Every day, The Doctor keeps a food journal and calorie count. It’s the only way to be sure that you are in control of how much you eat. Who remembers what they wore last week? What the weather was? What you had for breakfast yesterday? The act of measuring helps bring your intake under control. The Doctor also weighs himself every week. That keeps the food journal honest. Once you have self knowledge, you learn how much you can eat in a week and still lose weight. The proof your food intake is under control is the scale.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – 4 x bacon strips (70); corn chips (200)
- 480 calories
Lunch – Meatball and hummus wraps (250); pretzels (100)
- 600 calories
Dinner – spaghetti and meatballs (500);
- 500 calories
Snacking – tea with half and half (80); Nestle Lil Drums chocolate cone (120)
- 200 calories
Total for the day: 1780 calories (limit 1800)
It's all in your mind. Change your mind.
Dieting as a mental process is so challenging. When your eating goal is to be full, every bite you don’t take is a deprivation. You have to fight against your eating goal all the time. (100% of the time, your mind is telling you, eat, I’m not full!). With that eating goal, dieting is a punishment and a trial that never ends. When people on a diet say they’re tired of being hungry, I think that’s what they mean. They are tired of not being full. Their brain and their being have accepted the goal – being full is the highest good! The only source of satisfaction and happiness!
The diet forums are full of people trying to stay strong, and I applaud them when they succeed. But the Doctor started his system of weight control (not dieting) because it was important that the system was comprehensive. There’s no way I was going to lose 120 pounds and have any chance of it coming back again. I decided my mind had to change. I had to let go of my old life and my old being, and reorder not just my goals but my values hierarchy. On top now, was being a person who could successfully control his weight. My old values got pushed down a few notches. They are still there. But they are not allowed to interfere with my new highest good, having my weight under control.
That is one side. But this is a complex problem. Another challenge was to reformulate my eating goal. I chose hunger as my goal. I don’t mean what other people mean, when I say hunger. As I said above, when your eating goal is to be full, anything less than that feels hungry, feels like deprivation. When I say hungry, I mean the gripping hunger that comes from having an empty stomach and digestive tract.
Food just tastes better when you are hungry for it and also looking forward to it. I found I was not hungry between meals (using my narrow definition of hungry). But I was hungry at mealtime.
Today, I had trouble keeping my focus. The old goal kept swimming into view. I wasn’t hungry and still wanted to eat, to graze, to feel full and satisfied. I didn’t give in (much), but it was distracting. I decided I was missing something. What was it?
It was a goal and a reward. Every 10 pounds lost, I have rewarded myself and recognized the achievement. That pulled me forward. I haven’t done that this time! And I am already approaching the next 10 pounds lost. I had better pick a reward soon, so I can see my path clear. Every bit helps!
-The Doctor
Is the reward at the end of each 10 pounds lost necessarily a food reward? Is that part of the enticement or can you substitute an experience, or piece of new clothing that fits, etc? I suppose you’ll say it can be anything out of the ordinary that you would enjoy.
It’s always been a food reward up until now. Something I enjoy and don’t usually have. Something to look forward to and pull me forward to the goal. Would an experience reward do the job? I’ll think about it.