Are you one of those people who want to have your cake and eat it too? If you are, then you have company.
As far as I’m concerned, you can have your cake and eat it (no pun intended) when it comes to weight management. I’ve never had significant issues with my weight until very recently, when my primary care provider warned me to either watch my weight or develop full blown diabetes. He labeled me a “pre-diabetic.” The “D” word was quite scary because I’m all too familiar with the long term complications of uncontrolled diabetes. I was not going to let that happen. I was going to lose weight regardless of the stakes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control Adult Body Mass Index guideline, I was already in the overweight category; therefore, tipping into the obese category would definitely passport me to a true diabetic. I started visiting weight loss programs in a desperate attempt to break my fall into the obese category. I met several hustlers, but one of them stayed with me because his claim to fame was helping individuals achieve weight loss in a very short period of time. Well, that relationship didn’t last very long because it was all about starvation. Three days and sixty dollars later, I said – sayonara! Needless to say, all the quick fixes failed because the primary focus was on what I couldn’t eat. Rice was a “no no” for almost all the weight loss programs I tried. No rice? Really? For someone who grew up eating rice as a staple, this was downright devastating. I decided to forgo all the instructions from the weight loss programs and go it alone because I cherish rice. I cut down my portions, ate small frequent meals, stopped eating some of my cultural foods while engaging in moderate physical activity; I started to see some results. I lost some weight, which I quickly regained after I re-incorporated some of my cultural foods into my diet.
My breakthrough came when I decided to finally contact a registered dietician (RD) who came highly recommended by a colleague. What’s notable about my colleague is that she had lost weight and maintained her weight loss for over 2 years. Part of her success was attributed to the guidance from her RD. She was living proof that I still had hope in my quest to escape diabetes. While only hopeful, I walked into the appointment apprehensive and very defensive. My first phrase to the RD after the introduction and usual pleasantries was “I love rice,” to which she replied “you can have all the rice you want.” Girl, did she get my attention! This woman took the time to learn about me, my culture and the foods that I cherish. She researched some of my cultural foods and raved about the nutritional value of most of them. Together we explored healthier ways to prepare my cultural foods and she encouraged me to eat most of them but to just watch my portions. Together, we developed a meal plan that incorporated most of my cultural foods while achieving a very balanced way of eating.
Finally, the autonomy has been quite gratifying and I’m discovering foods I would never have tried if it wasn’t for this progressive practitioner. I’ve never had an experience where a provider has taken the time to inquire about my dietary habits to such detail, let alone taken the time to research something so foreign to him/her. The RD was also happy to have learned about some new foods in her 20+ years of being in the nutrition business. It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle!
I know you can have your cake and eat it! Let me know your thoughts!