I had lunch in heaven last week.
Four Seasons Santa Barbara – outdoor patio table, facing the ocean,
a beloved friend and colleague on either side of me.
As Karen was telling us that she’s losing weight,
the server brought our orders.

Hers was a burger and fries.
“Well I still eat burgers” she said apologetically.
As if her lunch order made her a liar.

“Burgers don’t make you fat” I told her.

“Overeating makes you fat”.

Here’s what I mean.
If you eat only according to your body’s hunger signals,
and you eat a burger and fries, you won’t eat again for many hours,
because you won’t get hungry again.
A burger and fries is a  very filling meal,
that takes a long time to pass through your digestive system.
Whereas if you eat a salad, like I did,
you’ll be ready to eat again in 2 hours, like I was.
So I ate a protein bar,
and then a banana and yogurt a couple of hours after that.

I don’t count calories,
but I’m guessing that if we added up all the calories from my day’s eating,
and Karen’s burger and fries,
we’d be pretty equal.

Of course, the nutritional benefits of our food will be quite different,
but I find that, when we allow ourselves to eat whatever we want, we choose nutritional food often enough to balance out our  burgers and fries.

Karen was quite relieved to hear this
because this woman really loves her burgers!!
My hunch is that if she tried to lose weight using a regime that told her she couldn’t eat burgers anymore, she would last as long as her next lunch date.

So stop telling yourself that you have to eliminate food you love in order to lose weight.

Here’s all you have to do –  pay close attention when you’re eating:
1. Make sure your body wants food i.e. are you physically hungry?
2. Make sure what you’re eating is really what you want to eat i.e. are you going to truly enjoy it?
3. Make sure you stop eating when your body is satisfied i.e. is your stomach feeling about 3/4 full?
4. Don’t eat again until you are physically hungry again i.e. back to step 1.

Follow these four  steps, and you’ll lose weight eating whatever you want.
This is a skill that many of us  lost as we dieted and binged our way through our teens and adulthood. I encourage you to try this out, starting right now (no need to quickly eat everything you love before you start, because you can eat whatever you want anytime). If you have any difficulty with any step,  email me to set up a free mini laser focused coaching session!