The author Terry Pratchett says, when life hands you a plate of spaghetti, just grab a strand and keep pulling until you find the meatball. That could mean anything, but it works today because there was spaghetti for dinner. And meatballs. No pulling was required.
Our hot weather may be ending soon. We are predicted to have high temperatures in the 80s by the end of the week – still low 90s this weekend, but there is a sense we are off the sun’s anvil. And we are starting to get some strong thunderstorms.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – bagel (330); salami (110); olive tapenade (30); cheese (50);
- 520 calories
Lunch – 2x pork burgers (300); wheat wrap (50)
- 650 calories
Dinner – 6oz Rotini (300); 5x Costco meatballs (235)
- 535 calories
Snacking – 96g ice cream (240)
- 240 calories
Total for the day: 1885 calories (limit 1850)
Deprivation and punishment avoidance
My interest this week is to reset my brain so that I am in better alignment with my weight control goals. My real goal is to create a life that is very enjoyable; my second goal is to be in control of my body’s weight. The life I am creating is the life of a thin person. My body will catch up over time. What I am fighting is the wrong mindset. In that wrong mindset, eating less is deprivation and withholding extra food is a kind of punishment. That will never work as a life anybody wants to have.
It’s an exciting challenge to build a life you like. You learn about yourself, you find out your limits, you see what you can do in support of your goals. There’s no waiting for anybody to do things for you. You are the only person who can make your life work.
Today was not a home run in terms of every meal being exciting, but one of them was, and they all worked for me. I like my sandwiches, such as the BLT wrap, the hummus and meatball, the Cuban sandwich wrap, the Middle East chicken wrap, and now my Mufaletta bagel with olive tapenade. Did I mention my Reuben grill wrap? One of the newer additions to my list of favorites is the pork burger. It’s a great recipe and has lots of flavor enhancers: soy sauce, Worcestershire, thyme, black pepper, salt, and panade with a bit of milk. I had pork burgers for lunch with onion, pickle and horseradish sauce on a wrap. I don’t know if there is a name for pork burger with horseradish sauce and I don’t care. Fabulous! It was worth all the trouble of getting hungry and preparing it.
How have you learned to motivate yourself? I hope it’s positive. Don’t punish your way to success!
-The Doctor