I recently completed a full range fitness test given by my personal trainer. Based on the results, I had to really choose to what I call, “Work my Process.” What I mean by this is taking the information that I received about my fitness level and consciously use the tools I have in my toolbox to hear the course corrective feedback/information neutrally as a result of taking the test. Sometimes this is easier said than done! I noticed afterwards that I did not focus on all the wonderfully positive feedback. I noticed myself focusing only on the course corrective (and I labeled it negative at the time) feedback. So, in some areas I’m quite fit and my ego was fed (an interesting food metaphor) and in other areas, I had to work really hard to not go into self judgment. Well, let’s be honest, I had to work really hard to not go into “much” self judgment.

It seems that for every level or layer that I release about what my body is and what it is NOT, I get tested to see if I learned the lesson I was to receive. I find this in a lot of areas of my life actually. I might even call it a spiritual principle. Did I really learn the lesson? Let’s check! While in place of feeling really confident that I am very strong physically and work out five days a week generally, it was quite challenging to hear that I don’t actually get enough oxygen to my muscles when working out at my maximum heart rate due only to my physical weight. My trainer recommends me releasing weight! This struck me as quite ironic and downright humorous; as if what I have been doing for the last 20 years wasn’t intending to do just that!

Let’s take a closer look at the metaphor: “I don’t give enough oxygen to myself when I’m working hard.” I don’t give myself breaks. I work too hard. I don’t acknowledge myself enough. The list could go on.

I am amazed by how much we as humans (and I include myself in this embarrassingly enough) seem to feel that we must begin something with as much energy and enthusiasm as we can muster which more often than not tends to then fizzle over as little as a couple of weeks. Does this sound like the way you approach releasing weight? It’s a black/white, on/off, all/nothing game that tends to get played. My experience has led me to believe that this particular method of accomplishing one’s goal or Ideal Scene is just not sustainable.

Have you ever seen a teenager trying to learn to drive a manual transmission car, and they stall the car? I sure did that plenty of times. Have you ever seen one throw their hands up and declare that they’ll never be able to drive (giving up), that it’s the car’s fault (our body), that if only they had premium gas it wouldn’t have done that (different food or supplements), that the driving instructor didn’t teach them correctly (putting the blame outside ourselves – our doctors, our advisors, etc.). Sounds absurd, doesn’t it?

Can you see a teenager saying that they want to learn to drive an automatic because it’s too hard to drive a manual or stick shift transmission? I can picture this more easily. Yet, how many times do we wait for different circumstances to change before we begin something? I know plenty of teenagers that can’t wait to go fill up the gas tank for a chance to drive. It’s about intention. Teenagers learning to drive have a clear intention, however they need to work it in order to go and to do that.

It boils down to choice (yet another food/cooking reference): Am I going to participate in this weight and body image journey of mine in a state of struggle or flow? Chances are if you are reading this, that you or someone you care about are already going through this journey. Most would agree that it would be a much nicer ride to go through it in a state of loving, gentleness, self-nurturing, and flow, than one of self-judgment, not doing whatever enough, and generally being down on yourself.

It’s a simple concept, and all it takes is choosing differently. The great thing about it is that we get an infinite number of opportunities to choose how we are with ourselves as we go through our journey. Let’s face it: how we are with ourselves as we go through the journey is really the issue. So how do you want to continue your journey? What is your intention?

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

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The Idiot-Proof Diet

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

The ‘calorie shifting’ model takes place because you eat every two and half hours. The theory is that because your body is consuming calories (energy) constantly throughout the day, it’s always in ‘burning calories’ mode instead of the ‘saving calories’ mode.

When you sign up for the diet, you get access to a diet handbook, an 11-day diet-plan and a diet calculator. You get to pick what foods you like to eat so don’t think that you’ll be tarving in this diet!

NutriSystem

The NutriSystem way of dieting is all about proper meal planning. People love this diet because it takes away the burden of trying to figure out what to eat during their dieting phase. You see, a lot of people actually get confused as to what they can eat when they want to lose weight. That’s not really surprising because there’s so much information out there and for every yay sayer, there is a nay sayer so it’s really tough to know what to eat.

However, with NurtiSystem, they do all the meal planning and portion controlling for you. You just need to sign up to any of their diet programs (e.g., Women’s Program, Men’s Program, Vegetarian Program, etc.) and order a multi-day (usually for 28 days) diet program.

After you choose your diet program, a menu is presented to you and you simply choose what you want to eat. The meals are then delivered to your doorstep at various intervals during your diet program.

The South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is popular because the name alone conjures bikini-clad bodies! Add to that the fact that it was founded by a cardiologist, Dr. Arthur Agatston, then you have a sort of ‘doctor recommended, doctor approved’ seal on the diet as well.

At first glance, the South Beach Diet looks a lot like the Atkins Diet in the sense that it restricts carbohydrates during the initial phase of the program (there are 3 phases). The first phase (14 days) encourages ‘normal eating’ in the sense that you can pretty much eat whatever you want but you must NOT eat bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, or baked goods. Fruit is also not allowed. No sugar. No alcohol.

The second phase allows you to SLOWLY introduce these items back into your diet but at lesser levels that you consumed them before of course. The third phase is more about general maintenance.

Weight Watchers

Probably one of the longest running diet programs out there is Weight Watchers. It believes in the overall approach where food, exercise, behavior and support are addressed.

Weight Watchers is known for advocating a point system for foods. Using this system, one calculates the calorie intake of the foods he or she eats. The number of points you can have in a day varies depending on your weight. The beauty of the program is that there are no gut-wrenching food restrictions so you never feel deprived of anything. However, the point system teaches you how to balance your meals so that even if you indulge on one food item, you don’t go overboard and consume too much in a day.

What is a bland diet? It is a diet specially set to treat certain gastrointestinal or stomach problems such as heartburns, ulcers and gas.

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An answer to a question, what is a bland diet, is that it is a simple treatment for people suffering from any one or more gastrointestinal disorders such as chronic gastritis, ulcer, esophagitis and dyspepsia.

Bland diet is a dietary regimen for people suffering from stomach disorders. Hence, it is quite understood that ingredients of a bland diet are soft food items, which are easy to digest with a capacity to keep the acidity to low levels. Questions about diet may be asked to your physicians and he/she can suggest the diet or recommend a dietician to do it.

Diet medical questions may include the queries about the food stuffs to eat and food stuffs to avoid during the time while a person experien ces any gastrointestinal disorders. However, before a dietician could decide the bland diet for a person, he/she needs to seek answers to several medical questions related to the person such as any food allergies or irritations associated with any food items and emotions medical questions of people.

Bland Diet:

The diet prescribed as a bland diet will include food items that are easy to digest and low in fiber and acid contents. Even giving up alcohol and smoking is advised while patient is on bland diet. Also a patient is advised to have 4 to 6 light meals after regular interval to avoid heavy and large meals.

Chewing food properly and eating slowly helps in the digestion of the food. Adequate sleep, avoiding smoking and controlling anxiety are supportive treatments for the standard treatment of the problem.

Allowed Food Items:

• Dairy Products
Milk, cheese, yogurt with low-fats and other dairy products are easily digested and hence, can be included as a part of bland diet. However, there is no restriction on ice-creams and one may consume even ice creams during bland diet, but it should not have any product such as nuts that are not allowed in bland diet.

• Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Fresh vegetables and fruits are allowed to a bland dieter. However, while carrot, squash, green peas are good to eat in a bland diet, broccoli, onions and green peeper should be avoided as it forms gas. In fruits, oranges, grapefruits, and bananas are allowed.

• Proteins
Protein requirement of the body, while on a bland diet should be met with soy products and meat. Fried chicken and greasy hamburgers are not allowed to be consumed, while grilled and baked chicken is allowed.
Low-fat peanut butter and eggs are also efficient to meet the body’s protein requirement in a bland diet.

• Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are contained in whole grain breads, pasta, oatmeal, corn flakes, white rice and sweet potatoes. All these food items are allowed.

Bland diet is designed for treating certain medical circumstances such as gastrointestinal problems. Hence, to answer what is a bland diet, we can say that this is a diet that aims at improving the digestion with the help of a timed-routine diet and soft to digest food items. Once the problem is controlled patients can return to their normal diet.