It seems like everyone is on a diet, and the more they are on a diet, the more weight they gain.
The only difference between man and animal is self-control.
Humans can engage intellectually. Humans are driven by reason and logic while animals are completely driven by instincts.
Are you eating like a human or an animal?
Hashem created the world with many colors, sound and tastes, and we should not deny ourselves the pleasures of His world. However, we must exercise our self-control in order not to lose ourselves and our values of being a God-fearing Torah Jew.
Eating is not only to keep us full and to give us fuel to fulfil our duties of the day, food is also meant to bring us joy and emotional satisfaction.
We see that Hashem created fruits and vegetables in many colors and tastes so that we can see and enjoy these while we eat.
If you want to lose weight instead of going on a strict diet, eat what you want but with self-control
1)Eat much smaller portions.
2) Set the table, put a placemat, knife, spoon and fork.
3) Set up the food nicely and take the food to the table.
4) Don’t use technology, sit with your food as if you were on a date with the food, look at it, feel the taste and savor every bite.
5) Don’t feel guilty if you overindulged
Many people have an unhealthy relationship with food. Eating mindfully will allow you to eat and enjoy the food, as well as understand why you eat.
Are you eating because you are feeling bored, depressed, or anxious? If so, take your phone, sit down and find inspirational videos or quotes to lift your spirit and help put you in a positive frame of mind without touching food.
Are you truly hungry or just “noshadig” in the mood for nosh/ junk food? Once you identify the feeling, you can eat mindfully.
If you stand by the closet or refrigerator and shove food into your mouth without any self-control, you will:
1)not feel satisfied, or full physically, emotionally or mentally
2)you will gain weight and feel even worse than before.
Work on having self-control, so you don’t feel like an animal who has none.
Prepare the food and sit down properly to eat it mindfully, so you don’t feel like an animal who eats whatever it sees, on instinct and as they go.
Eating mindfully will help you realize what goes into your body and will help you make better choices.
Once you have to take the time to prepare the table and the sit down to eat a bag of potato chips or chocolate, you will likely make your time count by preparing a better choice of food and eat healthier.
It is OK to choose to eat a piece of cake (cheesecake or chocolate), just do so properly while sitting at the table and add a cup of coffee. This will leave you emotionally and mentally satisfied for a longer period of time, maybe even a month or two, and you will not need to feel deprived or the need to secretly grab a tiny piece when your emotions overtake you.
Please note: after watching a person I was close to, suffering from diabetes and going through the hell of dialyses 3 times a week and learning that this is a self-caused illness caused by eating sugar, I decided that sugar will never rule me and sugar will never “get me,” my self-control took over, and I mostly cut sugar out of my life.
However, it is still MY choice and I do have the choice to eat sugar treats on special occasions. I don’t feel restricted, it is my body, my choice of what I put in, and I choose to appreciate my body and what it does for me, I don’t want to abuse it with too much unhealthy food.
Meanwhile, a person who eats sugar all their life, once they become a diabetic, they lose the freedom to choose what they eat, they lose the freedom to eat sugar even occasionally, and if they do, there is a big price to pay for it health wise.
The following also helped me choose a healthy life-style. I had neighbors, a husband and wife, who were overweight and decided to go under the knife. They had gastric bypass surgery and were on a very restricted diet. Their food after surgery consisted of small baby size portions of mashed food. The packaging looked kind of like a small apple sauce, with each cover labeling what the mashed food contained, such as chicken and vegetables.
I was horrified at the thought that this couple had no choice but to eat so little of the bland food for a few months.
It got me thinking. What if the couple had the self-control to eat very small portions of great tasting food before the surgery, perhaps they would have been able to lose the weight on their own and not needing to go to extremes of surgery and being forced to eat food that had little taste and no food-appeal.
Whoever took the challenge of portion control, such as eating a good filling dinner but only in the amount that fits into a 6-inch plate instead of a 9-inch plate, and sitting down to eat no matter what you are eating, found that cutting portion size helped them be healthier, lose weight and feel great about themselves as they were in control of themselves rather than their desires and lack of self-control controlling them.
Remember: Self-control = weight control.
Don’t restrict yourself, just go for much smaller potions size. Smaller portions= weight control.
Never, go food shopping while hungry.
Once you get into this habit, you will slowly be able to play with different foods and learn to adjust to the tastes of healthier foods.
Did you ever try coffee without sugar? You should. The taste of coffee is superb, when you add sugar you mostly taste the sugar, dare to try it a few times the milk adds a perfect touch of sweetness. Once you get used to the taste of real coffee, you won’t be able to go back to drinking sugar.
The same is with cakes/ muffins. If you get used to making a healthier version without adding sugar, or eating 80% chocolate, it will be a guilt free fulfilling pleasure.
Here is a recipe that we created for a delicious cake or muffins, whichever you prefer.
2 cups milk
2 cups bran flakes
Place into a bowl and set aside for about 3 minutes
In another bowl place:
2 cups flour
4 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
¼ cup canola oil
1 egg
4 oz orange juice
¼ cup milk (this is in addition to the 2 cups milk)
First mix dry ingredient well before adding juice and milk.
Add milk and branflakes into mix.
Cut up a bar of 80% chocolate into small pieces (or chocolate chips) and add to the mix.
If you want it to be a chocolate cake or marble cake, you can add 2 to 3 teaspoons of cocoa.
You can either bake in pan or put into muffin holders.
Bake at 350 degree Celsius or 175 degree Fahrenheit for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
