are many diet plans, exercise plans etc. Your success will be determined by your level of commitment. You have the power God gave you to overcome life’s challenges. This is one of those moments in your life that will require you to access that power. Believe in yourself. You can do this.

        2.    Begin with divine intervention – Prayer

When I first began with changing the way I ate I was desperate. I understood the path that I was traveling would end in a premature death with plenty of suffering before I died. I knew what I had to do would cause me to have to call on something greater than me. I asked God the following prayer “Lord I want to do your will and live the life you have called me to live. However, I cannot accomplish your will in my current state. I need your help Lord I cannot change my health situation by myself. Please Lord be with me in this endeavor to change my health so that I can meet the purpose that you have for me. In Jesus name I pray amen! ” You know what He has been with me the whole time. He will be with you too if you want him to be!

        3.    Patience 

Galatians 6:9- “And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.“You didn’t develop bad habits overnight or in a few weeks or months. It takes time to correct eating   habits that will last a lifetime.  There is a saying where I am from “be easy”. This simply means calm down and gather yourself. I have never seen people who panic solve long term problems. I have always seen cooler heads prevail. You are not going anywhere anytime soon so you have time to change your habits one day at a time. It took me about 3 years to get to my first goal weight, but, I have been able to maintain it from an additional 3 years without much effort. Everyone is in such a hurry to look good. However, it actually takes time to be good, feel good and sustain the new behavior. Keep working even when it is hard keep working it will pay off! 

4.  Know your numbers 

Your weight is important and it is one of a few indicators that let you know you are eating well. Other considerations are cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rate/pulse and blood sugar/A1C(for diabetics) etc. See your doctor work with them on setting goals for yourself. Stay in the know about your numbers. Apathy is the enemy of progress. Keep up with your numbers and check them regularly. This will help you measure your success.

5.  Portion control

This is one of the most critical HFC principals. How much should one eat? There are many opinions out there about how much someone should eat for a meal. What worked for me was a gradual approach down from the amount of food I was eating to the following formula

Reasonable portion of meat (usually the size of your fist)

¾ cup-1 full cup of a non-starchy vegetables such as (broccoli, salad, green beans etc..)

Here is a link from the American Diabetes Association with more examples of non-starchy vegetables http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/non-starchy-vegetables.html

4 oz. of bread (normally just 1 serving of bread)

½ cup of starchy vegetables (pasta, rice, potatoes etc.)

Here is a link from the American Diabetes Association with more information about starchy food (Carbohydrates)

http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/carbohydrates.html

No double starches ever! That is too many carbohydrates.

You will notice I do not have anything in there about sweet foods or sugary drinks. That’s because it is a bad idea to have any of them. I gave up sugary drinks 10 years and I have not looked back since. Don’t want them and I don’t miss them. I drink diet drinks and water. In recent years there have been many studies to show that diet drinks may have some detrimental effects overtime. Please do your own research and consult your physician and see what your best options are. Desserts should not a part of your core meal. Try to have them occasionally. Special events like your birthday (not everyone else’s birthday just yours), weddings and major holidays are good times to partake desserts. Personally, I don’t really like anything with a lot of sugar in it anymore. I like to have sweets that are sugar free or no sugar added (yes there is a difference no sugar added means that there is sugar in the ingredients but no additional sugar has been added while sugar free means there is no sugar in it at all ). There is no real nutritional benefit in having sugary foods (even if it is sugar free or no sugar added), but, we are human and sweet stuff is part of our lives. We just need to practice a little bit of discipline and personal responsibility and we can enjoy these things in moderation. As you see above I have links to the American Diabetes Association because I myself am a type 1 diabetic. I don’t follow all of their methods, but, they are great source for food education. I have also learned something else about being a diabetic; most of us look to grow our knowledge in everything else in our lives whether is about financial management, home improvement projects or things on our jobs that will lead to promotions. It is also important to do the same with what food you are eating and how much of it or you eating. Also, getting into an eating pattern like I have above is not an overnight thing if you eat much more than that. It took me years to get to this point, but, I have now been at this point for much longer than it took me to get here. First try cutting all of you portions by a ⅓ and leave a little food on your plate and save it for a snack later in the day.  Eventually, you will begin to require less food to feel full. Remember principal #3-Patience.

6.  Observe what you eat and how you feel immediately after

Our bodies are incredibly designed! The body has the ability to let you know when something is wrong with it. If you feel sluggish or lethargic after eating a meal this is an opportunity for you to evaluate what you just ate. You can help yourself a lot if you identify food that makes you feel bad and stay away from them. Generally, what your body is trying to tell you is that this food is not good for you and that you should probably not eat it. Pay attention to your body. Your body is a temple. Treat it like one!

7.  Productive eating

The purpose for eating is to fuel our bodies to perform the duties we have set for a given day. We should always have the mindset that food is fuel. In our case if we don’t use all the fuel we put in our body in day it gets stored as fat. If you keep over fueling your body you will store too much fat causing your body not to function correctly. You should plan your meals according to the activities you have slated for a day. If you have a lot of physical activity to do in a day eat a few more carbohydrates than on a normal day, but always practice principal #5 portion control. The additional carbohydrates should be included in your allotted snacks. If you are not doing much physical activities then you might want to cut back on the food you eat that day. This would be a good day not to have any carbohydrates or the bare minimum. Again, consult your physician about what is right for you.

8.  Plan your meals and snacks

Proverbs 16:3- “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed”. Benjamin Franklin once said “If you fail to plan you are planning to fail”. This applies to most things in life, but, we will stick to health management for now. We seem to spend time planning for everything from vacations, finances, clothes we will wear etc. We rarely put any time into what we will eat for a given week. Most of the time we won’t think about what we will eat in a given day. Then we wonder why we can’t seem to control ourselves from making bad food choices. I’m guilty of this myself. However, when trying to master your eating habits you need structure. You need a weekly meal plan. I personally have used spreadsheets to lay out what food I will prepare in a given week. I also have a spreadsheet that is my meal plan. I describe in my meal plan what I will eat for breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner. I have my portions limited to ½ a cup of any starch I may be eating for that meal. When you plan your meals you plan on being more successful in your health. Having a plan in front of you and following it helps to change your eating habits.

9.  Monitor your weight daily

Most diet plans tell you not to weigh yourself every day. The reason behind this is because the designers of the diet plans believe if you see your weight dropping slowing that this will discourage you. This could be true if your overall goal is just to lose weight. Weight gain or weight loss are just indicators of you eating habits and overall lifestyle. The purpose for eating right is to gain the lifestyle you truly want. To be well and energetic is the goal. Weight loss is just one of the indicators that you can use to see if you are on your way to that lifestyle.  You want to track this progress daily. One way to do that is to weigh yourself daily. What you are looking for is a downward trend. Even if the downward trend is slower than what you would like it’s still moving down. You cannot gain 1 pound if you are in a downward trend. You can also use this information in conjunction with your meal plan to see what foods help you lose weight and which foods make you gain weight. Always weight yourself first thing in the morning at the same time every day.  When I step on the scale and I am heavier than I was the day before I can look back at what I ate in that day to determine what happened. From there I can make the proper adjustments to my diet and meal plan. Also, remember your long term goal is to have a downward trend in your weight.

10. Be thankful for the progress that is made

James 1:17- “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” When you reach major milestones in life you should always celebrate them. You should always be thankful that God has seen you through. The reason you should do this is because it’s great motivation, but, also it helps to keep your eyes on the prize. In HFC Principle #2 “Begin with Devine intervention -Prayer” you ask God to see you through this process. If you are hitting milestones such as goal weights, normal blood sugar numbers or normal blood pressure numbers then these are the physical signs that God is honoring your prayer. By thanking Him for the success he has given you gives you an increase in faith that you can continue to live a better life and maintain good eating habits.  

11. Begin and maintain a regular exercise routine

Once you have reached your goal weight it is a good idea to start a light exercise routine. A regular exercise routine can have positive results in every area of your life. After I reached my 1^st goal weight I joined a gym and I can honestly say I am in much better shape now then I was a few years ago. I am in better health in my 30’s then I was when I was in my 20’s. I thank God for that!

12. Help someone else do what you did

When you have achieved your goals it would be great if you help someone else. I believe that experience is one of life’s greatest teachers. Who better than you? You have experienced what it is like to go from having bad eating habits to having good eating habits. You will have firsthand knowledge of that is like and be able to guide some else to success. Hopefully, that is what I have been able to do for you! God Bless you!