The Dieting Lifestyle

The Dieting Lifestyle

The Dieting Lifestyle

We all know dieting is important to maintaining a healthy body and great shape. We also probably know that the best diet is one that focuses on balance. We've learned the food pyramid; we know to include multiple colors on our dinner plate; we get it.

But, for some reason, we just can't live it. If we're going to have cheesecake, we have a big ol' hunk of the stuff; if we're going to order a pizza, we order extra cheese and pile on the greasy toppings. And then, when we want to shed five or ten pounds, we opt for speedier options than a balanced diet can provide: we do the no-carb, all-carb, milkshake, cookie diets that are advertised everywhere. And six months later, we do it again.

There are women who reach for balance, though, however unsuccessfully. The Weight Watchers program is just one example of a company that pushes itself as a "lifestyle" rather than a diet, and it really does seem to stress the importance of balance in each meal. But here's the thing: a very close friend of mine lives on Weight Watchers. A year ago, she was on the program slimming down before her wedding; now she's on the program slimming down after the wedding. She's very healthy and fit, but she counts the "points" of every single thing she puts in her mouth. Her kitchen is stocked with margarine, skim milk, and fake sugar. Most of her meals are made with cans and packages. She's convinced her new husband to call her out on how many points the sugar cookie she's about to put in her mouth contains.

Then I have this other friend who is just as healthy and fit (and, frankly, a lot skinnier) who never diets and never counts. Yeah, we can talk about genes and metabolism but ultimately, I think she's just found that balance. She alone of everyone I know really seems to get it. She puts real cream in her tea and coffee. She bakes with real sugar. But she also eats $20 worth of fresh produce every week and cooks with only fresh ingredients. She makes her own salad dressings so she can control how much oil goes into it. She's taught me how to make my own pasta sauce and guess what? It's impossibly easy to do! She skips over hydrogenated oils in margarine in preference for real buttershe just doesn't use as much as the rest of us.

Finding that balance is hard. In fact, even though I knew balanced meals were the key to staying healthy and slim, I always thought dieting was an essential part of that process, at least every once in awhile. I've learned better by befriending these two women. Neither is doing anything wrongmy Weight Watchers friend is healthy, gorgeous, and happy with her lifebut the balanced life method seems much simpler to me. I'm not very good with numbers.

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