Wednesday Bubble – a little inspiration: Big dietary changes one small step at a time. A guest post by Miz Fit

Posted by Liz on Sep 2, 2009 in diet, Inspiration | 3 comments

I’ve been wanting to share a few inspirational thoughts about fitness and healthy eating for some time now. So I thought that there was no better person to do that than my Twitter friend MizFit.

Miz Who?!! MizFit, creator of MizFit Online, whose philosophy reads as follows:

To embrace and love whom you already are.

To be wholly comfortable in your own skin.

To realize that, by virtue of BEING, you are enough.

To be unapologetically yourselves.

I truly admire this woman and know that you will enjoy her post. Show her some love!

This post is all about you.

The collective you.

The greater you who fill my in-box (which I adore) with your questions about health, fitness, tattoos and more.

Recently I’ve been receiving variations on this question a *bunch*:

I’m ready to change my eating habits and don’t want to do a diet (I’ve done WW before and Jenny Craig and South Beach).  I want to try and eat intuitively which I know you do. What can I do starting now?  Please don’t tell me to read a book 🙂 I’m so busy.  What’s the first step in your opinion?

I chose this email because it said “in your opinion.” My apologies to the rest of the emailers but it saved me the dizclaimer yammer. Another reason I chose this email is because of the ‘what can I do starting now’piece.

We all know how easy it is to do the “starting Monday I shall” or “on the first of the month I will…” & yet we all know (in our hearts. where it counts.) that it really is all about starting right.this.moment.

So I give you what I did.

When I finally decided the time had come to shed my freshwoman forty I followed about six steps & they’re the same kind of thing I still do on a daily basis. When I finally decided the time had come to shed my freshwoman forty I had no acronym with which to remember it all.

I give you an acronym to use. STARTING TODAY:

Mini-meals. I’m a believer in spreading the calories through out the day. For the most part none of my meals are bigger than any other (I do often eat more at breakfast out of hunger. Intuitively.)  Beyond the fact I think this helps me stay lean—-it definitely helps my blood sugar levels stay even & I have far more energy.

Intuitive eating. Start this one today – slowly Listen to what your body is saying. Pay attention to how you feel after eating certain foods.  JOURNAL.  For me this isn’t journaling *caloric intake* but feelings.  Noting how, when I crave sweets, it’s mainly AFTER I’ve had a high processed carbohydrate meal. That sort of thing.  Perhaps you begin by not even CHANGING your foods—just logging your body’s reaction to them.

Zero HARD & FAST RULES. Again, this is just what has always work for me. I’m a rebel. Make a rule that I can not have or do something & it is immediately the ONLY THING I THINK ABOUT.

Fiber, Fiber, Fiber. At this point I think we all know why (want more info? still unclear? desire a list of fiberfoods? please to let me know in the comments.)—be sure you both KNOW and are acting on it.

Invest in YOU. For me this takes the form of spending lots of money on quality foods & less money on (quality) clothing.  I love me some sushi grade tuna. I’m happy with clothing from Goodwill-type places. For some this may be an investment in a personal trainer.  For others, in a gym membership. I have more than a few non-wealthy friends who invested in cooking lessons in their homes so that they could learn a handful of easy healthy meals.

Which leads me to…

Tried & trues. Always have a few meals which you know you enjoy, which are healthy, & which are easily prepared in your arsenal. I tend to have the T & T’s already prepared and waiting in the fridge for those moments I’m too tired to cook. Other people prefer just to have ingredients on hand. Whatever *you* decide, I’m a firm believer in the fact that these T & T’s help to set us up for food success.

That’s me, People.

What I did starting out (sadly sans-acronym. I love me some acronyms) and, what I do today.

When I’m feeling completely scattered, out of my element and CRAZED I figure if I can stick to these six things Ill re-find my groove in no time.

Now you.

What would you tell the emailers who ask:

What’s the one thing I can do, starting today, to clean up/change my eating habits?

Hit us all up in the comments.

About Miz Fit (AKA Carla Birnberg)...Carla Birnberg is an award-winning author and fitness expert. A onetime personal trainer, she owned a boutique training studio, Head2Heel, in Chapel Hill, N.C. Carla also competes in both bodybuilding and fitness including a third place finish in the 2001 NPC House of Pain bodybuilding show. Her writing can be seen on Yahoo!Shine, in the Atkins Nutritional monthly newsletter, Experience Life Magazine, Austin Monthly Magazine and as a monthly health column in Good Life Magazine.

Carla is also the author of the book, The Whole Megillah: Miztvahs, Matzo Balls & Everything in Between (Bluegrass Publishing, May 2007) Carla’s blog, MizFitOnline, has been selected to serve as part of Oprah’s Virtual Digital Blogging Network and is ranked by Austin Monthly Magazine as one of the top 3 health blogs in the city.