Your Life on a Diet

If I asked you, “Are you on a diet?” in general you would assume I was referring to what you are NOT eating. And I have been known to say, “If you want to lose weight quit worrying about what you ARE eating and focus more on what you are NOT eating”, and I truly believe that. You figure out how many calories a day you need to eat and the rule is don’t eat anything more than that.

But, if you are limited to 1800 calories a day, you can’t eat 1800 calories of bacon or chocolate cake and call it good (well, maybe once in a blue moon you can). You have to use those calories wisely. So in reality, the word diet should also be about what you ARE eating. It needs to be balanced, flavorful, good for you, high quality, well prepared, occasionally indulgent, and it needs to give you energy.

To use the diet example, here’s a way that I both cut and added to create the perfect QueenB scenario:

• I cut my calories to 1800. That was the perfect number that got me to my goal weight and has kept me right around there. I rarely cheat and if I do I eat less the next day or I do extra cardio to burn it off. I still eat what I love- fruit, sandwiches, salads, tacos, pasta, etc. It just stays under the magic number. Food I eat, in the quantities I eat it, gives me balance, it tastes good, of course it’s high quality, well prepared, quite indulgent, and it gives me energy.
• I initially incorporated a no dairy rule into my diet last year. But you know what? I love cheese. Good cheese, like an Irish cheddar or sage derby or dill havarti. So I brought it back. And another thing? We just got a Glacier Ice Cream near the house and they make Banana Caramel Crunch, the best ice cream on the planet, and my husband likes to take me to get it. So I go. Only once a week. But I go. These two foods give me balance, they taste good, they are high quality, they are well prepared, of course they are indulgent, and they give me energy… of the emotional kind mostly. So dairy is back!

I’ve been thinking about this concept of diet being what you add and take away a lot lately, but not about food. Try this on: diet is not just about what you eat, but also about everything else in your life. Your job, friends, family, health, activities.

What if everything in your life took the diet rules into consideration: is it balanced, flavorful, good for you, high quality, well prepared, occasionally indulgent, and does it give you energy? What would you lose? What would you gain?

Here are some questions you could ponder:


• Are their friendships that don’t bring you value anymore?


• Are their groups you want to be more involved in because they elevate you in some way?


• Can you do something different with your diet or exercise routine that would make you better?


• Are there new ways of approaching your job that can make you more valuable or make you enjoy it more?


• Are their aspects of your relationship with your spouse that don’t work that you can let go of? Or you can add?


• Does your family get the best of you and in turn fulfill you?

What questions would you add?

...QueenB Says