How My Weekly Slice of New York Pizza Is Keeping Me Healthy

Pizza is one of my favorite foods. Not just any pizza though: New York pizza. There are few things in the world I enjoy more than digging into a piping hot, greasy plain slice, folded in half, and sprinkled with garlic powder and a few red pepper flakes:

(And if you're wondering, the only way to eat pizza is folded in half; just ask him!)

For a long time, I avoided pizza because society poisoned my mind to it. It convinced me that if I wanted to be lean, beautiful, and desirable to men, I would have to give up foods like pizza. Women who watch their figures don't eat pizza, and women who want to be wanted definitely don't eat pizza. Thus, pizza = bad, and I filed this fact away in my mind along with tons of other crazy tales about food that the media would have women believe.

That's not to say I never ate pizza, though. In fact, I remember quite a few drunken nights/early mornings in college that wound down in the local pizza parlor. The worst part about those nights was not just the fact that I couldn't remember the taste and experience of the pizza, but the weight of the guilt that I felt for not having enough willpower to abstain was so very heavy on my conscience.

Willpower is a finite resource; it is not something that you can call on over the long-term and expect it to last. We can harness it for weeks, maybe even months, but when it inevitably runs out we're left without any way to sustain our results for the long haul. When this happens, we often go back to whatever we were doing before and berate ourselves when the weight creeps back on. It's kind of a crazy way to live, bouncing from diet to diet, to see what sticks. Frankly, it sucks, but you know what? There is a another way to do this.

I'm about to shock you because this other way doesn't involve giving up your favorite foods. It also doesn't involve designating foods as good or bad. It involves figuring out, for you, a way of eating that is both effortless and supports your goals. It's about identifying what is the least effective dose of effort that you have to employ in order to automate your nutrition. I'm not talking about an "eff it" nutrition plan that promises you'll see miraculous results by eating whatever you want because, let's face it, we all know there's no such thing. But it doesn't feel good to eat whatever we want, whenever we want, until we're uncomfortably full, either. So imagine that sweet spot between eating with abandon and eating so strictly that you measure every morsel down ot the gram: it's a sensible way of eating that is categorized by moderation, never deprivation or gluttony. It's about learning what foods give you the most nutritional "bang for your buck," keep you satisfied longer, and leave some wiggle room for pleasure. It's all about balance. 

To get there, you have to be willing to invest some time and focus into developing your habits because remember: this is not a short-term fix, but a long-term solution to yo-yo dieting. Get ready to hunker down and play detective to determine what foods work best with your individual metabolism and best balance your blood sugar and keep hunger, energy, and cravings in check. What you do most often is what becomes a habit, so try your best to be consistent. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt when you slip up or over-indulge because this is a practice and there's no single, right way to do it. 

The following are the steps that I took to get a better handle on my nutrition. I wanted to hone in on the "big rocks" that will make the most impact day-to-day, but there are a lot of foods I was not willing to give up. Believe me; I am not where I want to be with all this stuff yet! BUT, I have not given up and I practice, practice, practice every. damn. day. Try these and let me know how it works for you!!!!:

1) Buy a journal and get in the habit of jotting down things like how your energy levels fluctuate throughout the day; whenever you over-indulge and want to further investigate why; what your cravings are like, when they hit, how strong they are, etc.

I have a couple :-) I write down inspirational quotes, blog
ideas, things I'm grateful for, nutritional insights...

2) In your journal, write down all your favorite foods (obviously, you need to show a leeeeetle discretion here. This list should not be pages and pages long, but it shouldn't be too skimpy either. This list doesn't have to include all things you might consider "junk" either; include foods that you enjoy that, by including them in your diet, will decrease the overall effort to have to summon. For me, some examples are heavy cream for my coffee, trail mix and Trader Joe's "no sugar added" chocolate bars.)

I did a "Long List," and "Short List," which I broke up into categories:
Daily, Weekly, A Couple of Times Per Month, and Rarely/Special
Occasions

3) Rank them, asking yourself: which of these will I need to incorporate more frequently into my diet in order to feel most satisfied? Which ones can I enjoy less frequently and not experience any unpleasant psychological side effects? For me, pizza is obviously a non-negotiable. I enjoy a slice about once a week, and it's great. I enjoy the experience to the fullest, savoring every cheesy bite. Once it's gone, it's gone, and I feel no shame, remorse, desire for more, nada. Because I know I can have it--that it's no longer "bad" or "forbidden"--I don't feel like I need to eat an entire pie. 

My Daily List includes foods that I incorporate into my diet in small
amounts to enhance my enjoyment of my meals. For the record, it's
"avocado, olive oil, butter, OR cheese...not all four :-)

4) Make another list of your #ENP, or Everyday Nutritional Pledges. I learned this concept from Jill Coleman of JillFit Physiques, and it's a list of the "big rocks" that will take care of 80% of your daily nutrition, setting you up for success. This list should be 3-4 things that you can easily commit to do daily that will move the health dial forward as much as possible without sacrificing your sanity. In other words, these pledges should be things that you can do with minimal effort but will have the biggest impact. For example, one of my #ENP is to drink at least 64 ounces of water per day. When I'm hydrated, I'm happier, my skin looks better, my eyes are brighter, and my energy stays balanced. When I have a belly full of water, I'm also less inclined to overdo it at lunch time or that tough part of the day between lunch and dinner when it's easy to reach for chocolate or potato chips. Another one of my #ENP is to eat protein with every meal. It stabilizes my blood sugar, increases satiety, and feeds #demgainz in da gym ;-). I also always leave SOMETHING on my plate when I eat: this encourages me to eat until I feel 80% full, not stuffed. And finally, I never eat in front of my TV, laptop or other electronic device (well, to say never would be a flat-out lie, but I try my best. Really!!!)

Keep in mind that these #ENP can shift and change depending on your goals, and I would encourage you to assess after some time whether or not these work for your lifestyle. Again, if you're having trouble doing them, they require too much effort and you feel yourself "white-knuckling" it, you'll need to change it up. Remember: the least effective dose of effort to succeed over the long term is what we are after! This is not a short-term band-aid but a long-term solution. 

4) Practice, practice and practice some more! This is your life, so don't worry about time: you have all the time in the world. Compared to all those times in the past that you tried a diet, succeeded temporarily and then rebounded, what's six months? A year? Five years? This is about you, your journey, your unique likes and dislikes. No one can do it for you because no one else is you. Relying on yourself and putting you trust in yourself is #sohard, but the fruits of your labor will be worth it because 5, 10, or 15 years from now, you will have maintained your weight, be enjoying how you eat, and have gained immeasurable perspective about your unique physiology and psychology. You'll also be loving the hell out of life!!!

As always, PLEASE, leave me a comment below, or shoot me an email to let me know how you liked this post, whether or not these suggestions worked for you, what you'd like me to write more about. I want to hear from YOU!