Being in control of your weight happens one day at a time. That’s no fun and takes effort. But you can make it worthwhile. What are you giving up, anyway? And what are you getting back? If you decide the trade is worth it, you might be able to convince yourself to do it.
The Doctor gave up several things: eating to satiety, carefree living, and convenience. I willingly gave that up to become a new person. That new person doesn’t get to fill himself with food. He takes some care to plan his meals, count calories, and portion. And he has to work at it: planning, shopping, cooking, and watching the clock.
What would make any of that worthwhile?
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – BLT wraps: 4 strips of Kirkland thick cut bacon (280); one whole wheat wrap (110); lettuce, tomato slices, and horseradish sauce (30)
- 420 calories
Lunch – Diner steak and cheese sandwich (500)
- 500 calories
Dinner – 6 ounces cooked rice (190); 20 ounces vegetable curry (450)
- 640 calories
Snacking – tea with half and half (120); chocolate cookies (190)
- 310 calories
Total for the day: 1870 calories (limit 1850)
Take care!
I had lunch late. Then I had dinner late. (It was a tough schedule today.) Luckily, with careful preparation over the weekend, I had dinner ready (veg curry) and I knew I was buying lunch today. Being prepared takes some of the guesswork and stress out of life. But since I am eating so few calories for my age and weight (about 1850 per day), my body gets pretty demanding about eating on time, and eating food that is worth all the effort. Delaying meals is not good practice. I will have to make that up to myself later.
I was reading this weekend about Ethan Suplee, who played ‘Randy’ on the show My Name is Earl. At one point, he weighed 500 pounds and he was recently as low as 220 pounds. There weren’t a lot of details about how he achieved that kind of weight loss, but he was in an odd situation because he found being heavy was actually good for his acting work. He also said that he weighed 200 pounds at age 10, which is very unusual.
Sadly, I don’t have that excuse. I had a fairly normal weight as a kid and only got very heavy at the end of graduate school and afterwards in my adult life. With any luck, I will be able to beat Suplee’s lowest weight this year, though I didn’t start at 500 pounds.
Take care of yourself as you work on your difficult self!
-The Doctor