People sometimes say to me: “Doctor, how do you keep up your diet for the long term? You have been doing this since January 2019! Don’t you get tired of it?”
And the answer is, dear Reader, that I found a food lifestyle that I like and so it is easy to stay with it. I don’t call it a diet because of the negative associations of diets, unpleasantness, and deprivation.
And I have had two glasses of wine, which also helps. I don’t count the calories in wine or other alcohol. At the same time, I record the 80 calories I have with my tea (in the milk). What’s with that? Aha, it’s because I hardly ever drink alcohol. I don’t like the bitter taste of most alcohol and don’t want to go to the trouble of making whiskey sours or margaritas every time I want a drink.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – 10oz fried rice (350)
- 350 calories
Lunch – bagel (330); 2oz ham (90); salami (100); Muenster (70)
- 590 calories
Dinner – lasagna (300); sausage (120); bread (150); salad with dressing (70);
- 640 calories
Snacking – ginger cookie (60); Cabot cheese (50)
- 110 calories
Total for the day: 1690 calories (limit 1700)
Calorieeeeeeeeees
I recorded 1690 calories today, but it is an undercount. I also had some watermelon and grapes and didn’t record them. I often don’t record small amounts of fruit like watermelon or blueberries or grapes. But they do have calories. Such is my lifestyle. But I have to admit: today I let go and had more calories than usual. I also had wine, probably 200 calories in two glasses.
With the wine and the fruit I am surely way over my limits, today. But am I worried? No. I have had several very good weeks in a row, and if I let go a bit today, it won’t hurt my average. On the other hand, I have been trying to feed my physical needs, and not my emotions. I have to wonder if I really wanted all those calories today. Truly, I was very hungry for dinner and I did enjoy it very much. That and the wine.
And I went for a walk today, too.
Could you stand a lifestyle where you eat delicious food, exercise, have wine from time to time, and fruit, and mostly stay under a calorie limit? Could you do that for a long term? I am convinced that I can, because I have done it for quite a while now. It’s not hard to want this lifestyle and controlling my weight is a nice benefit.
Don’t waste your willpower. Pick a lifestyle you want to live and you will fight to stay on it.
-The Doctor