I had a bad diet day yesterday. And it’s something I have found to be true every time: if you have a bad diet day, don’t make it worse. Don’t try to make up for it tomorrow, by skipping meals or eating less. That will ruin both days. Try to make tomorrow exactly right (eat exactly the calories you are supposed to). Enough good days will make up for a bad day in the long run. Weight control doesn’t come by punishing yourself, but by re-establishing control over the majority of the time, eventually the vast majority. You want your weight control lifestyle to be attractive and nice as a place to live. Then you will want to stay there. The bad days will be fewer.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – tea (80)
- 80 calories
Lunch – 6oz red beans (200); 3oz rice (100); crackers (120);
- 420 calories
Dinner – Canelloni (650); sausage (180);
- 830 calories
Snacking – candy (200);
- 200 calories
Total for the day: 1530 calories (limit 1700)
FitBit walking and sleeping
One reason the weight control lifestyle is a nice place to live is the pattern of consistent fulfilling eating experiences. It takes planning and work, but you can make each meal something to look forward to, both by preparing your body (letting yourself get hungry just in time for dinner) and preparing the food (preparing a meal you are really looking forward to). Today, I was living out the aftermath of a bad diet day – eating over 2000 calories on Sunday, and over 1800 on Saturday. It happens. Now I have to deal with it.
There is still a link between sleep and weight control. I happen to know I slept less than 5 hours last night – according to a FitBit watch. I also have gone walking a couple of times with the new FitBit watch. It’s fun because it acts like a watch and also does other stuff. Anyway, part of my responsibility – if I am serious about establishing control over my body – is taking care of myself. <5 hours of sleep per night is not good sense and won’t give me good results. I am going to start tracking sleep – and going to bed on time. I have noticed that if I don’t sleep it is harder to keep my mind on the job, in every sense.
So, to bed. Tomorrow is a chance to have a perfect day.
-The Doctor