Saturday night I ate too much. After dinner. When I was not hungry. This week I am paying the price. It’s happened before, from time to time. I have my faults. But I have learned to keep going and over time the number of days I do things right is greater than the number of mistakes I make.
I also had a period of about six months where I didn’t lose any weight. My head was not in the right place and it took a while to get myself back together.
My experience is that becoming overweight was almost all a product of the values I was living out. I didn’t value being in control of my body and I felt out of control in my life, too. Where was I going?
Anyway, what is the price of eating too much on Saturday? Why, the price is getting yourself back into the right way of thinking and making sure you meet your eating goals the rest of the week.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – tea (80); 6oz chili (215); bread and butter (100);
- 395 calories
Lunch – beef and cheese enchilada (370); sour cream (50);
- 430 calories
Dinner – grilled pork burger (450); hamburger bun (180); noodles and vegetables (50);
- 680 calories
Snacking – none
- 0 calories
Total for the day: 1495 calories (limit 1700)
OK, the price is right
I am living out a weight control lifestyle using values I have developed for the job. So it isn’t so bad to pay a price for overeating for a meal or even more. In fact, the price is the same as if I didn’t overeat on Saturday. The price is to re-establish the system and do things right. It takes a little longer than if I hadn’t overdone it, but the point of the weight control system I am living out is that it is worth doing all by itself. Because I enjoy it and it is fulfilling, I want to do it! Willpower is not an issue.
Living out my new values does take some work. I have to plan ahead and make sure I have meals to look forward to. That means shopping ahead, planning and cooking ahead, and extra kitchen work. That’s time I could be spending on something else. But I have decided that the time is worth it. The effort is worth it. And the results are good. I have lost 108 pounds, last I checked. I am on the cusp of being comfortable in Size 40 pants.
Put simply, my goal of eating is to make sure my physical hunger is satisfied in the most fulfilling way I can find. I carefully allow myself to feel hunger and then “rescue” myself using a meal I am really looking forward to. In this system, every meal takes work but is a joy to eat. I enjoy eating portions of food I really like when I am hungry for them, more than I ever enjoyed eating uncontrolled portions (and gaining weight uncontrollably). It is true that when you are hungry, the first few bites are the most fulfilling. After that, a second portion honestly is not as good. It is worth waiting and getting hungry all over again.
Did you have a bad diet day? Re-establish the system. Allow hunger to be your friend. Satisfy the hunger in creative and fulfilling ways. You can do that for a lifetime and you will establish control of your weight.
-The Doctor