Weight loss is a side benefit for me. The goal is not weight loss. The goal is weight control. Weight control is about self knowledge. Self knowledge means knowing what I have to do to make my life better. Sound easy? Try making a list of the things in your life that you could change to make you happier, stronger, and better.
My goal is to make my life better. Losing weight is a side benefit.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – Pork carnitas wraps (400); banana (100). The wrap shell was 110 calories, the meat nearly 300, and the rest yogurt. The carnitas meat was a slow cooker recipe, very nice.
- 500 calories
Lunch – grilled wagyu beef burger (5.3 oz raw, 4 oz. grilled, 350); half wrap shell (55), cheese (80)
- 485 calories
Dinner – baked chicken, 1/4 wrap shell (225); mixed vegetables (40)
- 265 calories
Snacking – tea with half and half (80); 2 x Reese’s peanut butter cups (80); Snickers ice cream bar (180); pizza slice (100)
- 500 calories
Total for the day: 1750 calories (limit 1800)
The struggle to stay on top of it
The Doctor does not have the willpower to force himself to eat less food. It feels like punishment. It is unfulfilling. You spend every minute on a diet being resentful and unhappy. That’s no way to live.
Instead, I changed the way I saw the world. There’s a kind of magic in that. Now I am describing my new world to you. Words can change the way people see the world. Now, I am living in a world where my goal is to ensure I am hungry for every meal, but not between meals. Now, being full is distasteful to me. Now, being in control of my weight is more important to me than almost anything else.
Now, my willpower is deployed for a different purpose. I am using my willpower to think ahead, plan, cook, and make sure I am enjoying eating less food. Isn’t that counterintuitive? But it is a lot more fulfilling than eating just so I would have a full stomach. In a way, I am working to make sure I am happy and fulfilled. Losing weight is almost something that happens on the side, a byproduct of my new life. And this is an intense way of living, too. All the thinking, planning, cooking, experimenting, and writing it all down, has made this a really fully lived year. And it’s only half way over!
Time for bed. Good night! Dream of how to change how you see the world.
-The Doctor