Discipline Reigns Supreme as a Weight Loss Virtue
Mention the word "discipline" in the same sentence as "eating," and many people will immediately tune out.
No one wants to hear about discipline in terms of losing weight because it conjures up images of deprivation, harshness, and control.
But you do yourself a disservice if you view discipline this way. The truth is that it's the key to your weight loss freedom. Italians are disciplined eaters and they also eat pizza and pasta -- more often even than we do. It's discipline that allows them to be such carefree eaters.
Discipline can take many forms. The great opera singer, Pavarotti, was quoted as saying, "One of the nicest things about life is the way we stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."
Although Pavarotti was not the best example of a disciplined eater (he struggled with his weight his entire life), he, like most Italians, knew the value of making mealtimes a sacrosanct time of day.
Even if you aren't the most disciplined eater, you can begin by committing to taking mealtimes seriously and stopping what you are doing three times a day to truly focus on the joy of eating. This means creating something good to eat that you can look forward to. It also means sitting down at a table and using dishes and cutlery rather than grabbing a bite from a fast food restaurant and eating in your car or on the couch in front of the TV.
When you feed yourself well at meals -- meaning that you eat a healthful blend of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, rather than some weird concoction you've come up with in order to "lose the weight" -- you will find it easier to practice another discipline: letting go of snacking.
Giving in to the snack habit is the opposite of living a disciplined life -- and you know the results: excess weight, mountains of guilt, and yet more snacking.
Getting a handle on your snacking habits by eating better allows you to begin to enjoy the pleasures of real food. You'll then be in a better position to trade an obsession with cookies, cakes, chips, etc., for an interest in the wholesome goodness of things like fresh fruit.
And your discipline eating habits will allow you to occasionally take a break and indulge in something decadent -- without the guilt.