With the exception of the occasional weekend cheat feast or a Holiday free-for-all, if you're reading my blog chances are you've considered yourself to be 'on a diet'. My definition of a savvy foodie: a smart-minded individual making good choices about the food they put in their mouth. Guess what else I define as being savvy...diet free foodies! Can I get an AMEN?!?!
The word 'diet' is a four letter word and should be banished from everyone's vocabulary. Every time you say the word, you owe me a quarter! Current research is proving diet products can be useless. I hear the word and shudder. I equate it with deprivation. I have lots of savvy friends who say things like: "Tomorrow my diet will start" or "I'll get back on my diet after this meal". It's heart breaking! These words translate into failure. Feelings of guilt usually follow. Food is meant for us to enjoy and be nourished. So you know what I say...to hek with it! Who needs to feel deprived in a world that is already stressful enough. Stop the madness and quit your diet, TODAY!
Stop being a slave to guilt. If you want to eat a cheeseburger and fries and you're fairly convinced you'll die if you don't eat it...GO FOR IT! There are ways to be savvy about your passion for greasy goodness. When you get the burger and fries skip the bun, use half the ketchup, have a few french fries and eat slowly. If you think you won't be able to resist temptation you can ruin the rest. I tried this with a piece of pie and my grandmother nearly fainted as I poured pepper over the pie we were not going to consume. She wasn't used to trashing uneaten food, but it certainly kept me from mindlessly consuming added calories.
Here's the thing, you have to carefully select the meals you want to splurge on. Plan ahead! If there's an event that you know you won't want to be as savvy as you usually are, maybe skip the greasy meals that week in preparation for the upcoming splurge.
If you order wine with dinner, don't get desert. If you have an appetizer with your savvy spouse, perhaps you can split your dinner entree. This takes some compromise on both parts so it's best to figure it out before hand.
A savvy foodie also knows the importance of being physically active. If I know I'm not liking the way I'm fitting in my jeans, and I refuse to eradicate my cheeseburger, I'll make sure my butt is at the gym as much as possible. Go to a class and stay for the full hour. Do an activity that you know you enjoy, otherwise you'll fall off the exercise wagon.
There are ways to have the food you truly enjoy and still maintain a healthy lifestyle. The two are not incompatible. It simply takes some planning ahead, dedication, will power and a large pepper mill always at hand!
Here are some of the tricks this savvy foodie employs:
- Skip what you really can do without
- Plan ahead and omit some portion of the appetizer, dinner, desert and wine
- Think about your week in advance so you can plan a good cheat meal (or two) ahead of time
- If you know something is coming up, get your booty to the gym
- Eat slowly so your tummy can fill up in time with your brain to say 'STOP EATING'
- If you don't like something, for heaven's sake don't eat it
- Pack a lot of veggies into your mealS. Veggies are rich in fiber and fill us up with yummy goodness, not just senseless calories
- QUIT YOUR DIET
Go out there a live your life! Enjoy what you love and before you know it you'll be a savvy foodie, without even thinking about it!
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