These Things In My Head: Lose the Diet Mentality!!

What's on my mind today is related to my post earlier this week about the importance of moderation when it comes to eating/losing weight. Unfortunately, when many people think about losing weight, they equate that with being "on a diet." In my experience, restrictive diets usually bring some short-term success. However, they often lead to boredom, deprivation, and eventual resentment in the long term. That's why most diets are ultimately not successful.

What if I told you that this week for dinner I had shrimp scampi, roasted pork tenderloin with fingerling potatoes, homemade meat loaf and mashed potatoes, and grilled fish tacos with cilantro-lime crema? You might think that I went totally off the rails after my weekend food splurges in Austin and ditched my healthy eating plan. I didn't...I promise!!! These foods are all a part of my healthy eating plan thanks to moderate portions and swapping high-fat ingredients and cooking techniques for healthier options. The food tasted great, so there was no boredom, deprivation, or resentment on my end. Bottom line: as long as this foodie likes what she's eating, she's happy! The fact that my pants are getting loose is pretty awesome too!!!!!

One of my goals with this blog is to help people lose the diet mentality, the notion that some foods are "good" while others are "bad." In a healthy lifestyle, there's room for a few treats and splurges now and then. We should look at eating healthier and moving more as a lifestyle change that is permanent rather than a short-term quick fix. Sure, the weight may come off a bit slower this way...but I GUARANTEE that you're much more likely to keep the weight off long-term if you take this approach.

In case you're wondering, tonight's dinner is grilled marinated London broil and panzanella salad with tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella. The salad is a new recipe for me, so I promise to take pics and post it in here tomorrow if it's as yummy as I'm hoping it will be. Until then...