Badass CEO Confession #1: I am addicted to the Real Housewives of New York City. It is like a train wreck that you know is coming -- once I start watching, I can't take my eyes off the disaster and dysfunction.
Badass CEO Confession #2: Bethenny is my favorite, because she is a Badass.
She gets it. By "it" I mean balanced, sensible eating. A diet that isn't a diet. Eating that doesn't declare any food off-limits.
As she puts it in the introduction to her book, "Naturally Thin," millions of Americans "have become enslaved by dieting.... We don't feel good or happy or satisfied with our lives, and we blame it all on a number on the scale." All because we want to be that "naturally thin" person.
If there is anything I hope the Badass Fitness blog conveys, it is a message of moderation, balance, and self-acceptance. That doesn't mean being resigned to a lifetime of obesity or being 30 pounds overweight. It means finding your best self. No the self that looks like a Victoria's Secret model or LeBron James. I'm talking about finding the Badass you: the strongest, best, healthiest and most balanced you.
Bethenny is preaching a similar message, and it's good enough to share with the Badass Army. "Naturally Thin," with its recipes and quick tips, is a good book to have on your fitness and health bookshelf.
Until you get your own copy of the New York Times bestseller, here are a few of my favorite Bethenny-isms. Write them down and put them on your fridge - that way you're reminded of them the next time you go to eat in a way that is anything but balanced.
1. Your Diet is a Bank Account: This is the biggie, the "master rule," as she puts it. Just as we balance our checking accounts, we must balance our food choices. That means not eating too much of any one thing. It means not depriving ourselves all the time. We should consider what we eat to be investments in ourselves. Your Badass is a temple. Treat it that way.
So if you have pancakes for breakfast, that's like taking $100 out of your account. Do you really want to have a big bowl of pasta for dinner (another $100) and a footlong Italian sub for lunch (another $100)? Why not balance the pancakes with a lighter lunch and fish for dinner (add back another $200!)
2. Leave that plate dirty, not clean: Just because the food is there, doesn't mean you have to eat it all. Most servings in restaurants are too big anyway. That entree is two, if not three, serving sizes. So it's not even healthy to eat it all. You can have meatloaf - just don't eat enough for three truck drivers. And mac n cheese isn't going to make you fatass. But 2 cups versus 1/2 or 3/4 cup will. So when you start to feel full, stop eating. Tell the Clean Plate Club goodbye.
3. Downsize: About those portions. They are excessive. My father and his wife, native Japanese, live in Tokyo. When they come to the U.S. to visit, they are appalled at how much restaurants serve. So much of weight management is portion control. Unfortunately our ideas about portions are distorted. Take a step back and learn what a real serving size of pasta and meat and cheese is. Then you'll understand why the French eat cheese and bread and wine - but are a lot leaner, collectively, than Americans.
4. You can have it all, just not at once: OK, you want a double cheeseburger. But why do you have to have that AND fries AND a milkshake? You can have all three - just don't eat them all at once. Remember the bank account? Why not bank the fries and milkshake for future indulging? We live in a society of "now." We want it now, and we want it all. Well, that might be OK for a DVD collection, but apply it to eating and that's a recipe for an oversized Badass. So go ahead, have a few bites of that chocolate cake. But do you have to have it all now?
5. Know thyself: We all have our own food triggers. If you put a bag of Tostitos Hint of Lime tortilla chips in front of me, I will attack that bag like nobody's business. I know this about myself. So I don't keep them around. Yes, if I'm at a party I eat plenty of them. But I know that if they were in my pantry all the time, I'd end up eating a lot more of them. So what are your triggers? Do you know that one M&M leads to 50? Be aware. Be honest. It's OK to have food triggers. It's even OK to give in. Just don't do it every day.
Coming tomorrow: Badass CEO plays Badass Foodie! Hint: That veggie co-op zucchini makes a great dessert!