When you are living a weight control lifestyle like the one explained in this blog, staying on the diet is easier than you would think. First, I came into this with the understanding that weight control is a life long endeavor. Think of it as a hobby, bordering on obsession. The thinner you want to be, and the thinner you want to stay, the more attention you have to pay. The food journal is a large part of the mechanism for weight control. Thin people who stay thin, pay a lot of attention to how much they eat and how much they weigh.
Stay on the diet (1) because it is your hobby and obsession. You accept “paying attention” as the price for getting thin and staying thin. Watch thin people sometimes. Throughout this blog I talk about how the thin people are eating. It’s not just behaving like them – that might mean forcing yourself to do things you don’t want to do. And nobody can keep that up and enjoy life. It’s learning how they view eating and food. That is one of the biggest differences between people who maintain their weight and those who lose control.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – toasted ham and cheese sandwich: 2 ounces ham (100); 1.5 slices Muenster cheese (100); toasted Italian bread (160); with pickles and mustard and horseradish (negligible);
- 360 calories
Lunch – 12oz New Orleans red beans and andouille sausage stew (375); 5oz cooked rice (160)
- 535 calories
Dinner – 8oz homemade sausage chili (320); 8x halved and oven roasted Brussels sprouts (135) 1T sour cream (30); 4oz rice pudding (130)
- 615 calories
Snacking – tea with half and half (80); 3x chocolate wafer cookies (190); 5x chocolate almonds (50)
- 320 calories
Total for the day: 1830 calories (limit 1800)
Staying with it
So: (1) make weight control your interest, your hobby and (2) learn to think like a thin person. I don’t mean the classic “think thin” meaning visualizing yourself being thin, but instead, observe and learn how thin people see the world. Why do they eat? How can they know how to eat just enough? [Don’t think that thin people can eat what they like and not pay attention to how much. Show me a skinny 40 year old and I will show you a weight obsessed person.]
Part (3) of staying on a diet is to make sure the food you eat is attractive. Today I had three well prepared homemade meals that were delicious and worth getting hungry for. Which leads to part (4), which is to prepare yourself for the delicious food. You must realize that food tastes best when you let yourself get hungry just in time to eat it. Ask anyone. Poor Richard said “Hunger is the best pickle.” And Mark Twain advised never to eat unless your stomach calls “vigorously, with a shout.” Don’t get too hungry, because if that happens you will never stop eating until you are stuffed full. It’s like a panic reaction buried down in the bottom of your brain stem. But a little hunger at the right time, satisfied with one of your favorite foods, is the most satisfying food experience you will ever have.
Why stay with your weight control lifestyle, which is really for the rest of your life? Because you have decided that weight control is more important to you than almost anything else. Because you realize that every thin person has to work hard to maintain their weight, and you are no exception. And because living this way is exciting and fulfilling. After trying this life, soon you will realize that your old life had shallow goals that were not worthwhile.
What is the weight control lifestyle’s goal? To eat just enough so that you will be hungry in time for the next meal. To serve yourself with love and consideration. In a way, you are loving the excess weight off. You do that by making sure you are getting the foods you love best, when you will get the most enjoyment from them. Who wouldn’t want to be served like that? I was willing to sacrifice being stuffed full, in order to get that experience.
What would you sacrifice, to live a better life?
-The Doctor
Your dinner looks delicious. You’ve inspired me today. I’m looking forward to spaghetti squash and roasted brussels sprouts tonight.
Thanks! It’s hard to get the oven roasting just right – usually too browned or else too lightly browned. I often have them with a splash of Balsamic vinegar. As for Spaghetti squash, well, I am just not a squash person. Give me Spaghetti!
I noticed that breakfast tends to be your smallest meal of the day. I was having difficulty with control doing that – back loading the day with calories and food. Have you tried switching your calories in the day? Breakfast the largest meal, dinner the smallest?
My stomach often doesn’t wake up for several hours after I do. Usually, I am happy with a smaller breakfast and a larger lunch. Sometimes I do wake up hungry and then I might eat breakfast and half of lunch in the morning! I haven’t been able to nail down why that is. But usually, breakfast is a smaller meal, yes