To lose weight, you have to get your mind right. Once your mind is right, then your brain is on your side. Your body will follow. How is this mind-miracle achieved?
On one level, it’s your brain. You have to figure some of it out. But I can show you some good ideas. First, be willing to admit that everything you think about weight loss might be wrong. A common way to approach a diet is to try to will yourself thin . Don’t force yourself to eat and do things you aren’t happy about. That brings us to punishment and resentment. Through force and punishment, you can actually come to resent yourself. It is easy to resent the part of you that is saying “eat less!” and insisting that you eat things you don’t want, and making you go hungry and unsatisfied.
Instead, think of it as a negotiation between equal partners. No force is allowed. Get your mind right first – you want to lose weight and eat less. How do you do that and still have a satisfying and happy life experience?
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – 2x pieces Spanish tortilla (333); Kirkland whole wheat wrap (110); 1tsp Duke’s mayo (30);
- 470 calories
Lunch – noodles (250); toast (130); hummus (80); Swiss cheese (50);
- 510 calories
Dinner – Aldi sausage and pepperoni pizza half (570);
- 570 calories
Snacking – tea with half and half (80); 2x Aldi peanut butter cups (120); 1 bag chips (150);
- 350 calories
Total for the day: 1900 calories (limit 1800 + 500 bonus from swimming, total 2300)
Spooky creepy spectacular!
OK, that was one last salute to Halloween. I have nothing spooky, though if my scale is possessed tomorrow, I will let you know.
Every week, I spend some time reading articles and blog posts about weight loss to try and understand what ideas are working for people. Usually I focus on stories about people who have lost 100+ pounds. First, that includes me (though I haven’t lost that much yet). Second, those are people who have had to develop a good system and work at it. Third, these are people who are able to keep their weight under control afterwards. That means they have built new lives that work for them.
Today’s article: What Women Who’ve Lost 100 Pounds Eat Every Day
The article profiles five women, very briefly presenting a table of their food choices. I’m not sure about the premise of the article. Maybe eating what these women eat wouldn’t work for you, and maybe it would. There’s no mention of a food diary or a calorie count, just a list of foods and a bit of narrative color. I have pulled out some interesting pieces from each profile.
- TK’s food choices are not that interesting to me, but she mentions that she snacks whenever she needs it. That is great – don’t try to tough out being hungry. Part of you will resent going without and feel deprived. That kind of thing can lead to breaking your diet discipline. Get some snack packs and learn to recognize when you need one. I have little packs of beef jerky, 90 calories each. I’m still not that good about knowing when to open one, though.
- SK has an interesting food list. She learned that her body does well when she avoids dairy and carbohydrates. She has a fair amount of meat and protein in her diet, and then she rewards herself with measured amounts of chocolate. That kind of self-knowledge is wonderful. She has built a diet that she likes and her body likes too. That kind of thing will make it easier for her to stay thin.
- JJH incorporates several ideas into her diet that the Doctor has mentioned before. She pre-prepares a lot of meals on the weekends and portions them. She eats a lot of meat and vegetables, and her top breakfast choice is bacon and eggs. I am getting hungry for that right now, just reading about it. Reading her bio, she also mentions failing on a lot of previous attempts at dieting. Like me, she admits she stopped paying any attention to weight control and gained a lot of weight over time. For her, a supportive social network and strength training were also important.
- For CG, I see a trick I have seen elsewhere – raw vegetables and hummus as the snack. She also seems to avoid breads and simple carbohydrates. That’s true for a lot of people, I notice. When you are restricting your calorie intake, you have to be very aware of what foods will make you feel satisfied and not mind eating controlled amounts. Looking at her bio, she is also someone who had bariatric surgery, which restricts your stomach size. That helped her feel full while eating less. I would be concerned about what happens when the surgery is reversed, because she talks about wanting to feel full. But for her it seemed to work.
- Last, it’s CP. I am predisposed to this one because she is a fan of flatbread sandwiches for lunch. I love those! It’s a great way to have a sandwich without hundreds of calories of bread. Also, I see a lot of themes I know and love in her bio. She does a lot of pre planning of her meals – check! She found some supportive friends – check! And she makes a thing about not punishing herself, but being kind – which I totally agree with. Use rewards to keep yourself happy and satisfied. It works for a lot of things.
The Doctor is a big proponent of a food journal, counting calories and weighing yourself often. This article doesn’t mention any of that, but it does say that it’s about what people eat – not how much. I don’t think there is any magic about what you eat, but it pays to look and see what other successful people are doing. Maybe you will learn something. Don’t be too proud to learn!
-The Doctor