One thing that may not be coming across in these daily posts is my quality of life. People I talk to find it hard to let go of the idea that losing weight means willpower. A lady today asked how I kept from backsliding, and complimented me for keeping going. There’s a definitely a disconnect, because I am living well right now. I don’t feel deprived, because I have changed my values and my eating goals. And besides, the food is wonderful. Today, I am going to represent all my meals in pictures. This is from a typical day.
For breakfast, I made BLT wraps with lovely Costco bacon. 400 calories!
And for lunch, I had 500 calories. I made meatball, hummus, red kraut, and pickle wraps, with horseradish. It’s like eating a Middle Eastern pita with beef. Only better.
Dinner doesn’t get an accurate picture. I didn’t think to take one until just now. I had a bowl of baked Mexican nacho topping, a family recipe involving ground beef, beans, and cheese, layered and baked. Then it is served with chips, salsa, and sour cream. The different textures and tastes are wonderful! Here’s a picture of a similar thing I did with chili last week.
My plan was to have cookies and tea around 3-4PM, but that didn’t work out today. Instead, I had tea and cookies for dessert. These cookies are from Costco! Five of them are about 210 calories.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – 4x Bacon pieces (70); 1 whole wheat wrap (110); lettuce and tomato and some horseradish.
- 400 calories
Lunch – 6x Kirkland meatballs (47); 2T hummus (80); red sauerkraut and pickles with horseradish
- 500 calories
Dinner – 8oz nachos (390); 1oz tortilla chips (160) 2T sour cream (60);
- 610 calories
Snacking – tea with half and half (80); jerky (50); Kirkland chocolate cookies (210)
- 340 calories
Total for the day: 1850 calories (limit 1800 + 500 bonus from swimming, total 2300)
See how I suffer
I’m just joking. I am not suffering, but enjoying this life. The food is so good that I can look forward to it. It is worthwhile to get a little hungry just before eating it. If the food was always so-so, or salad, or some diet food, why would I look forward to it? Nobody looks forward to salad every day (as the meal).
This actually has caused me problems, when the food didn’t turn out well at a restaurant, for example. It’s a huge let-down and you feel cheated. You’ve sacrificed for nothing. So to make this work, I use my willpower, not to eat less, but to make sure what I am eating is worth the trouble. And it’s a lot of trouble, both getting hungry and preparing all the food! Every meal has to be great, or else the system collapses.
The satisfaction and fulfillment that come from preparing and eating this kind of food, while building up your own anticipation and maximizing your enjoyment, while having a measured portion, just brings your whole being together. It’s a great feeling, having all your parts come together to make a success of some part of your life. This is an amazing feeling and I would give up a lot to keep doing this. I might even give up 120 pounds, or more.
Isn’t that a nice way to think about it?
-The Doctor