Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

I was early to my Weight Watchers meeting and two week-one people were talking to the instructor. She wasn’t my normal leader and I was a little disappointed that I was going to be getting my class from a different instructor. I waited patiently for my class to start and I pulled out my Treo to record my weight for this week. I heard the woman ask the question:

“Is Pasta Fattening?”

I almost laughed. That phrase means nothing to me now. Fattening? What does that mean? I had heard that word so many times in my childhood, and I accepted it as law. Certain foods were “fattening” and others were “okay.” Certain food were “bad” and others were “good.” I believed every judgment my grandma made on foods. If that lady had asked me that question five years ago, I would have nodded my head at her gravely, but now I’m stifling a laugh.

How would I answer that question now?

Any food is fattening if eaten in a great enough quantity. It’s best to look at things differently. This is a lifestyle change. It’s pretty hard to think about living the rest of your life without your favorite foods. As long as you categorize foods as “fattening” and “not fattening” then you will be excluding foods from your diet, which will last only as long as your willpower. For some people, that’s long enough to get them to their goal weight, but there is no way that it could last the rest of your life.

Life is too short to completely exclude pasta or cheesecake or flaky french breads or cheese or any of the good foods that our planet has to offer us. We have to learn that we can have ANY food that we want as long as we eat them in the proper quantities. There are no “good” foods or “bad” foods. There are foods that we can eat more often and in larger quantities. There are foods that we save for treats.

When I first started Weight Watchers, I saved enough Points for a Krispy Kreme Donut every day. They had just built a store in our town and if I was able to exercise enough and/or eat lightly during the day, I went there to have a donut. I think that practice alone was enough to keep me on the program for long enough to start to see results.

For healthy living to become a habit, it’s best to start slowly. It’s better for our bodies (see my entry called It Will Give Me Gas) and it’s better for our psyches. It only took me a couple of weeks of daily donuts until I was able to use those Points more wisely. Now, donuts are a rare treat for me. I enjoy them when I have them, but I am hardly in the mood for them anymore. That didn’t happen overnight.

The first step is deciding that you’re doing this for your health. The second step is throwing away the idea of “fattening” and “not fattening” foods. Anything will kill you in a great enough quantity, even water.