10 nutrition tricks that help me keep the weight off

I’m not a trainer, dietician, doctor or network marketer. I’m 44 year old athlete (at least in my own mind) with four kids. I’m shaped like an apple (which means I gain all my weight in the middle) and I haven’t seen my 6 pack in many moons. I’m not a person who is naturally thin, rather I’m good at packing on the muscle and I’m sort of tall for an Indian woman. Most people are shocked I’m 150 pounds. However, I’ve also never been technically overweight, except during one of my four pregnancies.

Even though I’ve always been able to manage my weight, a few years ago, I ran out of tricks. I hated dieting and my workouts were a bit stale. I enlisted the help of my trainer, Natalie Whitcher to get strong, rearrange a few things and hopefully lose just a few pounds that had crept on. In that time, I experienced a renaissance. I began to learn about my body, why I needed to drink more water, the power of a good night’s sleep. I began to understand in the sea of information and mis-information about health, I had to take responsibility not only for simple diet and exercise behaviors. I had to create a food plan that worked for my life. I had to stop looking at food as the enemy. And I had to stop working my body through fitness and food and start loving myself with fitness and food.

Here are 10 nutrition “tricks” that have worked for me!

• Nutrition Trick #1: The 15 ingredient list:

I know most of the people reading this probably live in the United States, but just because there are 1000 ways to eat chocolate doesn’t mean you should. There is a perfect tipping point between having a variety of foods (so you don’t feel deprived) yet a small number of foods (so you have control). Something that has worked for me is to limit the types of foods I eat each week to 15-20 choices. Here is my list for this week if you want to try it. Some things are really good for me and others less so. But, it’s a finite number of choices and when I’ve eaten the turkey for the week, I wait until the following week to create a new list. Yes, it’s boring but it’s possible to control and it forces me to get creative.

Broccoli, Eggs, Bread, Popsicles, Cauliflower, lettuce or kale, carrots, tomatoes, ground turkey, fish, tortillas, shredded cheese, your favorite dressing, yogurt, cucumbers.

• Nutrition Trick #2: Keep it in your diet, just cut it in half.

Each morning, I love to eat a over-medium egg and a few pieces of toast smeared with butter and strawberry jam. Given my apple-shaped body, It’s very likely that I react to breads- starches and gluten. There are studies that tell me I could enjoy significant fat-loss if I would eliminate bread. What I know is every piece of bread I remove will re-enter my life through my dreams. After a few days, I’ll start to obsess about bread until I break down into a bread-eating frenzy. What DOES work for me is cutting back. So, instead of eating two pieces of bread in the morning, I have one. I get my taste of bread each day but I’m still improving my diet and seeing changes.

• Nutrition Trick #3: Before you slip, eat well.

My dedicated trainer would probably dislike it, but there are days I enjoy a few cheats—perhaps some Doritoes (considered on of the worst processed foods ever) or a cookie or two. But before I let the scientifically generated orange-crunch dissolve on my tongue, I eat something good, much lower in calories and higher in nutrition. After I’ve put away a bowl of blueberries or some icy-cold cuts of cucumber, after the drive for absent-minded eating has dissipated, I allow myself my Doritos. I eat much less of the trainer-boycotted food, if I want it at all. And, I continue to grow my desire for whole foods.

• Nutrition Trick #4: Eat more vegetables and less meat.

I’m not a vegetarian. I enjoy a well prepared steak or chicken salad sandwich as much as the next lumberjack. But, I was shocked to find out how many more calories there are in a slab of New York strip (8 oz- 450 calories) compared to the same “portion” of broccoli (8 oz- 77 calories). I experienced immediate results by flip-flopping the foods. Enjoy a big heap of roasted cauliflower and a small portion of meat. Eat the vegetable first and then enjoy your meat. In this scenario, you can easily eliminate several hundred calories.

• Nutrition Trick #5: Do something else first.

For many of us, eating is entertainment and life-filler. It’s a by-product of abundance. Most of the time we aren’t hungry, we are just bored, uncertain, thoughtful, or predictable. You don’t have to eat cheese when you have wine. You can have a wine and then go for a walk. When you have a free moment at your desk, consider playing a little trivia-crack instead of running for a snack. As you feel those situation-driven cravings, become active, distract your brain for a moment and then check back in. More than likely the hungry feeling has passed.

• Nutrition Trick #6: Stop starving yourself.

Most middle-class Americans are not starving—we have plenty in the pantry to eat and drink. But the reality is if you aren’t eating whole foods, you probably are starving yourself of the nutrients you need to grow strength and age gracefully. The popular health documentary “Hungry For a Change” calls it overfed and starving to death. Think back, have you ever found yourself searching for food but no matter how hard you try you can’t seem to squash the craving? Most likely your body is crying out for a specific nutrient. Once you have a monster salad with every kind of vegetable you can imagine or spoon up a yogurt, the feeling will dissipate. You were full but had not satisfied your body’s nutritional needs.

• Nutrition Trick #7: Play the calorie game.

I’m not proposing obsessive, calorie-counting, food-weighing routines. But, there are a certain number of calories you can imbibe each day, balanced against your daily activity, before you gain weight. I’ve never been that great at eating a singular chip or a small square of dark chocolate. If you must eat something with a delicious and salty crunch or a creamy and sweet flavor, why not choose a lower calorie cousin to Oreos or Ice Cream. I’ve found I love popsicles (only 90 calories, fully sugared) or a bit of 35-calorie Jacobsen’s toast dipped in milk. After a few of them, I’m not filled with craving and I also haven’t eaten an entire tub of ice cream.

• Nutrition Trick #8: Find out if you have imbalances.

Each person, including you, possesses a unique chemistry. That means you react to each food differently than your friends. Depending on your makeup, the kindest, most benevolent foods can cause you a variety of issues, including weight gain. I am lactose-intolerant which means post-milk, my farts could possibly cause my husband to love me less. There are studies that show that is only the tip of the iceberg. It could be the sugars in milk are automatically packed on to my middle and may cause me a few rashes. As a first generation Indian-American, it turns out I need a bit more Vitamin D than my lighter counterparts. After a midwestern season of winter sun-deprivation, a vitamin D deficiency could lead to depression and weight gain. I could force myself out into the cold, take a vitamin and find more D-rich foods. Knowing your body will help you tailor your nutrition to work for you.

• Nutrition Trick #9: Stop trying to outrun your fork.

I work out every day, like a boss. That means I carve out 60-90 minutes of exercise, both cardio and weight training at least 6 days a week. I love the process of getting stronger and after my initial weight loss, I discarded the daily visit on the scale. However, with the intensity, duration and consistency of my exercise, I was surprised when my weight loss tapered off and then started to climb again. At first I tried to up the intensity and duration but the scale wouldn’t budge. You see, with the additional activity, I felt hungrier. I simply ate more of whatever I was eating. It wasn’t until I chose more nutritious whole foods (fruits, veggies and grains) that I was able to maintain my weight again.

• Nutrition Trick #10: Stop looking at food as the enemy.

We’ve all done it. You eat the food and enjoy each bite with hedonistic pleasure but there is always a part of you that feels somehow guilty. As if eating, a natural function of a living human being, is wrong. As you eat, you punch out the numbers on your internal calorie counter. “I’ll eat this peanut-butter cup and then not have a glass of wine at dinner.” I don’t know about you, but after a lifetime of stress, I’m exhausted. Eat foods that are full of nutrition. Find recipes that make those foods delicious to you. If you need to consume a peanut butter cup, eat it with empowerment and responsibility. You’ll be better off for it.