Weight control is a daily job. Day-by-day, I keep track of my calories and portions in a food journal. Ideally, I recommend filling it in as soon as you have eaten. That means measuring your food before you eat it!
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – Strata with eggs, bacon, cheese, and bread (300)
- 300 calories
Lunch – Bratwurst (260); 1/4 Lavash wrap (30); Hershey’s chocolate bar (220);
- 510 calories
Dinner – 2x chicken cheese and bean enchiladas (200); sour cream (50); salad with dressing (75);
- 525 calories
Snacking – pretzels (110);
- 110 calories
Total for the day: 1445 calories (limit 1700)
The shrinking calorie limit
When I first started on the weight control lifestyle, I was making a study of how thin people saw the world. People who had stayed thin throughout adulthood. I saw that they were putting a lot of effort into it. So I developed the Doctor’s Law of Diminishing Returns:
“The thinner you want to stay, the more effort it takes.”
Is it profound, no. But I am finding it is true. The closer I get to a normal weight the harder it is to lose! When I started all this, I lost about 2 pounds a week eating an average of 1850 calories per day. Now I am finding it difficult to match that performance on an average of 1650 calories per day. OK, there is the fact that I am not exercising as much. But I think it will get slower and harder unless I keep up with some exercise, more often than I am doing now.
Pay attention to how much you are eating and why you are eating and you have learned everything you need to know yourself and control your weight.
-The Doctor