Every day, I monitor my food intake and write the results in my online food journal. I have been keeping the journal since January 1, 2019. I plan to keep a journal documenting my food intake for the rest of my life, or, as long as I plan to stay in control of my weight. After all, I am in the middle of losing 120 pounds. Gaining it back again would be terrible. That’s a problem many people have with losing weight. Once they have gotten their weight down, they stop paying attention and drift back into their old lives that made them overweight. And the same thing happens all over again. No thanks. Keeping a food journal seems like a small price to pay, to maintain all that success.
Anyway, it’s Wednesday. What is there to look forward to about Wednesdays?
My daily food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – 2 x bratwurst wraps (290)
- 580 calories
Lunch – BGC gyros (600)
- 600 calories
Dinner – Homemade vegetable curry and rice (600)
- 600 calories
Snacking – tea with half and half (80)
- 80 calories
Total for the day: 1860 calories (limit 1800)
Weight control ideas from others
I may have gone a bit over today, calorie wise. The important thing is to be honest about it. I’m not sure why, but I was hungry when I got up, hungry before lunch (like 10AM), and then hungry for dinner at 4PM. Maybe my exercise yesterday was more vigorous than I thought.
Today, I am reading an interesting article by a woman who lost 100 pounds and (last she wrote) had kept off the weight for 3 years. She tried to do in one long post what I am trying to write a whole website about, but she has some fabulous ideas. And she lost 100 pounds, so is worth listening to. She also has a whole section about the challenges of keeping the weight off.
Alicia had been on several diets and successfully lost weight, but always gained it back. She was determined to figure out how to keep the weight off and try again. Her essay has several sections:
- Prepare yourself mentally
- Set a healthy goal
- Set a calorie limit
- Count your calories
- Exercise
- Troubleshooting
- Maintenance
Some of her points are golden. For #1, she talks about the need to change yourself, and calls for total honesty with yourself. The Doctor approves. Your life must change, you have to re-order the values you live by and adopt a new moral hierarchy. If you are not honest about what is wrong about your old life, you are denying the need to change. Success will be harder to achieve.
Point #2 is also important. She suggests using the middle of the BMI range as the target for your healthy weight. She points out you can always change it later, if that doesn’t suit you. That’s great advice. The question of what weight I am aiming for has been a puzzle to me. I half jokingly suggested my goal was to fit into size 38 pants. Knowing from her point #1, with honesty, where you are, and from #2 a clear goal where you are going, orients you in the direction you want.
#3 and #4 are related. The Doctor’s calorie limit is about 1800 per day, though I will have more if I have exercised or if I really, really want to. Alicia is a lady, so her calorie limit is about 1200 per day. Women tend to have a lower burn rate then men. Even so, 1200 per day sounds pretty rigorous. The Doctor would have to be on 1500 calories per day to match her in proportion. She also makes the excellent point that the food you eat can be anything, so long as you are honest about the calories involved. Want an 1100-calorie burrito? No problem, get it, but cut it in half. Eat the other half tomorrow. Alicia also talks about finding foods that keep her satisfied for long periods. That’s important self knowledge.
Regarding exercise (#5), The Doctor doesn’t have much to say. Alicia is quite active and runs marathons. The Doctor knows that kind of thing isn’t necessary to lose weight, but there are a lot of people who find the activity challenging and get meaning out of making themselves do it.
#6 Troubleshooting is filled with valuable tips. The Doctor may come back to this section again someday.
Briefly, you should eat foods you enjoy, be honest about what you are eating, not punish yourself for having a bad diet day, save up calories to spend on the holidays. She also has tips for plateaus (where weight loss seems to halt for a time.)
The Doctor agrees with all this. Go Alicia! I hope she is having success keeping the weight off, too. I would like to discuss her maintenance tips some other time.
-The Doctor