Friend of Julie: High Fat Food and High Self Image

There were two comments made recently on posts that are worthy of surfacing to a post of their own. One comment was about pepperoni and kielbasa, which led me to do some research on the correlation between high fat foods and plateaus. The other comment encouraged us to embrace the changes in our bodies and to feel confident in our smaller sizes on our journey to our goal size.

Feel great, act great, and approve of yourself. Photo source.

High Fat Foods

Anonymous posted this comment:

I have been on the program since February. I didn't think we could have pepperoni or kielbasa?

In response to your question, I'll tell you my story about meats.

I didn't know this was a meat intense program when I first saw Julie. I was in a bit of a panic my first night of class, because I didn't like meat. I asked Julie if she could help me like meat. She said she can't make us like something we don't like. (Remember her talk about free will?) I asked if I could eat pepperoni and cold cuts, and she said yes and then she cautioned us about the amount of fat we eat in a single day. I asked about meatloaf and meatballs, as they were the only other forms of meat I could think of that I liked. She said we can have them because breadcrumbs are inside, but we are not allowed foods with breadcrumbs on the outside.

In the 2 1/2 years since I started this program, I have come to really love meat. I did this by eating out most of the time when I wanted a steak or ribs. I bought a grill a few weeks ago and I'm learning to get past the raw meat factor: seeing bloody meat tends to ruin my appetite. I still have a ways to go, but I do love grilled meats and I am determined get past this issue. Plus, it's expensive eating out all the time.

I'm focusing on lean meats and cutting back on the fatty meats. I did a little research and kielbasa, pepperoni, and processed meats are all high in fat. In my research, I also found support to Julie's caution (no surprise): if you're experiencing a plateau, you may want to take a look at how much of these (high fat) foods you're eating.

I'm also following Julie's advice to eat healthy meats, preferably organic and wow - what a difference in taste!

The program changes over time, so if you learned in your class that you can't have these foods, then don't have them. The bottom line is this: when in doubt, leave it out. Another option is to ask the office.

Congratulations Anonymous for being on the program for six months. I hope you're enjoying your weight loss journey and I look forward to hearing more from you.

High Self Images

Jane posted this wise wisdom:

Have you seen the video by Dove Soap? It has 4 women sit behind a curtain and a police sketch artist draw them as they describe themselves. Then, a second person comes in and describes the same woman. Each person's drawings were pretty much the same. The person who described themselves, emphasized the negative, while the other person who just met them, had a more realistic account of what that person looks like.

The video is so telling and pretty emotional. We tend to see only the negatives. Wrinkles, lines, chubby cheeks, chin, etc... Why do we do this to ourselves?

What we should do is this: Go to the store, try on our old size pants/shorts, then a size or two smaller. Each week/month going into the store will be very telling as to where you are headed. 

Be POSITIVE, embrace the changes...... Maybe now, you're in smaller shorts, but have a bit of spillage over the waste band... Hey, at least you can get INTO the smaller size.

We need to laugh at ourselves, feel confident and know that we are headed in the right direction. 

I like the way you think Jane. Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us. BTW, I did some research and found the commercial: