See "Eating Healthy" Video Below 

Ten Steps
to Eating Perfectly
          by Alden Wicker

1.  They said that fast food executives were turning fat profits by making us fat, so I stopped eating fast food.

2.  They said that killing animals was wrong, so I became a vegetarian.

3.  They said that fertilizer run-off from industrial farming is killing the Gulf of Mexico, the pesticides are killing honeybees, so I started only eating organic.

4.  They said that shipped food is too carbon intensive and not as fresh, so I started eating only local, in-season food.

5.  They said that it was wrong to punish a cow by milking it twice a day, or to steal a chicken’s eggs, so I became a vegan.

6.  They said that the paleo diet would restore my body and make my teeth healthy, so I stopped eating anything cultivated.

7.  They said that cooking food destroys its nutrients, so I starting eating only raw food.

8.  They said that following a macrobiotic regimen would prevent cancer, so I followed it.

9.  They said that I should follow a zero-waste diet, so I stopped buying anything with packaging.

10.  Then, when I showed up at the farmers market in December with my reusable bag looking for local, certified-organic, vegan, unprocessed, uncooked, uncultivated, whole foods, without packaging, that would fit into my macrobiotic diet, I realized that the best thing for the planet, the animals, and my health would be to just stop eating altogether.

FOOD
is not the Enemy,
and
Torturing myself over it
is not the Answer.

 

The substance of FOOD is not what made me obese. 
It all comes back to me
and to my personal eating behavior choices.

Every day, I decide and acknowledge what food, and how much food, is appropriate for me in my life.

That includes accepting that for ME, there can be no “forbidden” foods, and that MY life needs to have room for times of indulgence with food.



Many times in my life, I’ve worked to severely restrict my food intake.  I’ve done many diet experiments with all types and amounts of food substances.

But  I’m now 72 years old, and in the end, ...
part of the diet question has to be: 
“Am I happy right now?" 
"Do I feel fulfilled right now?” 

Time is finite.  Once it’s spent, it’s gone.  At this stage of my life, I’m committed to enjoying as many moments of my life as I can. If I can’t enjoy a moment, then I try to learn from it.

For the past 12+ years, as part of my own weight-loss and maintenance journey,  every day I have consistently recorded all of my food intake into a computer food journal. 

This has kept me Aware of what I’m eating, and helped me with Accountability and Acceptance of my own personal calorie limitations.


My own personal ongoing choice is to eat whatever food that I want in very small amounts, whenever it seems appropriate. 

If I want a cookie,
I eat a cookie, or part of a cookie. 

If I want cake or pie or candy,
I’ll eat a very small amount, like just a “normal size” bite or two.

If I want nuts or cheese or chips,
I’ll eat a small and carefully measured amount of nuts or cheese or chips. 

Even after all these years, I carefully read food labels; and weigh and measure my food.  I consistently record ALL my food ... Every Day ... into my computer food journal which provides me with a running calorie count of the foods I'm choosing to eat. 

For ME, this process is essential for my own personal weight Maintenance, and by using this method I am able to make my personal food choices fit into my daily calorie maintenance budget.

Food is not the enemy, and torturing myself by serving myself food I don’t want, or by avoiding foods that I do want, is not my own personal answer to the question of what and how to eat for weight-loss and maintenance.