Day by day, the job is the same: regulate your food intake and weigh yourself regularly. Those two elements are required for a weight control lifestyle. If you know what and how much you are eating, you can control intake. If you weigh your body regularly, you have data showing how your body changes over time in response to changes in your intake.
We are not simply machines that we can program to do what we are told. I can’t even get myself to do what I want! So you have to look deeper into yourself to find a way to keep up regulating your food intake and weighing yourself all the time. I have been doing it since January 1, 2019 and I have 315 entries in my daily food journal since that time. I have never been able to do that before, in my life. So what changed?
I decided to aim high. I don’t have the willpower to make myself do things I don’t want for more than a few weeks. But I can do things I want to do – that hardly takes any willpower. So I had to make weight control into a lifestyle that was worth living. But how to find that kind of meaning?
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – Costco pepperoni pizza half slice (355)
- 355 calories
Lunch – 6x Costco meatballs (280); whole wheat flatbread (110); hummus (100), red cabbage kraut and horseradish (10)
- 500 calories
Dinner – 8oz homemade sausage chili (340); toasted bread (130)
- 470 calories
Snacking – tea with half and half (80); 2oz ham and 2 pieces swiss cheese (200); 11 chocolate almonds (160); baklava (100);
- 540 calories
Total for the day: 1865 calories (limit 1800 + 500 bonus from swimming, total 2300)
McNuggets featurette!
Continuing from above, part of the problem I found in myself was my goals were shallow and limiting. They fueled weight gain. In short, my goal was to feel full and that is what made me feel comfortable and secure. To find more meaning in my life, I decided that my goal should be replaced. The goal now has several facets, but on one level my goal when eating is weight control. My goal is also maximum enjoyment. That means I build up anticipation for foods I strongly want to eat, and eat measured amounts when I am physically hungry for them (but not too hungry). My goal when eating is also to not ruin the next meal. Every meal has to be rewarding. So I can’t eat too much at any one meal. I find if I’m not slightly hungry for the next meal, food is not as satisfying.
Honestly, food tastes best when you have an appetite for it – when you are truly and physically slightly hungry. If you let yourself get too hungry, which is a different story, you won’t enjoy food either. You also won’t be in control of yourself after that. Part of your subconscious takes over, and it wants to eat and eat.
Another facet of my eating goals is to reward myself constantly. Every meal has to be planned, anticipated, savored, and worthwhile. Else why go to all the trouble? I find my body is willing to trade unlimited calories (and the resulting weight gain) for food experience. That is, just the foods I want, delivered right at the moment when I would appreciate them most. That is very satisfying.
From the Instapundit I found another weight loss story that was very interesting. This lady found a lifestyle that worked for her, though I think the reporter got it a bit wrong. The first line is the problem. This is the reporter’s summary:
Dieting doesn’t mean giving up your favorite food (but it does mean having a lot less of it).
Isn’t that backwards? Leaving aside my problems with the concept of dieting, weight control is all about identifying your favorite foods and using them to reward yourself. It’s definitely not giving up your favorite foods. Who would want to live for a long time while giving up your favorite foods, or even regarding them as a problem? But that is the reporter’s mindset. The subject of the article has it figured out!
”I could eat a 20-piece chicken McNugget box and large fries by myself,” she explained to the news outlet. It was basically gluttony, just eating and eating…Food was my coping mechanism, so whenever I got upset about something I would just eat.”
This is what many have called emotional eating. When I talk about being physically hungry, it is very different from eating for the goal of comfort and fullness. Anyway, this lady has figured out a lot about herself. The article doesn’t go into these details, but it is clear that she counts calories now. She lost 100 pounds and plans to lose even a bit more. The news hook is that she still eats at McDonalds, which is so amazing to the reporter. Or at least, the reporter thinks that’s what people will find amusing. It’s terrible to think that for most people, controlling your weight is all about deprivation and suffering. Is the subject of the article suffering while she is losing weight?
“I still find pleasure in my food, it’s my main thing.”
I have a good feeling about her long term success. All the best to her!
-The Doctor