Being in control of your body’s weight is different from being on a diet and losing weight. Many people have lost weight, using different methods such as keto. Reading the forums there seems to be little doubt that keto diets, faithfully followed, result in weight loss. But how do you maintain your new body? You only know (1) your old life, which makes you gain weight, and (2) the diet, where you can lose weight, using a lot of will power.
The internet is full of stories of people gaining, losing, and then gaining all their weight back. That’s a tragedy, considering all the will power they put into losing that weight in the first place. And it’s very demoralizing. You have worked and sacrificed to lose that weight. You lost it. And then it all comes back. The weight control idea is more of a plan for what happens after you have lost weight. There is a lot of paying attention involved, but it addresses the problem of What Now.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – Blueberry pie, one-eighth slice (400); baked chicken piece (100)
- 500 calories
Lunch – 2 x bratwurst on flatbread (300)
- 600 calories
Dinner – 2 x Spanish tortilla slices on flatbreads with mayonnaise and Tobasco (265)
- 530 calories
Snacking – tea with half and half (160); raw blueberries (50); 2T hummus (70)
- 280 calories
Total for the day: 1910 calories (limit 1800 + 500 bonus from swimming, total 2300)
Swimming day today
I went swimming today. I like swimming and always have. Even when I was very overweight, I would make time for doing it. My point is, I do it because I like it. Many people have lost weight without going to the gym, or swimming, or increasing their exercise level at all. There’s no doubt that people who go to the gym regularly are more physically fit. You could make the case they are carrying their weight differently than a non-exerciser. And being stronger is better for carrying out your work. But it doesn’t seem essential for weight loss.
Exercise can make you hungry, though. By 4PM, I was already getting hungry. Tea with half and half held things off, and I ate dinner at 5:30. However I was hungry again by 8:00 and had some hummus and some blueberries. That worked. The impatient part of me (a large part of me is impatient) tries to fight against having any more calories. That voice says, maybe, if I don’t eat extra calories, I will lose weight faster. I used to listen to that voice a lot. But now I listen to being hungry. Withholding food when I am hungry is like a punishment, and who needs that? Losing weight is hard enough. Maybe my weight loss won’t be as fast this week. But losing weight isn’t the point.
Losing weight is not hte point??!?! What are you saying, Doctor?
I am building a new lifestyle that I like and a way I want to live, that I will be living for a long time. This lifestyle includes weight control. If losing weight is a little faster one week and a little slower another week, well, I am still in control. Paying attention still happens, the food journal is still written. I know when I am eating more and eating less. But while reaching 205 pounds is a goal, it is not the main goal. Building my new life and having it be fulfilling, satisfying, and wonderful, is the main goal. Dieting doesn’t get me to where I want to go. Weight control is the way forward.
-The Doctor
That is a really nice looking blueberry pie. You made it? You should post pictures/recipe. Blueberry is my favorite, but all too often it is watery with a soggy bottom crust. This looks perfect… right out of a magazine!