Naturally Thin

I know I wrote about a book last week for nutrition, but I have to again this week too! I've been reading, Naturally Thin, by Bethenney Frankel and it is transforming! I love it because it has the concepts I loved in French Women Don't Get Fat, in that it is about how to think about food, but it has much more to it. She teaches you how to think like a thin person. Like one of those people you look at and say, she eats whatever she wants, yet she's so thin, how does she do it? She teaches you how to eat whatever you want, but have the right mindset about it, and never go on a diet again!

I've been eating this way for about a week now and I've been eating much less and stopping when I'm satisfied. I never did that before! Anyways, I highly recommend it to EVERYONE! Here are a few great points (but she explains them in so much more detail in the book, I suggest you still read it.)

1. Food Noise vs Food Voice: Food Noise is the voice inside your head that gets mad at you for even looking at Cheesecake. It makes you focus on the body parts you hate. Or making you think food equals love. Using food to comfort yourself. Feeling that you deserve to eat the whole pizza because you've had a bad day. You don't think you'll ever be thin, so why even try. Food Voice is the opposite. It lets you know if you really want something or not. Like if everyone is going out for ice cream, do you really want it, or are you just getting it because everyone else is. Or do you really want that snickers bar in the drawer, or do you just want it because it's there and you think you can't have it. Your food voice will tell you if you're really hungry or if you really want it. It let's you know when to stop eating because you're satisfied.
   
2. The Differential: Eat the low fat or calorie foods you don't notice a difference in, so when it really matters to you, you can eat the fattening thing. Her example in the book is that it matters to her that she has a fatty New York strip steak topped with butter vs a bland poached chicken breast. If she did that, she'd eat that and everything else because she wasn't satisfied and feel deprived. Instead she had a few bites of the steak (after filling up on the salad) and stopped after that because she was satisfied.
   
3. Point of Diminishing Return: Stop eating when the next bite isn't as satisfying or amazing as the bite before. If you're eating a food that you think you'll be too tempted to eat the whole thing, have a bite of something else in between to help balance your tastes. An example for her was she craved a cupcake and so she got one. Afterwards she wanted another one, but had a small piece of real dark chocolate and an almond and her craving was gone.
4. You Can Have It All, Just Not All At Once: You are the only person responsible to putting things into your mouth. Don't blame your spouse, or parties, or birthdays. You don't have to have it just because it's there. Listen to your food voice to tell you what you really want. If you really want some ice cream, you can have it. But make sure it's what you really want, and not just because everyone else is having some. Question your food impulses. You shouldn't have pizza and ice cream in one meal. Balance your proteins and starches, and vegetables, and fruits with fats and sweets.
5. Taste Everything, Eat Nothing: Eat little, but well. Spoil your appetite by eating a healthy snack before you go to a party where you know there will be lots of goodies. Then choose your favorite, and have a bite of each. She also calls something switching lanes, in that if you're eating something you absolutely love, make sure you have something else to balance it so you don't keep eating it.
   

There are so many more great principles in her book, but those are just a few. Out of all the diet books I've read, this one is my favorite. Because she teaches you how to think about food, instead of giving you a list of things to eat and then once you don't eat those things, you have no self control. Hope you enjoy it!