For years I thought there was something up with what I was eating. I found myself eating huge portions day after day and not feeling satisfied.
I wasn’t doing nearly enough activity to justify my appetite. It just didn’t make sense.
I put on weight because of this. But why was I feeling hungry if my body didn’t need the food? I couldn’t work out what was I doing wrong.
I would try to cut down what I was eating, and this would work for a while. But I would always bounce back. I didn’t have the willpower to ‘diet’.
I started reading books and articles on the internet about food and what to eat. I kept on coming across the idea that white carbs were a poor source of nutrition and caused blood sugar spikes.
This was a tough message to hear. I’d lived my life eating vast quantities of pasta, potatoes, bread and rice. Surely these couldn’t be part of the problem.
But the thing that stuck in my head was that these white carb foods could satisfy you for a short period of time, but then you would feel ravenously hungry again shortly afterwards…
When I saw this it basically summed up my life since my early teens.
I would eat an enormous dinner and within 30 minutes feel as if I could eat another…
Could it be that my best friend white carbs was the cause of this? Like many truths, this was a potentially painful one.
But I needed to do something and so I thought, let’s try and cut out white carbs for a week. What would happen?
My mind flooded with questions and doubts. What would I eat? What if I was hungry? What if I couldn’t do it?
There was also a practical issue. All my meals were based around pasta, rice, and potatoes and my breakfast consisted of bread and cereals.
If I wanted to make a change it was time to open myself up to new ways of doing things. But it had to be simple and easy otherwise I knew I wouldn’t follow it.
My simple solution was to take a meal I would normally eat, remove the white carb and replace it (most commonly) with some kind of vegetable (broccoli was a favourite, but green beans and carrots were also an easy substitute).
The first couple of meals felt odd. I was so used to the white carb filler and stodge that taking them out made the plate feel a bit empty.
But then something happened. I realised I was starting to feel more satisfied at the end of my meal, without feeling stuffed. And I stayed satisfied for longer, without feeling like I needed to go and eat a second portion.
By about the third day my mind and body had transitioned to the new way of doing things. I wasn’t missing white carbs anymore.
I very quickly noticed a much more even level of energy throughout the day. No more food commas in the afternoon after my two lunchtime sandwiches…
Even doing my 3 to 4 exercise sessions a week, I was not getting super hungry.
And after a couple of weeks I noticed that I was losing weight. I also felt much less full and bloated after I’d eaten.
This felt incredible. I was losing weight as a result of changing what I ate, rather than trying to reduce what I ate.
This didn’t feel like a diet. I’d simply let go of one type of food stuff (white carbs) and replaced it with a different one (mainly vegetables).
Not only was I eating less and feeling satisfied, I was taking on better quality calories through the vegetables I had added in. This was a no brainer.
Once I’d got into this as a habit, I started to play with some other parts of my diet. In general I also try and avoid things with refined sugars (sugary drinks, sweets, biscuits, chocolate etc).
These were never a big feature of my diet anyway, but keeping them minimal makes sense to me.
But sometimes I want a snack. Instead of crisps (white carb…) I’ve got into the habit of having a slice of cheese, some blueberries, a carrot, or even a glass of water to start with. I found it amazing how these things satisfied my craving to eat.
So, do I ever eat white carbs and sugary stuff? Of course I do. But the key is that it’s not a routine part of what I eat on a daily basis. It’s a one off when I’m out, or at a friend’s house.
But most of the time, these things (white carbs and refined sugars) will not feature in a meal I have prepared for myself.
If I control the controllables, I can afford some flexibility when I need it.
This approach to eating in combination with my approach to exercise has helped my get into great shape, keep weight off, and feel much healthier.
The best bit about this is that it requires ALMOST NO WILLPOWER.
Why? The key is to only buy foods that you actually want to eat. If I don’t let any white carbs (or very minimal) into my kitchen cupboard and fridge, then the likelihood of me being tempted and eating any drastically reduces.
If I have a big packet of crisps and biscuits in my kitchen, and I come home from work hungry…I would break them open.
So I don’t do it to myself. I know I can’t resist them if they’re there (and I believe it would be the same for most people). So my key is not to let these things into my kitchen in the first place. I don’t buy them.
My focus is always to maximise simplicity and ease. I never want to be ‘on a diet’. So integrating this way of buying food and eating into my day to day was a remarkably easy way of changing what I ate.
If it’s not in my kitchen cupboard or fridge, I can’t eat it. Simple.
