Losing 120 pounds is a difficult piece of work. And doing it by forcing yourself to eat less food, for a year, is even more difficult. I have never managed it in the past. I did try, and all that happened was I got really disappointed in myself – my failure to keep it up, failure to be strong, failure to have willpower, failure to follow through. That kind of thing makes you doubt yourself. I want a life that is great and makes me feel great!
However, I have gotten a lot of success out of persuading, bribing, and rewarding myself to eat less. I’ve done it over 6 months now and lost over 60 pounds. That’s pretty great. I bribe myself by enjoying food I really like. OK, it’s not quite that simple.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – 2 x BLT wraps with precooked Kirkland bacon (200)
- 400 calories
Lunch – Big Greek Cafe Famous $5 Gyro (600)
- 600 calories
Dinner – 2 x Italian sausages (220); wrapped in flatbreads (110); with sauteed peppers and onions (30)
- 580 calories
Snacking – tea with half and half (160)
- 160 calories
Total for the day: 1740 calories (limit 1800)
Accept no substitutes
For breakfast, I tried the precooked bacon again, from Costco. It’s 90 calories for 2 slices, and I used six slices (three per wrap). That’s 270 calories, and 110 for the flatbread. I don’t really count the tomato slices and lettuce, but throw a few extra calories on there for horseradish sauce. It was really disappointing – leathery texture, hardly any flavor. It might as well have been a turkey sandwich, only tougher. No, bacon must be the real kind and cooked fresh to be at its best. Sadly, the pre cooked bacon will go in the trash. I don’t want to eat it and I don’t want to waste my few allowed calories on it.
My whole system of weight control depends on persuading or bribing myself to eat less, using really, really good food as the reward. Today, breakfast was a disaster. My body and mind were unhappy and at odds with my will – the part of me that likes to think it’s in charge. Breakfast could have been so much better. So I went through the morning feeling resentful and disappointed. That’s no way to persuade anyone.
I made this loss up to myself with a gryo sandwich. I don’t know how many people look forward to Wednesdays, but I am one of them. I look forward to my $5 Wednesday gyro at the Big Greek Cafe all week. So, luckily, I was able to turn my lemon of a breakfast into lemonade. Having a terrible breakfast set me up to really appreciate having a delicious and fresh gyro for lunch. I spent the rest of the day very happy with myself and had a great diet day.
When you are losing weight, find a way to persaude yourself to do it willingly. Once you have found that way, you can’t make many compromises. The price I pay for losing weight consistently, is fussiness about the food and an insistence that it be exactly when I want it, and how I like it. I can live with that. I have learned a lot about what I do and don’t like. That self knowledge is gold. Learn yourself and persuade yourself!
-The Doctor
Not to be grandma – but Costco will return your bacon if you were not satisfied. Yet another reason I love the store!
Land O’Lakes makes a half and half specifically for coffee (and tea!) that’s only 40 calories per TWO tablespoons. The carton says it’s got 30 per cent more cream than their regular half and half.
By the way, I would have returned the leather bacon to Costco too. That stuff ain’t cheap! Even worse, it ruined your breakfast