A few weeks ago, my problem was facing the scale. There are two parts to my system of weight control: (1) regulate your food intake and (2) weigh yourself periodically. I was a bit psyched out over facing the scale, even though I was pretty sure my food regulation was going well. Now, I find my worry has reversed. I don’t mind the scale. Instead, I am having some problems keeping my hunger where I want it. Ideally, I eat three times a day: 8AM, 11.30AM, and 5:30PM. I started the day today with something unusual for me – a test of the most famous breakfast sandwich there is.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – Sausage Egg McMuffin (480)
- 480 calories
Lunch – 6 x slices of Aldi frozen pizza (100)
- 600 calories
Dinner – 2 x bratwurst raps (300)
- 600 calories
Snacking – tea with half and half (80); Nestle Li’l Drums vanilla cone (110)
- 190 calories
Total for the day: 1870 calories (limit 1800)
Hunger management
It always surprises people when I tell them that McDonald’s uses a whole real egg per McMuffin. It’s true. I used to assemble these things one summer in high school. The eggs were real, and almost everything in the store was good quality material. It’s a good sandwich. Compared to the frozen breakfast sandwich from Jimmy Dean, this McMuffin has a larger sausage and more egg, a more tangy cheese, and butter. The muffin is the weak point. Compared to the Jimmy Dean croissant, it’s unremarkable. But at 480 calories, I think swapping in a croissant would make this sandwich remarkably calorie heavy.
For lunch, I was late today. I didn’t eat until 1.15PM or so, and I was very hungry. I wolfed most of the pizza slices down. (I carry beef jerky with me now, but I am having a hard time recognizing that I need to use it.) Getting too hungry is counter productive, and I was sure my body would be in a food panic. Sure enough, starting at 4PM all I could think about was dinner. I don’t know if I was really hungry or just having a reaction to eating lunch so late. So I ate dinner early. Now I am having to use some willpower to keep myself focused on tomorrow.
I want to be hungry for breakfast, there will be blueberry pie! And, I am not actually hungry now. But part of me is upset about getting too hungry at lunchtime. That part wants food security and wants to feel full. That part thinks we are hungry. Imagine a little voice saying “We are not full! Quickly, eat until you are so full you can’t eat any more! Then you will be satisfied.” Normally that voice keeps quiet. But today I had bad hunger management. That’s rather careless of me. Part of the tradeoff I have made to be in control of my weight, is to pay a lot of attention to what and when I eat. There are consequences if I don’t.
My normal feelings at this point in the evening are satisfaction and happiness that I have eaten well and am ready to do it again tomorrow. I know I am going to lose weight on top of that. Now that feeling is spoiled and I am unsatisfied. Tomorrow, I am going to pay careful attention and make myself feel loved and attended to. Then the little voice will get drowned out in the sea of satisfaction I usually get to feel. Behold the price of success! It is absolutely worth the effort, when done well.
-The Doctor
Good old MacDonalds breakfast. It is amazing, I too always felt the breakfast sandwich was decent quality – but the rest of McD’s fare I always imagined was atrocious. Glad to see the Doctor is still at it.