One of the underpinnings of the weight control system as I practice it, is that it’s attractive in multiple ways. I want to live that way, for all the rewards it gives me. Controlling my body’s weight is merely one of the attractions. I have talked before about the amount of fulfillment and satisfaction I get from working hard to meet my own needs and desires. And I am meeting them in a way that is very practical and also very high quality. This lifestyle is the best I have ever lived. It makes my old choices seem cheap; as they were focused on quantity and immediate fulfillment.
Now I think about quality. How could I raise everything about my practical life – like eating – to a higher quality? One answer is to change the goal of eating and focus on the quality of the experience.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – Jimmy Dean sausage, egg, and cheese croissantwich (400)
- 400 calories
Lunch – Steak and cheese sandwich (500);
- 500 calories
Dinner – 10 ounces Hopping John (270); 5oz cooked rice (160)
- 430 calories
Snacking – tea with half and half (80); pretzels (100); Perdue chicken strips (90); Hershey’s bar (220);
- 490 calories
Total for the day: 1820 calories (limit 1800)
I'm back, baby
I haven’t posted for a few days, because I haven’t been in control and haven’t had a lot of energy to spare. Some kind of intestinal bug got me. That has some strong effects on my lifestyle.
One of the most important discoveries I have made in the course of losing ~85 pounds, is that if your lifestyle is attractive, you will pursue it hard. You won’t need willpower to stay on a diet or maintain your system, at least not in the negative sense of forcing yourself to diet. However, if that lifestyle suddenly loses its attraction, it removes all the motivation. When I got sick, my usual foods lost their attraction and I found myself grazing in uncontrolled ways, at every kind of simple carbohydrate-based food I own.
I’m willing to call that an aberration. I had a strong desire to eat lots of calories, and lots of simple carb calories at that. There’s no way to pursue a lifestyle based on those goals, not if you want to control your weight, anyway. And it was not particularly enjoyable. My body has gotten used to the cycle of (positive) hunger and satisfaction, and feeding my higher needs and goals with controlled quantities of high quality meals. Instead, I was eating out of some kind of instinctual need (or some kind of chemical imbalance, frightening thought).
But the feeling did not last. Sunday and today, I didn’t want to eat a lot of food anymore. However, my normal appetite hasn’t really returned. I think I am getting better, but I am not all the way there, yet. Once I am back to normal, I will start working my system again. I’ve had this happen several times this last year due to illness. Each time, I agonize a bit over whether I will be able to re-establish my successful weight control lifestyle. And every time, I have happily put it back together again. It does take discipline, but not force.
Find a way to make what you want attractive. That works.
-The Doctor