Rules

I picked up a copy of the book Beyond Chocolate yesterday and flipped it open to a page where the authors were talking about all of the rules they had for themselves.

Carbs are bad.

Rice will make me fat.

I shouldn't have pasta.

Fat-free cookies are okay.

Salads are always a healthier choice than burgers.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

I will enjoy life when I am thin.

If I am not dying from exhaustion, the exercise isn't doing anything for me.

and the list goes on....

Where do the rules come from? Have you ever questioned whether they are true or not?

Rules and habits are how we get a lot done during the day. I park my car in the same spot everyday so I don't have to think about where to find it when I get done with work. I have the same morning routine so I don't have to expend energy thinking about how to get the coffee made, my teeth brushed, and bags packed so I can get out the door on time.

But what happens when needs change but your rules and habits don't?

150 million years ago, I was a high school athlete and a growing girl -- I ate a HUGE breakfast and was starving when lunch rolled around. As I reached my adult height and stopped playing sports, my caloric needs changed -- what would have happened had I continued to eat the HUGE breakfast?

Now, I have coffee on the way to work and a small breakfast-something later in the morning. Needs changed --rules and habits followed. But first,I needed to be willing to examine my rules and habits to see if they still were helping me achieve my goals.

Think about your automatic responses:

Do you really think carbs are "bad"? There are the same number of calories in a gram of carbohydrate as in a gram of protein -- why are carbs bad?

Rice making you fat? It can make you retain water and white rice is digested very quickly, leaving you hungry sooner so you could end up eating a greater number of calories -- but "bad"? It isn't inherently bad.

Shouldn't have pasta? No, you shouldn't have a bowl of pasta the size of your head -- there is nothing wrong with some pasta.

Fat-free cookies -- Have you ever looked at the calorie count on fat-free cookies? The have to make them out of something. If the fat content is lower, chances are they are higher in sugar. --calorie savings? I think not.

Always salads? Many of the restaurant salads have as many or more calories than the smaller burger dinners.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Who says? Lots of people feel nauseous if they eat breakfast. If you are hungry, by all means, eat! But if you are not physically hungry, your body does not need the calories just then. Tune into what your body is telling you -- you will get hungry eventually.

I will enjoy life when I am thin? Your life won't change. If you can't appreciate what your body does for you now, you won't appreciate it when you are thin. There will always be someone who is thinner or younger or more accomplished than you. Carpe Diem, my friends, appreciate what you have today and move forward in the direction that seems sensible to you. But don't hold out for someday -- someday is not guaranteed.

Exercise? Find some way you like to move and move. Life is too short to punish yourself everyday in the name of health. If you like to walk, walk. If you like to dance in your living room, do that. You don't have to kill yourself with exercise to lose weight.

So maybe I didn't cover your rules -- give them some thought and see if they still make sense for you. Maybe they weren't ever true for you -- you just picked them up from somewhere.