NEW LIFESTYLE

FOOD IS SOCIAL
After giving birth more than 36 years ago, I was 77 pounds overweight! Though I was frustrated, I knew that the pounds hadn't appeared out of thin air. Those 77 pounds were the result of an improper diet and a lack of physical activity. Second, I discovered that I wasn't very critical of what I ate when I didn't exercise. I had gotten into a vicious circle that I had to get out of. I have always been fond of food and need to eat a lot. Besides, meals are a wonderful way to get the whole family together. No one in the world was going to take my enjoyment of food away from me. With this starting point the question was: How could I solve my weight problem?

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO ALWAYS BE ON A DIET
Our personal finances were tight, so special diet food wasn't an option. Besides, I didn't want my children to grow up with a mother who was always on a diet. I did my research and read a lot about nutrition. Thirty years ago the literature on this subject wasn't always convincing. I quickly found out that counting calories wasn't for me. It would help for a while, but in the long run you get tired of it. It was important for me to be honest with myself, so I chose instead to use simple quantity comparisons. A bottle of cola has the same number of calories as half a bottle of wine, about 200 calories, while water or diet soda has 0 calories. A handful of peanuts is the same as four apples, while a small bar of chocolate has the same number of calories as two open-face sandwiches and a glass of orange juice.
At the same time I had to find a fun way to exercise, and here I had to be realistic. NO EASY DIETS HAVE RESULTS THAT LAST FOR EVER. Nor was there a point in taking off pounds without a plan to keep them off: To stay in shape after the diet. Now it was important to find something that was both effective and fun. I didn't want to start a diet on Monday only to give up on Tuesday. With two small children requiring my attention, it was practical for me to exercise at home. I put the books about nutrition away and started exercising with my collapsible Trim Ring, which I invented myself. It was really fun, my exercise program took shape and I exercised an hour and a half every morning and evening. I don't recommend exercising in such large doses, but I was young and impatient. Today I would have cut the amount of exercise in half; the results would just have taken longer to achieve. I focused on the enjoyment of getting into better and better shape. I noticed that I quickly become stronger and happier while
at the same time I also enjoyed going on long walks with the children.
Beside my weight problem I also had a problem with constipation. The advice I got from my mother was to eat whole-grain bread rich in fiber in addition to fruits and vegetables. This become one of several important keys in my future diet.

GIVE YOUR BODY A BOOST
Slowly but surely I found out that healthy food can be tasty food. My body needed nourishment to make it through the day, and I focused on what would give me the most energy.

This involved strategy and psychology, I wanted to teach myself healthy habits once and for all. As the saying goes, energy breeds energy.
Besides taking care of small children and exercising I had the energy to go back to school. Being in good shape and being happy are often closely related.

I DID NOT THINK OF MYSELF ON A DIET
NEW LIFESTYLE
For me, changing my diet was just as much about changing my lifestyle. I won't hide the fact that I have occasionally gone astray. The trick then is to get back on the right track again. A few extra rounds with the Trim Ring was the solution. That made it psychologically easier not to continue to indulge myself. It's important to enjoy life, and in all these years I've never viewed gaining a few pounds over Christmas as a problem. In practice this means a few extra twirls in January.

IT'S WHAT YOU EAT EVERY DAY THAT COUNTS
What we eat at parties and gatherings is less important.
This is important to remember, because life shouldn't feel like a straitjacket. I dieted once and the experience taught me that physical activity and intake of food are closely intertwined. In addition, I have accepted that I will never get back the figure I had when I was a teenager. On the other hand I'm happy that I have a healthy body that functions. The key word here is simply setting realistic goals. Five pounds too many is better than five pounds too few! Otherwise I'm afraid that life will be one long and unhappy diet.

It's important to stress that we are role models for our children. We have to take a firm stand against society's sick obsession with beauty ideals that sends the message that happiness and success are directly disproportional to weight. This pressure to diet and be thin often affects those who aren't even overweight.

SYNNØVE ENGESET AS
20©07