Diet Deviations Or Learning To Slay Your Dragons

So often when we diet we exceed our calorie limit.   If that calorie limit is set per day, then how do we get back on track when we've already exceeded our limit for the day?

Shall we just go hungry the rest of the day?  At least, if we do that we won't feel like a failure.  That is if we can manage going hungry.  It's not likely we'll be able to tough it out and we'll end up feeling worse than ever.

Going hungry is never a good idea--not that being hungry is necessarily harmful in and of itself, but for someone dieting it can be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

The best way I've found to handle this situation is to not only have a daily calorie allotment, but a 'per meal' and 'per snack' allotment.

Say I've set myself an allowance of 3 meals and 3 snacks a day, with a total daily calorie count of 1350 calories, with a 200 calorie breakfast, a 300 calorie lunch, and a 400 calorie supper, and snacks of 150 calories each.

In the event I go 'crazy' and eat 1350 calories by the end of lunch, I don't have to feel troubled the rest of the day, wishing it over so I can start fresh the next day with new resolve.

Because come snack time I know I can safely eat 150 calories, and at supper 400 calories.  Being right back on track, I can immediately feel successful and not let a half a day of weakness dishearten me.

This strategy is a great benefit.  And you can employ it no matter how you measure your allowed food.  If, instead of calories, you count protein/fat/carbs, do the same--set up a daily allotment as well as meal/snack allotments.

In so doing you will always have a map to guide you should you veer off course.

As well, this strategy reduces emotional stressors  that accompany dieting.  Too often, in my opinion, diet plans don't address  the emotional elements of dieting.

We humans are emotional beings and nothing we do is cut and dried, devoid of emotion. If we don't figure out how to deal with the emotional aspects of the process we likely won't be successful.

You can tell yourself to 'just do it' all day long.  And every time you fail you will wonder 'why can't I 'just do it'?  And the logical answer, to your mind, will be 'I'm just weak'.

Well, humanly speaking we are all weak in our problem areas.  If we weren't they wouldn't be problem areas.

Understanding that this weakness is why you have the problem in the first place will help you understand that you need to take countermeasures.  That you need to learn how to slay your dragons. 

I've used this method for two years now and it has made all the difference in the world.  I feel like I've finally got a handle on how to keep track of my food intake and manage it.  And I don't feel weak any longer.  I have the sword to slay my dragon.

Triglyceride Primer

Your total cholesterol is a count of lipids in your blood stream.

Usually the HDL (high density lipoprotein), LDL (low density lipoprotein) and triglycerides are measured separately.

Hence, triglyceride is found in the blood.

(The 'experts' say high triglycerides increase your risk for cardiac event or disease.)

What are they?

The short answer is they are a fat--a lipid.

How do you accumulate them in your blood?  From eating fat?

Nope.  Carbohydrates are the culprit.

The simplified explanation:

When you eat carbohydrates it is converted--by your body--into glucose.

That glucose fuels your cells.  Any excess glucose is returned to your liver.

Once there,  the liver coverts that excess glucose to glycogen.  

Glycogen fuels your muscles.

When you 'move' you use your muscles and they burn glycogen for fuel.  

Your muscles store glycogen--so it'll be available when needed.

If you are a body builder with lots of muscle volume you'll need more glycogen than someone who is not.  

What happens to the excess glycogen not used and not stored  by your muscles?

It goes back--ta da--to your--you guessed--LIVER.

(Gee--I'm beginning to think the liver is a big deal--it works hard.)

The liver turns the excess glycogen into fat--i.e. triglyceride.

Some of that fat goes into fat storage.

(You'll find it on your tushie, your tummy..you know .)

And the rest?...it circulates in your blood, where it can gunk things up.

If you want to reduce the triglycerides in your blood, you must reduce your intake of carbohydrates.

You can do this by reducing your overall food intake--in other words quit eating excess calories.

You can do it by reducing the percentage of calories that come from carbohydrates--in other words eat more protein and fat--the good kind preferably.

And you can do it by  moving those big muscles--which activity  uses the stored  glycogen--making room in your muscles for more to be stored.  The more that goes to the muscles for storage the less there will be floating around in your blood stream.

Ahhh---the mystery of triglycerides solved.

Good Scale/Bad Scale

 Edit:  I took down the link to Margie's blog in my sidebar.  She and her husband were both  tragically killed while out walking when hit by a car.  The driver of the car says he was trying to kill himself--his girlfriend had broken up with him that morning. He lived and is fine.  His was a selfish act.  Margie will be missed by her blogging friends.

When it comes to the scale, the digital food scale is a good thing.  It will help you correctly portion your food so that you can keep your food intake in line with your goals.

But the other kind of scale, the one you step on to weigh yourself, I have mixed feelings about it.  Weighing most of your food, is probably a good thing--especially when it comes to calorie dense foods.

However, weighing yourself daily or several times a day can be problematic for many.  Due to the fluid fluctuations in your body it is hard to tell if you have a true fat gain or loss.

That information can be self defeating.

If the scale is up, I am discouraged.  If it is down I am ecstatic and I may let down my guard.

Or I may reward myself and eat something that I'd have never considered eating that day.

Or I may be obsessive--thinking 'wow I'm on a roll'-- and eat even less food, hoping I'll reach my weight loss goal faster--get out of the diet misery-- and end up with a double whammy.

By eating less to speed things up, I may-- before the day is done-- end up binging because I've gotten too hungry.  On the heels of that--at my next weigh in--if I find I haven't lost or even worse I've gained--horror of horrors-- I'm am all the more disappointed.  Bam Bam, double wham.

It could be the nail in the coffin, the final straw.

So, for me, it's best I use the digital food scale daily.  But the bathroom scale I limit to  every 7-10 days when I'm on a weight loss diet.

Some of you are able to handle the daily weigh in--because you are looking at the pattern of ups and downs and getting the overall larger picture. Margie who blogs at My Healthy Living Through Weight Control comes to mind (link in the sidebar).  She weighs daily and has been very successful maintaining her weight loss.

But for many of us who are still trying to lose weight, the number on the scale in the moment holds too much power.

Once I reach my goal--3 pounds from now--my strategy will change.

I will continue to check my portions with the food scale daily.

But I will weigh my body more often too.  Every 3-4 days I think.  If the scale is up after two consecutive 3-4 day period weigh ins, I will immediately attack the problem.  I'd prefer to keep any gain to <5.

The time to be 'scared straight' is early on, when it is easy to repair the damage.

The Enemy: Hunger

One of the biggest foes in the battle of the bulge is hunger.

You can't be on the defensive.  If you wait until you're hungry it's too late.

You must go on the offense.  You must eat before you are hungry.

Doing that will allow you to eat less and not be as tempted to overeat because a thing tastes good. 

You may need to eat a snack between meals to prevent getting hungry.  Doing so would be an offensive move.

Another offensive tactic to keep hunger at bay is to eat protein and fiber at each meal and snack.

It doesn't have to be complicated.  Yogurt or milk plus high fiber cereal.  Cottage cheese plus an apple.  An egg salad or tuna sandwich on whole grain bread and some carrot sticks.  A granola bar with protein and fiber added.

See--that's simple, doable...and believe me it works.  The protein and fiber take longer to digest.  Your stomach doesn't empty so quickly and the blood sugar rise, which affects appetite and hunger, is slower and lower.

Find the lowest calorie high fiber protein combination and see what a difference it makes overall.

Update

Not much to say here.  Still eating healthy and losing, albeit slowly.  Had some special eating including Mother's Day.  But the scale is going down, down, down, in two tenths increments...I don't count it though until it is a full pound, so I'm still at 11 pounds though I've lost more than 11...should be at 12 soon.

The thing that surprises me most is that the scale is down each time I weigh.  For the past 7 years it was down, then up considerably, then down, then up.  I kept losing the same pound or two over and over never making any progress.  There was no incentive to continue dieting.

My biggest change this time compared to the recent past is lower caloric intake overall, lots of fiber and trading out some foods for fat free foods.  Guessing my body is burning my fat since I'm cutting out some of the fat.  I still eat good fat, but small portions. 

I've learned to like mustard on my sandwiches as much as I like mayonnaise.  I haven't found a reduced or low fat mayo that is worth eating to me, so I go for the mustard.  Today I had a delicious sandwich for lunch--what could be simpler?--of 2 slices of 50 calorie high fiber bread, an ounce and a half of smoked turkey breast, a wedge of LCL cheese, lettuce, a sprinkling of dill weed and a smear of mustard.  All for 200 calories. 

Planning to report 12 pounds lost very soon.

Blah Here

Haven't been in the mood to post anything lately.  I get like that sometimes.  A slump I guess it is.  Have a lot of thoughts, stuff to say, but no interest in organizing my thoughts into a coherent assemblage.  If I could sum them up-- the flotsam and jetsam in my brain-- they'd be this:

• I don't suffer fools gladly
• Quit whinging--everybody's got it or had it bad or will have it bad at some point
• There is no magic weight loss bullet
• Over fat people are people who overeat.  You can bet that 300+ pound man or woman is eating 3000-5000 calories a day--or more.  That is a lot of food.  Oink.
• If you're a preacher and excessively fat, don't preach at me about personal discipline things.  Straighten up your own act before pointing the finger.  I tend to despise those who think they are 'better' when it is obvious they suffer from the same excesses that are common to man. It's fine to speak the truth, but not from a high place that looks down on my shortcomings while you ignore your own
• If I keep fooling myself, I will continue to be a fool or behave foolishly.  Wise up. 
• Quit making excuses.  No one wants to hear it.
• Cut the crap

And on and on I could go.  I'm in a no nonsense mood.  Maybe it's because I'm getting older.  I understand a lot of things now that I didn't before.  And I am getting to the point where I feel I must voice some of my thoughts--the ones that might not sound so nice.  But they need to be said.  Nice is not nice if it promotes error or harm or is indifferent.  I'll try to be diplomatic in what I say, because people do have feelings.

 But I'm even getting a tad tired of the feelings stuff too.  Focusing on how we feel puts us in the dynamic of being a victim. Instead of saying "what you did hurt my feelings"-wah wah-- how about saying 'that was rude'.  To the point, and pretty easy to understand.

Ah well, now I'm rambling.  Time to shut 'er up.

It's been another two weeks of mindful eating and I've lost another pound.  That makes a total of 11.  Think I'll keep on with the changes I've made. They're the closest thing I'll ever find that resembles a magic bullet.  Who knew it'd be eating small amounts of healthy food frequently and the other junk once in awhile?

Short and Sweet

Another two weeks has passed and I've lost two more pounds, for a total of 9 pounds. I will continue as I've been doing for these past 8 weeks. The way I am eating now is the way I will continue to eat 'for life'.

The one thing I have taken away recently is that if I want to be a 'little' woman--as in size--I must eat 'little' food.

Funny isn't it. And profound. The amount of food we eat is relative to the amount of weight we carry. Duh.

Whether we reduce our caloric intake by eating less food or eating less caloric food, the result is the same.

And we would do well to remember the Holocaust survivors when we reach a plateau and stall in our weight loss efforts. Those people existed on a tiny amount of food each day. The survivors were all, every one of them, skin and bone when they were released, which proves that starvation and the metabolic starvation mode our body supposedly enters will not stop weight loss if that starvation continues long term.

If I continue to eat little food in time I will be a little person.

One piece of chocolate. One bite of cake. One small portion of lasagna. A hot dog. Once in awhile. These types of foods can be eaten--if they are eaten infrequently and in small amounts.

I have a pretty good idea that all the 'small' people out there practice a lot of self control when they eat. They don't chow down, scarf the whole lot, pig out. They use reserve and self control--which cost nothing. Which require no special diets or programs.

Reserve and self control are functions of the will. And each one of us has a free will and the ability to exercise it as we wish.

Reserve and self control coupled with some brain power--i.e. using the knowledge we possess to make wise food choices that won't spike our blood sugar and insulin and affect our hunger-- are the key to long term success.

If I fail in this effort to become a 'little' person, it is my own fault. Owning that fact is critical. Blaming my failures on my past--the less than perfect childhood, the hardships and hurts-- is just an excuse, a cop out.

No One Can Eat Just One

That was the line from the Lay's potato chip commercial. And I've found it to be true. In fact I've found it to be true about many foods.

But Jack LaLanne said this:

If one apple is good, you wouldn’t eat 100.

That got me to thinking. I've had some delicious apples in my time. Same with other fruit. At most I might eat a second one, but never more that that. I certainly wouldn't eat 100 apples.

But I sure could eat a 100 chips, or nuts, or pieces of chocolate.

Jack gave me something to think about. Every time I'm tempted to want more of some tasty food I remember what Jack said.

Also--I really do wonder if there are things added to our processed foods to make us want to eat more, which result in having to buy more of it more often (hence the company makes more money off of us). While nuts are natural I'm only tempted to overeat them when they have been processed, as in roasting and salting and added oils. What else might they add to those processed nuts under the heading of spices? Raw nuts just aren't that compelling to overeat are they?

Next time you're pigging out on something think about what Jack said about the apple.

By the way--if you didn't watch the video I posted yesterday you missed out. Don't be mislead by the screen shot. Jack did not advocate eating much meat, and then only broiled, grilled or baked. If you watched you'll know it was skim milk for breakfast, no butter on your toast, and a big raw salad at lunch and supper. And guess what oil he said to use on that salad?..uh huh...olive oil.  Pretty much what he said to do back in the 1950's is what we are hearing today from the experts.

Back in the day Jack was considered a nut (Did you know he was a doctor of chiropractic? I didn't until I read his website.) But Jack knew what he was talking about. I bet he felt like a fish swimming upstream in his prime. Thanks Jack. You are the man, and a lovely one to boot.

What I Am Learning

"If at first you don't succeed, try try again".

Weight loss is hard.  Maintenance is even harder.

There is always something new to learn, something new to try, good examples to follow.

Cravings:  When I eat very few processed foods my cravings are almost non-existent.

Hunger:  When I eat plenty of fiber my stomach feels fuller faster and takes longer to empty.  It takes less food to fill me up and I don't feel empty very quickly, hence I am able to eat less food and less often.

As a picture is worth a thousand words, a good example is priceless.

I have discovered a good example...someone who has been and continues to be successful losing and keeping her weight off.  I have been reading this blog:  My Healthy Living Through Weight Control .  Here is what I have learned from this blogger:

• Keep it simple.  She and her husband eat simple, easy to prepare foods.
• I have been eating too much food and too much fat overall, hence too many calories.  This blogger is 7 inches taller than I am  and  I was eating twice what she eats in a day,  my exercise is nil while hers is routine--and I was expecting to lose weight.  Doh!

I set myself a goal of 4 weeks to try out the changes that I have incorporated into my eating.  Every change is something I can do 'forever' with minimal fuss, inconvenience or expense.  At the end of 4 weeks I will post my results. 

If you need some insight or a new dose of motivation, head over to My Healthy Living Through Weight Control and read this post: What About That Sandwich?  The blogger makes a lot of good, down to earth points.  That's what we need isn't it?--a down to earth approach?  For sure, it's  what I need .  You can read all your experts and understand the ins and outs of it all, but nothing beats simplicity and a  good old down to earth strategy that works and is workable.

I CAN'T GET NO........

m o t i v a t i o n!!!!

Having read Lyn's blog Escape From Obesity for a long time, I've seen her go from feeling like she was the 'only one' with a tough time with weight loss, to being very successful in her efforts. She has discovered a lot in her journey and I love her honesty...I love that she doesn't make it sound easy or perfect. She shares her struggles.

After reading about her current frustration with binge eating I got to thinking about my situation. Binge eating is a problem I have too. When I'm hungry due to under eating because I'm on a diet, the physical need to eat is relentless. Sort of like an asthmatic dying for oxygen but can't take any into the lungs, I'm starving and trying desperately to keep food out of my mouth and stomach.

While my binges are small in size compared to Lyn’s, they are binges none the less and destroy all my good efforts. I feel like I can't stop myself, though I honestly know I could if I wanted to badly enough. I just don't want to at the time. How do I change that--how do I change my will? It's like fighting an enemy and knowing you could win the immediate battle but no way will you ever win the war. You know you will have that same battle over and over and over. It is exhausting. It gets old. You figure you might as well toss up the white flag of surrender.

Twice I've lost 50 pounds. I find myself, once again, needing to re-lose some of the last 50. But one thing is lacking: motivation. Both times, and even now, I had an extreme, intense desire to lose my excess weight. But the first two times that desire was partnered with strong motivation to succeed. That motivation is totally absent now. Desire, no matter how intense, without motivation won't go anywhere. Why, I ask myself, can't I muster up some motivation?

The only answer I can come up with is: belief. Because I've lost, but can't maintain my loss for more than 5 years, I no longer believe there is any point in trying. Deep down, I honestly believe that permanent weight loss is extremely rare and next to impossible. That is my dilemma. And I conclude, to keep dieting, to keep trying to lose-- knowing what my previous efforts ultimately yielded-- seems like a waste of time and energy. To repeat the same behavior with the expectation of a different outcome is an exercise in futility and will drive you to intense frustration if not insanity.

I don't want to gain more, but I almost feel like it is inevitable. I gained before in spite of my tremendous desire and effort. My motivation now is nada...this lack is the huge roadblock in my path. Where and how do I get motivated to do again and again and again what I must do in order to achieve success?

So, I have no motivation and don't know how to get any.

Another stumbling block is this: volume of food issues.

Given: it takes me a specific volume of food to be filled, hunger satisfied. Given: I can replace calorie dense foods with low calorie, high fiber filling foods. But how, and when, do I learn to be satisfied on a smaller amount of food?

How does one do that? How does one eat just a little food and not be hungry?

I can employ willpower and limit my intake, quit even though I am hungry..but I can't do that forever. Eventually, hunger is going to win.

On my first diet the main reason I was able to limit my food volume for the year it took me to lose 50 pounds was that I was on a decongestant for allergies that had an anorexic side effect. I was never hungry, so it was much easier to eat a small amount of food --there was no hunger to satisfy. I mainly ate because I knew I must. Some days lunch was a single cup of fat free sugar free yogurt.

When I was taking that drug, I didn't need any motivation. No appetite, no hunger, equals no desire to eat. The result? weight loss. If you're not hungry you don't need any motivation to not eat.

Since I no longer need that drug and don't want to take pills the rest of my life, the only way I can exercise my will and not eat would require that I be highly motivated. Believing that permanent weight loss is next to impossible destroys my motivation to exercise my will to do what it takes to lose my regain and maintain a stable desirable weight.

My take on my situation is this: until I can learn to live with being hungry all the time I'm not going to succeed. I already know this: living the rest of my life with calorie dense food off limit and eating only low calorie high fiber filling foods isn't an option for me. Restrict a food, and I desire it all the more. And I’ve tried a combination of calorie dense foods plus large amounts of low calorie foods. Those low calorie foods just don’t stay with me. They fill me for about an hour, then I find myself hungry, looking for something to eat, trying not to eat, in another battle.

Minus motivation, intense desire is useless. I guess my only option is to try and satisfy my hunger with huge volumes of low calorie food. But how can I learn to be satisfied on less food overall? Some people exercise one and two hours a day so they can eat, satisfy hunger and lose or stay trim. For me that is not an option. To my way of thinking I would be replacing one disorder for another--trading my bondage to food for bondage to exercise, knowing that if I didn't exercise I'd balloon up again. Though, realistically, exercise is probably the better option.

Not only does it burn calories it promotes health. Our bodies were made to move, and movement stimulates the immune system. Exercising daily outside in the sunshine gives us a good healthy dose of sunshine that our bodies need to make vitamin D which is being touted now for its role in cancer prevention.

But one to two hours a day?..hmmm...can't think of anything I enjoy doing that much to do it religiously every day without fail. I wanted to be a runner. I liked it because you could burn a lot of calories in a short time. But, alas, I got shin splints and had to give it up.

Perhaps it is my lot in life, my destiny, to weigh more than conventional wisdom dictates.

Three Thoughts, One Thing and A Quick Tip

Three Thoughts

1. Overeating is the symptom.
2. Fat is the result.
3. Discover the real issue. It's different for each one of us.

One Thing

If you have company coming and can only do one thing--empty the trash--particularly in the bathroom. No one wants to use your bathroom and view waxed dipped Q tips and soggy tissues. Yuk.

Quick Tip

Keep a box of dry 'swiffer' type refills in your bathroom. They'll grab the hair that accumulates on the bathroom floor. No need for the stick attachment. Just use your foot or get down on your hands and knees and 'swiffer'. I pack a couple of these when we visit family-- to tidy up the bathroom. My husband is hairy and 'scrubs' the hair off of his limbs with the towel when he dries. I've suggested, to no avail, that he pat himself dry--LOL. And by the time I blow dry my hair there's lots of hair on the floor and after a day or two--well you know. And this beats dragging out the vacuum.

Catching Up

Just checking in from fall break for a brief update. I’m enjoying the respite and the season….watching lots of fun but not too scary stuff--like It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Scared Stupid with Earnest, Charlie Chan in Shanghai Cobra, Jurassic Park--always scary-- and later tonight Signs. I don’t dare watch The Grudge, which I found to be disturbingly scary. The first time I saw it I couldn’t get it out of my head and that sound, which I remember making as a child, lost its innocence.

I’m getting my mojo back. For several weeks my motivation was at an all time low, though I knew better than to throw in the towel. Lyn’s "Habit a Week Challenge" has been a big help. Last week it was to drink more water and this week it’s “MOVE!”. And that, I’m finding, is a huge motivator.

Two days now, in a row, I’ve gone out and made myself move for 30 minutes--and I feel soooooo much better. Riding the recumbent bike doesn’t bother my Achilles tendon, so there’s really no excuse…and I’m finding I’m also able to walk again with less pain. Hopefully the tendon is healing.

Focusing on these 2 habits…drinking water and moving is enough for now. I’m learning that if I put too much pressure on myself when my motivation is lacking I end up feeling like a failure and become one. Changing things up a bit--to habits I can actually accomplish--- makes me feel like a success and is empowering. Moving in the right direction is so much better than stagnating. It breeds hope.

Now, for the other thing I’m doing that may be helping in the appetite department: Metamucil. I read this web page and decided to give the fiber tip a try….figured it can’t hurt and may help. And, since my doctor already suggested I used Metamucil for high cholesterol and IBS I’m following doctor’s orders.

I’m using the Metamucil once per day just prior to the time period I find myself more likely to overeat. And I’m also adding some natural cider vinegar to my Metamucil cocktail, since I read that vinegar slows down digestion and aids in preventing insulin spikes. I can’t remember the title of the book, but the author-- a medical doctor--said to avoid insulin spikes when eating simple carbohydrates, eat them with protein, fat, fiber or vinegar.

That’s all for now. I’ll still be gone several more days for fall break. “See” you later.

Intuitive Eating Insight

I don't have much to say today, so I thought I'd point you to a new blog I'm reading. The author is doing intuitive eating and this post--Looking Back-gives some insight to her experiences with it.

While I'm monitoring my calories intake and working to stay in the 1600 on average calorie range, I'm using the hunger scale to determine when I should eat and how much volume wise. And I continue to allow all foods--trying to satisfy my cravings so I won't set myself up for a binge.

Learning how to do all this within a healthy parameter is a process that takes some time...there is definitely a learning curve. But in the long run I believe all will even out and I will find the balance I've been missing all these years when it comes to eating and the way I relate to it.

So, head on over to What I Ate Yesterday and glean what you can.

Another Reason to Eat Multiple Small Meals

We smoothly said along with the "diet" and then vacation rolls around. Or a special event. Or the holidays.

Purposefully we decide to allow ourselves some indulgences during those special days, figuring we might gain a pound or two or three, but we are not concerned. We fully intend to go right back to the weight loss food level and shed any gain and continue in our weight loss efforts.

But we get home, full of good intentions to eat less food. But...it's *so* *hard*. Aside from the obvious, why?

Well, from my reading I understand that our bodies come to expect things physiologically. Meaning that if today I eat 1000 calories for lunch, tomorrow my body will be expecting 1000 calories once again for lunch. Chemical processes beyond my control will work to make that happen. Hence, the battle. My body "demanding" a 1000 calories while I'm desiring to limit my lunch to half or less that amount.

So--I'm thinking--wouldn't it be a smart strategy to eat several smaller "meals" over the course of a day? Instead of consuming 400-500 calories at one sitting for my breakfast, eat 200-250 calories, and then mid morning have another 200-250, getting my body used to not expecting more than 250 calories per meal. This eating several small meals has been touted as a method of keeping the metabolism stoked as well.

If this is true science, then it's no wonder we find it so hard to return to pre-vacation/holiday eating levels. We are fighting nature.

When I "vacate" my diet for special times I imagine I eat around 3000 calories per day. In the future instead of consuming it "1000 calories x 3 meals", I'm going to stretch those calories out and eat them in allotments of 500 calories per meal instead, hoping that once I return home it will be easier to reduce to the weight loss level.

In the meantime I'm testing this out at home. I'm continuing my 1600 calorie per day allowance but eating several smaller meals instead of 3 larger ones. I've noted that when following intuitive eating, and checking my calorie intake at the end of a day, I am intuitively eating right around 1600 calories a day. So maybe there is something to this idea of our body expecting a repeat from the previous pattern.

Tips to Help You Stop Eating

The September 18, 2008 post at Normal Eating is just too good not to share. It offers up some good tips to help with stopping eating.

Stopping eating when food tastes good is difficult for me. Though I want to stop at 2 cookies it's rare that I do. All too often I just eat until they're gone or until I feel stuffed and miserable.

After reading the tips at Normal Eating I'm thinking I can compromise and reason with myself the next time I'm eating delicious cookies by saying something like this: "o.k.--stopping at 2 is something you don't want to do. You'd really like to eat 10. How about stopping at 4? No? Then 5? O.K." Sure, 5 cookies is a lot of cookies...a whole lot more than 2--but the upside is that it's a whole lot less than 10, and that would be a huge improvement--moving me in the right direction toward the day when I'm able to stop at 2. (That's me thinking positive. :-D)

Another tip--make a list of negative consequences--is one I've tried. One day I baked cookies, which were out of this world good. I ate 4 of them. They were large and very rich. I was so sick after and didn't want a repeat so I printed myself a reminder that said: Remember how awful you felt when you ate ALL those cookies? I stuck it up on the fridge where I couldn't miss it.

It must have worked because I haven't made those cookies since, in spite of how excellent they taste, because the minute I consider baking them I associate the horrible stuffed feeling I had and immediately I'm put off. Ugh...I definitely don't want that pukey sick feeling again. It's just not worth it. Even writing about the experience is off putting--my stomach is churning--and the cookies are some of the best I've ever made or tasted. Sad, isn't it?

Karen Koenig shares some helpful insight and practical tips so be sure to read her post. Go here. (if the link won't work you can find the post at http://www.eatingdisordersblogs.com/healthy/2008/09/tips-for-stoppi.html#more)

The Odds Are Against You

I hate to be a naysayer, but I’m going to be one anyway. Guess I don’t hate it all that much.

I read several weight loss blogs and come across many who have successfully lost a lot of pounds on a diet and they think they have found the answer.

I commend them on their hard work and effort.

But, I have been where you are. I thought I had the answer too. I was sure of it. I lost a lot of weight--twice. I made lifestyle changes. I exercised. I ate healthfully. I kept a journal of what I ate. I was disciplined, dedicated and determined. But I regained the weight.

Why? That’s the million dollar question. The obvious answer is that I consumed more calories than my body needed to maintain its weight.

But I was going to bed hungry every night. I wasn’t eating very much food.

I surmise that my metabolism adjusted down as my calorie intake decreased. And my body learned how to survive on very little fuel. That is called efficiency. But in the diet world it is failure. And the diet that is supposed to be the answer becomes the problem.

Unless you have lost weight and kept it off for years---and I do mean years---not one, or two or even five years---there is no certainty that you have succeeded other than temporarily. The majority of people regain their weight.

Why? Again---that’s the million dollar question. And that is the question I am trying to answer for myself. My quest for the answer to that question began January 2007 and it has led me to the book Intuitive Eating and the method it prescribes. For the first time I believe I am getting some real insight to the dilemma.

It remains to be determined whether I will succeed at true weight loss. Only time will reveal that.

The point of this post? Be careful. Take heed. You’re standing now, but you too may fall. I hope not. But the odds of standing are against you. While you do the external part, that is diet, examine some of the internal stuff that may be leading you to the behavior that got you overweight in the first place.
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I imagine this post may anger some people. That is not my purpose. I only wish years ago I’d been pointed in a different direction. Clearly, diets do not work long term. (Anything that limits or restricts food or food groups is a diet.)

When I did Weight Watchers in 2002 and got my lifetime membership I really thought I’d finally figured out what it took to lose weight and keep it off. I promoted WW to everyone I could. I couldn’t understand all the disillusioned people--and there were many. I discounted those people, believing they were the problem and not the diet. I stand corrected.

Not long after I’d lost most of my weight and many people were noticing, a “friend” announced I’d gain it back. It hurt and offended me. It made me mad. I thought she was mean spirited and petty. But she was right.

And here I am 6 years later working toward losing what I regained. But I’ve given up the dieting mentality to do so. I’ve lost 15 pounds and its taken almost a year .

I’m relearning how to eat and developing a new relationship with food. I’m escaping the bondage of food. This path I believe will take me where I need to go because it deals with the “why”. Why do I overeat? Why is there a compulsion to binge? When I “fix” that, everything else hopefully should take care of itself.

Slowing Down May Speed Things Up!

At the beach we'd gone out to eat--the whole family, which included my husband, both my children and their spouses. It was a special occasion and a very nice restaurant...one with linen tablecloths and heavy flatware, plus candlelight..on the beach under a gazebo.

I was especially hungry and knew from experience that unlike fast food this would be slow food...which is much nicer to share with family or friends. The waiter brought us menus and hot crusty bread with olive oil for dipping.

As I perused the menu I ate some of that delicious bread. After 3 smallish slices and about a tablespoon of oil I decided I'd quit, wanting to leave room for the main meal. When the waiter finally came to take our order a surprising thing happened-- I realized I was no longer hungry!

Whoops--I thought--not good.....I hadn't even ordered my meal yet. I was looking forward to the meal, but in light of the situation, I decided to order two appetizers instead of an entree (a small salad which included roasted beets, pecans and blue cheese on a bed of field greens and 2 giant grilled scallops accompanied by some roasted asparagus on a bed of grilled greens). The food was delicious and I didn't stuff myself.

Evidently my forced wait allowed my brain time to get the message from my stomach that I'd eaten and signaled that I was full. The fat I'd eaten (the olive oil) affects the leptin which is the hormone responsible for indicating fullness.

That being the case, it behooves us to eat some fat and to eat slowly--pausing if necessary. At the end of 20 minutes we should have a better idea if we're full, or not, in our stomach. This practice may not always be feasible, but when it is, it's a good one to follow.

It seems to me that our busy lifestyles, which necessitate quick eating all too often, correlate with the increasing girth of America. It may be, in part, responsible. Speed certainly contributes to mindless eating--we shovel it in without really even tasting it, let alone enjoying it.

So for our healths sake--and our waist--let's practice the 20 minute rule as often as possible. Slowing down may actually speed up our weight loss!

Overeat; Repeat.

I came across this article "Why Am I Overeating Over and Over Again?" at this link: Maria's Last Diet Newsletter . I'm copying and pasting it in its entirety. Read it for some insight as to why you might be overeating and repeating.
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Why am I overeating over and over again?

Overeating and weight gain can be addicting. The addiction is not to the food itself; it is to a mood altering or emotion relieving process.

Because overeating and weight gain do not make the desired emotional corrections a person is seeking, a vicious cycle gets created. When emotions are relieved and moods are altered by overeating, a person has less desire and less chance to try out other more adaptive means of mood regulation. The person’s dependency on overeating as the primary solution grows. Eventually, overeating and being overweight become the major concerns and all effort is focused only on dieting and losing weight.

Solving eating and weight problems by eating and weight regulation when you’re using weight and overeating to help regulate your moods and emotions, is a recipe for defeat. For an effective solution, the focus has to shift to the real regulatory issues.

To find the real regulatory issues, look for what is hard for you to deal with in your life. Look for the feelings, moods, personal situations, and social situations that throw you. Look into your way of resolving conflict. Then see how you use food to help you in these situations.

Getting more familiar with the real issues can cause you to experience the very stress you’ve been avoiding by eating. Learning to tolerate this stress is a good exercise. The act of tolerating stress actually reduces stress.

The process of getting to know yourself more fully as you increase your stress tolerance leads to emotional understanding. With emotional understanding, you feel more able to conduct your life in a good way. Your patterns of overeating and weight gain will loosen their hold on you. This is because you won’t need to hold on to them to adjust your moods and relieve your feelings. You can now rely on the more immediate route of coping with your personal emotional matters directly.

© 2007 Maria's Last Diet