My Journey To Stop Dieting for Good
Invest into a healthy habit that suits you
For many years, I have assumed that obesity is not a concern for me because I am blessed with good genes or perhaps a speedy metabolism. Such a thought was not completely without basis: I ate my fill at every meal every day, and I occasionally snacked when I was hungry.
Besides, I never had to try out any of the popular diets in the media; I never sought out low-fat or diet foods sold in stores; I did not have to refrain from enjoying cakes, ice cream, or other high-calorie foods when the occasion arose. Despite the lack of effort, I was fit with a perfectly normal weight.
Well, I was very wrong…
When reality kicks in.
After I moved out of home and started living independently for a short while, this still held true. However, as my life became increasingly busy, I tried various ways to save more time to squeeze in as many tasks as possible into the limited 24 hours.
At first, I tried to stay up as late as I could to get more done. Then, I tracked the amount of time I spent on eating and decided that eating and cooking a proper meal was too much time wasted. Therefore, I started eating fast foods while on the go. Exercising also went out of the window quickly because it was not only taking up my ‘precious time,’ but also because I was too tired to exercise due to the lack of sleep and the poor foods I was consuming.
Before long, I started to have various issues, such as a low energy level (I have fallen asleep mid-sentence while talking to someone at night on a few occasions) and frequent infections. During my annual check-up, my results showed that I was pre-hypertensive, with high cholesterol, and though I was too ignorant to realize, the scale was not shy to let me know that I was on the verge of overweight.
To resolve these new issues, I started diets that were ‘scientifically proven,’ and though some had a short-term effect, when other aspects of life and work started to take priority, I would stop the diet and return to the unhealthy routine again.
More importantly, I did not enjoy the diets at all; despite the dropped numbers on the scale, they did not bring me any pleasure. So, when I was on vacation or holiday, I would break the diet and reward myself with something that the heart desired, which were often unhealthy things that are too high in sugar, fat or starch or salt, or all of them.
Both the statistics on dieting and my own frequent start-stop experience tell me that this would be a never-ending cycle. Therefore, I started looking for a more permanent way to stay on the ‘right path’ once and for all.
Turns out my past routines had kept me healthy.
As it turns out, my ‘blessed gene’ and ‘very fast metabolism’ were made out of a balanced three healthy daily meals fed to me by my family or school, and an unintentional but significant amount of daily exercise that was structured into my daily routine.
Since now I have full reign over my life, I get to decide on what I eat or not eat and whether or not I exercise. However, I did not appreciate my past arranged routines. Instead, I saw exercise as a chore, and I seemed only to prefer unhealthy options: even when ordering a salad, I would choose to have deep-fried toppings instead of the grilled version to make it more bearable.
It took some upfront time investment to purposefully develop a healthy living habit that’s best for me.
The Journey Toward Healthy Eating Habits
As part of the habit-developing journey, I spent some time understanding what a healthy and balanced meal is made out of. Among starch/grain, fat, protein, vegetable, and fruits, I have the most trouble finding enough vegetables. Without sufficient vegetables, I would eat more starch and calorie-dense snacks to fill the void, leading to weight gain and sometimes lowered energy (e.g., food coma).
Therefore, I decided to find the type of vegetable that I do like and determine my favorite method to prepare them so that eating vegetables is no longer a chore but something enjoyable and worth looking forward to.
For example, I found out that I am not a big fan of iceberg lettuce and would otherwise drench it with dressing if that’s the only choice of vegetable available. However, I like the taste of butter lettuce, so I would put more butter lettuce in the salad to ensure I have enough vegetables without abusing the dressing. Similarly, arugula is very bitter to me on its own, but it tastes great when in a sandwich with a small amount of pesto.
After this self-preference exploring journey, establishing a healthy eating habit is no longer difficult. In fact, within a few months, I not only caught myself craving for some lightly cooked broccoli but also started to notice the weird after-taste of some of the deep-fried fast foods.
To this day, I still eat fast food from time to time, such as pizza or burgers. However, unless there is no other food option available, I find it difficult to eat them frequently as I used to without wanting some other options, such as a colorful vegetable stir fry. Knowing all the vegetables that go well and taste well together, salad on a hot day is now my prime option.
Like developing a healthy eating habit, it also took a little exploration to find the best kind of exercise that can fit my schedule and, more importantly, that I like. I started with short jogs in parks that I enjoyed. As I become more fit, the runs got longer, and my interest also further expanded into weight training, skiing, tennis, etc. Even on days that I am short on time or equipment is limited, I would look for alternative ways to exercise and cherish the chance of breaking a sweat or the slight sourness that I feel in the muscle groups trained the day before.
I noticed various positive changes to my health within 1–2 months, and my test results returned to normal ranges in the following year’s annual check-up. I still track my time spent on tasks from time to time, and the most interesting thing that I noticed is that I can get the same amount of things done now if not more, even if I included exercise and cooked three meals a day with 7–8 hours of sleep at night.
What changed is the duration that I need for the same task. I did not realize that when I take care of myself properly, the improved health and energy level also improved my concentration and efficiency. Therefore, I thought to share the pitfalls that I have fallen into and my learnings with you here, hoping that it may help you.
