Before anything else, let me say that your body size does not define your personality. Everyone should and can love their bodies just the way those bodies are right now. But sometimes we know our weight could have a negative impact on our health, we want to be more fit, or we just want to feel lighter. There’s nothing wrong with making changes to boost our health or achieve our goals. Just don’t base your happiness on your outward appearance—remember, you are a wonderful and unique human no matter what the number on the scale says.

I’m one of those girls who has always thought she was overweight— even when my BMI said I was at the low end of my healthy range back in high school when I lived off Red Bulls and chicken patty sandwiches. I never thought I was thin enough. Now I realize I was pretty light back then, and I wish I hadn’t spent so much time worrying about it. I don’t need to get back down to that weight, but now I’m just over the healthy range and into the overweight section of the BMI scale. I’d like to lose some weight to be healthier (and so I don’t outgrow my clothes, because I actually like most of them).

I remember a weight a few years ago where I felt healthy, strong, and confident. I’ve always felt that weight was just beyond my grasp, and if I just found the right way of eating I would be back to it in no time. That’s never happened.

I’ve always dreamed of weighing less, but at the same time, I’ve been steadily gaining weight over the years. How can that be?

There are so many factors that play into our weight. One of the first and most obvious is habit. We’re used to eating at certain times of the day. We might not even actually be hungry, but we’ll eat something because it’s lunch hour, or it’s dinner time. Because of this we’ve become out of touch with what real hunger feels like. We eat on a schedule rather than listening to when our body tells us it needs fuel.

Another factor of habit is the foods we eat. You all know “comfort food,” and what your favorite “bad” meals are. I know I’m great am convincing myself I deserve to eat something delicious—and that’s not untrue. It’s just that the “delicious” foods we consume are high in fats, sugars, carbohydrates etc. There are a lot of truly delicious foods out there that will power our bodies rather than weigh them down, we just need to discover them and get into the habit of eating those foods instead.

Speaking of sugars and fats, our bodies are built to crave and store those foods. This is just a product of our past. Our brain wants to store these foods up in case we experience starvation. It wants us to eat them and then keep eating them... but it doesn’t know when to stop. We literally become addicted to sugary, fatty foods—and sugar is in everything.

On top of all this, our portion sizes are all over the place. A big plate of spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner can equal the number of calories you were supposed to consume in that entire day. We give ourselves an extra scoop of potato salad or ice cream—those add up slowly over time. Instead of one bowl of cereal we have two.

And we snack! We eat when we’re bored. When we’re watching TV. When we’re doing homework. When we go out with friends. When we wake up. When we go to the bar... we are constantly eating and snacking. Of course, these aren’t “real” meals, so they tend to just slip by us—but the calories and new weight don’t.

So, how do we break this habitual eating and start to re-learn our ways of consumption?

I was vegetarian for three years—gained weight. Vegan for one year—gained weight. It hasn’t been rapid, but it is noticeable. I tried smoothies and whole food, plant based diets, and I have no doubt these work and are excellent for the body. However, the prep slowed me down. The cravings for other favorite foods distracted me. I always fell off the wagon and surprise—vegetarian and vegan comfort food is just as bad for you as “normal” comfort food! In fact, I went through cycles of extremely healthy and extremely unhealthy. Finding the middle ground has never been my strong suit when it comes to food.

I’m going to try something new for me that breaks all the rules of everything I’ve ever done. Something that will not require any prep except going to the store. Something that will require minimal effort to track. Something that will guarantee that, if I follow some basic guidelines, my calories will remain within a healthy range. And best of all, I’ll still get to enjoy some comfort foods, just in smaller portions.

What is it?

Packaged foods. I know, it seems wrong. But when I want to create a new way of eating and learn to eat less, this might be the perfect way. Lean Cuisine’s new meals have simple ingredients and taste great (I’ve tested a few). Bagged salads come with great toppings and no prep. You can even get oatmeal cups for breakfast—but breakfast isn’t hard to track intake of anyway. I could just measure my cereal and milk instead of pouring with abandon. Using a free app like myFitnessPal, I can scan the barcode and know exactly how many calories I’ve eaten that day, plus sugars, fats, carbs, protein, etc. Once I see my success and get used to smaller portions, I should be able to start substituting my own home-made meals when I had time to make them.

This is not a long-term solution, but a starter step. I look forward to trying it out for the next two weeks and hopefully beyond. Check back next week to see how I’m doing!