Something I saw on the Weight Watchers message boards a couple of years ago has stuck with me.
A woman who was new to the program asked for snack suggestions. "Don't just tell me to eat fruit," she said. "I'm not the kind of person who reaches for a piece of fruit."
When I read this, all I could think was, "well, you're going to have to become the kind of person who reaches for a piece of fruit."
When I am in my not-caring mode, eating mindlessly and gaining weight, I am also not the kind of person who reaches for a piece of fruit. I'll go out of my way to eat salty snacks and candy while fruit can sit there and go bad.
When I'm on, mindful, and losing, as I have been these past four months, I give the salty snacks and candy a pass and eat two or three pieces of fruit a day - nothing too exotic, either, just apples, oranges, bananas.
That's just one of the transformations I have to make, from the kind of person I am when I am gaining, to the kind of person I need to be to lose and keep the weight off. I have to become the kind of person who reaches for a piece of fruit, the kind of person who stops eating when her hunger is sated, the kind of person who gets to the gym three times a week no matter what else is going on in my life.
What about you - what kind of person are you striving to be, in the realm of food and fitness?
A woman who was new to the program asked for snack suggestions. "Don't just tell me to eat fruit," she said. "I'm not the kind of person who reaches for a piece of fruit."
This strikes me as a person who is not ready. She sounds like someone who wants to lose weight, but doesn't want to have to change or sacrifice anything to get there. She sounds angry that she's having to be at Weight Watchers to begin with and her attitude reflects that. Sadly, my first thought for this person is, it's not going to work for her this time around.
You simply can't be resistant to change if you want to lose weight. Change is the bedrock of this journey - we wouldn't be fat if our previous behaviors were working for us. We've got to embrace change, no matter how frustrating or scary it can be, if we have any hope of getting to your goal and keeping it off.
When I read this, all I could think was, "well, you're going to have to become the kind of person who reaches for a piece of fruit."
Did you respond: "No fruit? Ok go for raw, cut veggies like carrots, cucumbers, and broccoli!"?
Sorry, I couldn't help it!
As CC said, that sounds like someone who isn't ready to start their journey. Not only not ready, but verbally stating they don't want to change.
It's a tough journey and for a long time I was never really ready either. But one day I was and hopefully one day she will be too.
Even though I still struggle at times, I'm happy that I've transformed into a person that enjoys fresh, healthier foods and exercise. I never knew how much fun it all can be.
When I am in my not-caring mode, eating mindlessly and gaining weight, I am also not the kind of person who reaches for a piece of fruit. I'll go out of my way to eat salty snacks and candy while fruit can sit there and go bad.
That's been my transformation, being mindful and conscious of everything that goes in my mouth. Looking back it's not hard to believe I let myself get so 'fat' because I didn't pay attention to my body/needs, I just ate whatever 'sounded' good at the time. For me to lose weight I've had to re-learn (or really learn for the first time) to pay attention and make conscious decisions when it comes to food. It's been nearly a year since I've started this journey and it's still hard at times, but then if it were easy no one would be overweight.
This is hard for me. My best friend in the world (well, one of two ) needs to and wants to lose over 100 lbs but does not like fruit or vegetables. Well, what then? Ok? Great. Just keep doing what you're doing? I don't know what people who don't like fruit/veggies do?
I think of myself and grapefruit. If I had to eat grapefruit and radishes in order to lose weight, I probably would not be very successful. I can not stand grapefruit and gag on it. I don't particularly care for radishes. Fortunately for me, I love a wide variety of fruits/veggies. But what if I didn't?
I don't know what people who don't like fruit/veggies do?
My partner does not like most vegetables.. and on Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet, no fruit for two weeks..
She's going a bit bonkers.. BUT she is learning to like vegetables.. things that she said "I don't like that" were really "I've never had that so I'm sure I don't like it because it looks kinda like (insert veg here)"
She does like spinach, braised with garlic and croutons.. so now it's spinach with garlic and pine nuts.. which morphed int Swiss Chard with pinenuts, garlic and lemon... I'm working on getting her to eat brussel sprouts.
I think most people don't know what "real" food tastes like. We bought a farm share last year and got so many veggies.. many that I ate alone. She tried some of the lettuce and said "this tastes funny.. I like it but it's funny". .I said "that is what REAL lettuce tastes like" (I grew up with fresh garden veggies- she grew up with very little home made food)
I adore fruits and veggies and I've often, myself, wondered what do picky eaters do when they need to lose weight?
Brussel sprouts are actually one of my favorite foods! Radishes are where I draw the line though
I think there are a lot of people who are like this. They don't even think they they're being picky. People who say "Blech fruit" or "I hate veggies." I must admit I feel sorry for them, because there's so much joy in experimenting and trying new things.
People can still lose weight without fruits and veggies, without ever making a meal themselves. I do think they'll not be able to keep it off without changing their attitudes - afterall, look where our old ones got us.
Me dear friend doesn't even like fruit flavored ICE CREAM!! LOL! She has a total ban on fruit.
that is funny!
I made swiss chard for Thanksgiving, tried cooking it for the first time, loved it. I consider myself lucky to be the type of person who loves all kinds of fruits and vegetables.
I'm striving to be the person who's better at passing up the goodies and can make the right choices when I'm eating out. I'm getting better, but I need to buckle down. I wish I could get out of the mindset of food as treat and comfort!!!
When I hear this stuff, about people not eating fruit or vegetables, I just think that it's evidence that, over several generations, we have managed to become a nation of dysfunctional eaters.
Our palates became thrill-seekers, demanding extremes, the hopped-up taste only available in artificially enhanced foodstuffs, so that natural flavors practically became imperceptible, strange or downright unsavory to us.
It's a hard slog for us when those tastes are the norm & expressed by the majority, and people who cook Swiss Chard (just as an example) are part of the minority.
I say "us" because I was relatively ignorant of food when I set out on my serious weight-loss journey, even though I loved it so much. I loved something that I didn't understand & really had a very narrow view of.
Now that I eat healthily, I'm even more of a "foodie" than I ever was, but the price of that is that I belong to a little sect, which feels way out of the mainstream. I always have to cheer myself on: "My way is the right way for me. Never mind all that other stuff."
ETA: This is why so often the young cashiers at the grocery store look completely baffled by the vegetables & fruits I'm buying, if they don't see a barcode or a little sticker. They don't know what the heck it is. They wrinkle their noses, like that stuff can't possibly be good to eat. I worry for them. But I'll be even more worried in 20 years, when they are middle-aged & still have a teenager's palate & view of food.
It's the "food environment" that has trained the taste-buds of those people who can't enjoy natural food flavors. Those people who have been blessed to live within food environments where they eat a lot of vegetables and fruits, usually grow up eating them. I have a little theory about the huge amount of fast food eaters, and that is that they grew up with it and simply do not recognise anything "natural" or grown from the ground as "food." Going to the grocery store and watching what people have in their baskets really tells you a lot about their eating habits. I've gone shopping and see people who are slender and have carts filled with vegetables-- that is how they remain slender. For instance, a cart with soy milk, a dozen different vegetables (lettuce, eggplant, cabbage, bags of green beans), then maybe a package of salmon, or some chicken, and maybe a small box of natural cerial.
Then compare it to the overweight people who have carts filled with soda, sugary cerial, boxed meals that look like chicken fried steak, mashed potatos and corn (corn and potatos are both high carb), frozen pizza, ice cream... etc.
I mean, you have the evidence right there-- not only "why they are overweight" but also how both of the people were raised by their parents, and what their values are (not meaning that one is better etc., just that one believes in health and natural foods, and the other wants everything breaded and highly processed).
Both of the shoppers are probably unawear of what they are doing. They just randomly choose what they believe to be good food.
I think that Diets are more to change our perception of what good food is. Good food is food that does not kill you, or make you miserable and embarassed of how you look.
I really understand now that good food that will make me lose weight and keep me healthy is the least processed. I now will rarely eat things that can't be eaten in its natural state, or have been highly processed. That is my benchmark of whether a food is edible. If it just came from the ground, or from the tree and can be eaten as is or with minimal cooking, then it is edible. If it is ground, bleached. boiled, made into a batter, forced through a machine at a factory, then I will not touch it.
Last edited by giselley; 01-22-2010 at 12:18 PM.
Reason: added a paragraph
I have always loved fruits and vegetables. I was raised eating them, and I've always eaten them, so eating them is no hardship for me.
So, here's the revelation for me.
I can't look to food for a source of fun. I enjoy, for example, eating a plate of broiled fish, steamed broccoli and carrots. It's good and satisfying and I'm not likely to overeat.
Now, let's say I make a garbanzo curry with lots of spices and serve it with delicious homemade whole grain bread. Frankly, I have to watch myself-- I AM likely to overeat that-- although I'm okay if I watch portion control.
I mean, that's a hard realization. It's almost easier for me to give up all the crap and junk I used to eat as a former binge eater, than to realize that I'm better off just eating plain and boring food most of the time.
I think the reason I never really succeeded at weight loss before is that I REFUSED to accept that. I went back and forth between large unhealthy quantities of basically healthy foods and binging on foods that I knew were bad for me, but I never just said "HEY, YOU CAN'T EAT RECREATIONALLY. PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE."
giselley, now always. I am obese and so is my husband and my cart has always been full of fruits/veggies and healthy stuff. We've always had a ban on pop and sugar cereals. Our portions of the healthy stuff was way off AND we were bad about additionally doing fast food. Not even just fast food...restaurant food in general. I've always cooked in a healthy way.
I'm just saying judging someone's grocery cart, something heavy people already hold as a major embarrassment, is not an accurate picture.
Our palates became thrill-seekers, demanding extremes, the hopped-up taste only available in artificially enhanced foodstuffs, so that natural flavors practically became imperceptible, strange or downright unsavory to us..
I cannot agree more.. after 1 week of NOT having sweets or fruit, already the vegetables are tasting more "sweet" to us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saef
This is why so often the young cashiers at the grocery store look completely baffled by the vegetables & fruits I'm buying, if they don't see a barcode or a little sticker. They don't know what the heck it is. They wrinkle their noses, like that stuff can't possibly be good to eat. I worry for them. But I'll be even more worried in 20 years, when they are middle-aged & still have a teenager's palate & view of food.
There is also some suggestion from recent research that some kids are "super tasters" and when they are young, eating some veg is actually very very bitter... it's intruiging to me becuase "survival" says "that's nasty: don't eat it".. yet parent says "eat it.. it's good for you".
I wonder.. how much that affects how they develop as adults.
On transformation
Sorry, I couldn't help it!
) needs to and wants to lose over 100 lbs but does not like fruit or vegetables. Well, what then? Ok? Great. Just keep doing what you're doing? I don't know what people who don't like fruit/veggies do?
