Losing Weight - Eric's way
Photo: the same amount of food on both plates; 10" & 8"
2/3 cup each of green beans and mac 'n cheese.
These are not recommended servings, just examples of perception.
Eating Behaviors
This is where I share the lifestyle changes I've made - to lose weight - long term.
Some items are changes in actions; some items are changes in attitude toward food.
Here is a baker's dozen:
(Official Disclaimer: Before beginning a diet, first consult with your healthcare provider).
1) A few years ago, I began mall-walking, 1 mile, 3x per week. (I read that to be healthy,
we must have a healthy heart, healthy lungs and healthy thighs).
And walking-speed is important. Most pairs that visit-walk cheat themselves.
They try to talk and walk. Most of them saunter.
(and sauntering while engaged with one's cell phone is no better).
I try to walk to a fast beat.
2) As a Christian, I believe in imitating Jesus. Jesus fasted regularly, so I began fasting,
2 days per week, breakfast and lunch.
It was first a spiritual exercise that also became a part of my weight control program.
On fast days, I still have 1/2 of a banana in the morning, to take medicine with,
and as a buffer for my coffee. Yes, I still drink coffee every day. 'Half-Caff'.
(I avoid the high-calorie dessert-coffees)
3) Have a multi-vitamin every morning,
so I won't lack mineral nutrients that might cause cravings.
4) Drink a half glass of lukewarm water a few minutes before each meal.
And I regularly pray for self-control.
5) Drink only low-calorie drinks during the week, mostly water for supper.
6) Put my fork down between each bite, not loading it for the next bite while
still chewing the last bite. Taking time to chew helps us gain a sense of abundance.
I also don't take a drink with food in my mouth.
And only one food item on the fork for each bite.
(Overloading our plates and overloading our forks is evidence that we try
to use food to create a sense of immeasurable abundance in our lives.)
7) Use a smaller plate to downside my portions.
Plate fullness = satisfaction. trompe l'oeil
A 10" square plate holds 100 square inches of food.
A 10" round plate holds .785% of that, 79 square inches of food.
An 8" square plate holds 64 square inches of food.
An 8" round plate holds 50 square inches of food.
8) In the 1990s, I fasted from meat for 90 days and lost 30 lbs. So now I fast meat weekly,
usually, Monday - Friday (except for holidays and special occasions).
9) Weigh weekly or so. More useful is how my belt fits into the notch I want to wear.
No stretchy pants! I always wear a belt. The belt-notch works almost like scales.
(and we know how the diet is going when we visit the toilet, eh?)
10) I still crave desserts at night, Sometimes I make desserts, but mostly I have a small bowl
of Honey Nut Cheerios with 2% milk. (I am celiac, so no donut runs).
Also, being self-employed, I often miss lunch, but get hungry about 4pm,
so I'll have a small bowl of Cheerios, popcorn or dry corn chips to tide me over till supper.
11) I learn what snack foods I can't stay out of - and buy less of them.
And diets work best when the kitchen has a firm closing time.
12) When my wife makes up my plate for me - which she enjoys doing,
I have to urge her to stay within my portion guidelines.
I think she likes to imagine that I am still a 40-year-old construction worker,
still working 10-hour days.
I'm about 70, not 40, and I don't need those calories.
13) Don't keep snacks in my work areas or my vehicle,
and don't eat to-go-food in a vehicle.
from pinterest.
more trompe l'oeil
Here is a big plate, to make you think you are getting a lot.
Then, a tiny portion - with lots of pretties on the side to distract you from the lack of content.
But then again... this is how thin, rich people eat.
They have trained themselves to get a part of their food-pleasure through their eyes.
Perhaps we could learn something from them.
LOSING WEIGHT
Food truths
Most of us who have tried to diet several times, we know the math of dieting,
so I will minimize those comments. This section is more about food-truths than food-facts.
"I deserve this food!" is the self-spoken mindset of overeaters.
And also the mindset for every type of addiction that plagues humanity
But we need to realize that no matter what else has happened to us in life...
We don't deserve any more calories than our bodies need,
and food will punish us for loving it more than we should.
Gluttony is such a vindictive paramour.
It is a cruel idol we worship.
It will exact its pound of flesh - both literally and figuratively.
This is a great food-truth.
To ignore this truth requires a degree of anarchy.
Anarchy is revolting against known truth or a known authority.
Our metabolism owns us.
Yes, it does.
And our bathroom scales pass judgment on us.
circus entertainers
Food envy
When a smaller person loves to eat, it's easy to become jealous of those
who can eat more without gaining weight.
I've read that regularly active women need about 1,600 to 2,200 calories per day.
and regularly active men need 2,000 - 3,000 calories per day
I've read that some Olympic athletes consume 8,000 - 10,000 calories a day,
and some participants on 'My 600 Pound Life' consumed 12,500 calories per day.
Imagine being a 5'0" homemaker-woman married to a 6'2" construction-laborer.
He has to eat a lot of food to work hard all day,
and his wife cooks the food and has to watch it pass through her hands and into his stomach.
That is a tough chore for wives who love to eat.
It is a daily battle for them.
Imagine having to share a stomach with your conjoined twin,
and them putting food in your shared-belly that you cannot handle, taste, chew or swallow,
eh?
This duo, whom I can't yet identify
(apparently circus performers, if this is an untouched photo)
had this very dilemma every, every day of their life.
So, should we, who have typical bodies, be so jealous of what others can eat?
LOSING WEIGHT
Diet plateau
Long-term dieters almost always hit the diet plateau,
when we are still restricting ourselves, but not losing weight.
Here is a mathematical truth about the dieting plateau:
At the plateau, we have reached the point where:
our calorie intake = our metabolic needs.
Then, no further weight loss is possible on this level of food intake.
If we want to maintain the weight we now hold,
this is how we must eat the rest of our lives, with our current level of activity.
I have been at 200 lbs. for nearly 1 year now, and wish I could push ahead,
but this is where I am - in metabolic balance.
Too many people think they will drop a few pounds,
then go back to their old way of eating, but as a slimmer person.
Nope - not for long. That is not a mathematical reality.
This is a dieting truth that must be digested and metabolized into our life-plan.
