Do you see that little blip in the graph below? You know the only day of the entire week where I weighed more than I did on the previous day? That’s Sunday, the day after the dinner party at JD’s house.
It used to be that blip like that would bother me. I would get depressed, it would weigh heavily on my psyche. But these days, that blip doesn’t bother me at all. Don’t forget that I’m trying to live a life of moderation; and certain milestones in peoples’ lives call for celebrations. So it doesn’t bother me that I ate more food than I should have. It doesn’t bother me that I drank some wine and sat around chatting with some great people for the evening. In fact, it makes me happy.
There’s also one more thing about that blip that makes me happy. I felt like absolute crap the next day! And yes, that makes me happy. It makes me happy because I believe it’s my body’s way of telling me that it’s no longer used to eating the kinds of foods that you’d find at a fancy dinner party. The food was delicious–heavy and rich–the kinds of food that I used to be able eat all day every day. I also drank more alcohol that night than any night in recent memory.
I’m not sure if it was the food or the booze that made me feel the way I did the next day; most likely it was a combination of the two. It doesn’t really matter, my body was telling me that it doesn’t want food like that anymore–unless or course, it’s a special occasion.
During the past week, I managed to lose 1.1 pounds and 0.2% body fat despite the dinner party. All in all, it was a pretty great week highlighted by the epiphany that my body no longer can handle the foods that I used to eat all the time. And that’s something that makes me ecstatic!
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
The part of this post that makes me the happiest is the connection you’re drawing between how you ate and how you felt. Ultimately, over the long term, calorie counting is unsustainable (and I say this as someone who believes counting calories is the only way to effectively lose weight). A sustainably healthy lifestyle is built on a sensitivity to this connection between how you eat and how you feel. You’ve developed the key tool to maintaining your weight over the long term! Imagine if, at the start of the blog two years ago, you had said out loud: this is a two-year project.
Also — and many have commented on this here over the years — daily weigh-ins are problematic. There’s a lot of noise in your daily weight fluctuations, and that tends not only to distort the signal of your weight trend, but for many people it kicks off the kind of emotional response that triggers overeating. I’m glad you’re past that! I think you still have triggers — particularly when you feel overwhelmed by housework and childcare — but your awareness of these as triggers is another powerful tool that I think you were without two years ago.
Tremendous work, Mac!
Nice work! It’s awesome that you have gotten to that point where you can not fret about that blip. I too have taken that ‘life of moderation’ into account with my eating. It works.
On a personal note – I think the ‘occasions’ is a point that someone would have to get to. You have been doing this for some time and probably have a little more self-control than the beginner. In the past when I was on a “diet” I tried the special occasions in the beginning and sometimes those are what threw me off my path. Granted, what constituted as special occasions was probably nothing special to begin with.
I don’t do ‘diets’. I simply am aware and choose what I put into my body. Keep the posts comin’.
seth´s last blog ..February 1st & February Goals
I think you have found the solution to binge eating. You have to acknowledge how you feel after eating certain foods. I am finding the exact same thing. What a wonder that our body starts craving the good healthy and nutritious foods over the empty calorie and fat-laden alternatives. And it’s amazing that your weight fluctuated so much on one day. I don’t think I could weigh myself daily, for me its Friday mornings only!
Dan–That was the part of the post that made ME the happiest as well. I’d love to get to the point where calorie counting isn’t required. I’m not there yet, but I’m closer than I was two years ago for sure. Yesterday, at the trainer, he told me that he advises his clients to aim for 110% of their weight goals and then maintain a 90% goal. At the time, I thought that was pretty good advice. But after further thought, I think I’d like to aim for 110% and maintain at 100% of my goal. As soon as my weight climbs above that 100% mark, it’s back on calorie counting until I get back to 110%. My two targets (the math above is just figurative) are going to be 169 pounds and 174 pounds. I think.
Seth–It used to be that the occasions were occurring daily. I would always find an excuse to eat whatever I wanted to eat that day. That’s why I got to where I was. I think you have a good idea where you don’t “do diets”. When I was first starting my weight loss journey, I used to always say, “It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle!” Now, I’m truly beginning to believe that I’ve changed my lifestyle.
CM–I’m so happy that I’ve reconditioned my body to expect the things that it needs to be healthy instead of the things that make my head feel good in the moment!
I think you are in a really good place right now. It’s where I’m aiming for long term. Eat healthy most of the time but do allow for celebrations etc. Well done on the continuing loss.
AndrewENZ´s last blog ..Running for the joy of it
Long time reader, first time commenter, and I’m doing so today because I just had a health evaluation provided by my gym and need to make some changes. I’m grateful that I belong to a facility that does something like this, so I know where I’m starting and where I’ve got to go. Here’s the deal: I’m 42, 199 lbs., my BP is good, my aerobic capacity is fair, my strength is fair, but my cholesterol is through the roof and my body fat is downright embarrassing. I’ve rollercoastered with weight my entire life (the last time by doing Atkins and Body-For-Life; they worked – 35 pounds in six months – but I stopped doing them and wham! the weight came back and more). So now I want to do exactly what this site is about – getting fit SLOWLY. I appreciate the posts and the comments and will utilize much of this on the way forward. My goals: 190 by June 1; 180 by December 31. Exercising six days a week, alternating between weight training and running (and alternating THAT between distance and intervals). Add in some yoga for flexibility. Sorry for the length of this comment but I’ll keep coming back and letting you guys know how I’m doing.
John–Thanks for reading for so long. And especially thanks for finding the courage to make a comment. I really love that you’ve made your goals public. If you become an active commenter, I’m sure that others will offer up words of advice and encouragement for you. One thing I might suggest right now is to come up with some shorter goals that coincide with your longer goals. In my experiences, when I’ve got goals that are so far away, I tend to procrastinate. But if I’ve got a short term goal, I’m really good at working towards it. Keep up the good work and thanks for making a comment.
Andrew–Me too! I’m giddy at the thought of hitting my weight goals soon! But man was today’s run tough!
Way to go! It’s amazing what your body will tell you if you listen to it. I remember the first time something like that happened to me: I had a cupcake for the first time in months and felt sick for half a day. Remembering that feeling is enough to keep me on the healthy eating track.
Nice work Mac! I know what you mean about having your body tell you that it can’t handle your old way of eating anymore. That happened to me last weekend, when we went over to my folks’ house for dinner. My mom cooked a huge meal that was certainly delicious, but I wouldn’t put it at the good end of the healthy scale. I tried my best not to eat too much, but my body was still telling me afterward that it didn’t like what I was putting in.
Brandon´s last blog ..Weekly weigh-in #5
You have really fancy equipment that will give you the long term benefit of remembering where you were and where you are……
I just took help from you and few other blogs and started at 217.6 on Dec 10th and am at 203 as of yesterday. It is not a small feat, but I never exercised for 20 years, and ate lots of good, OK and not-so-good food. My favorite places were all you can eat and I would go to those places once a month or so.
One of the blogs did it for me. And maybe it was this one (sorry I do not remember). It listed the TOP 10 things to do, and it contained Vit E, Multivitamins, Flax seeds, Vit C, Drink lots of water, Stay active, Sleep well, Eat Fruits etc. We have seen these thing 100’s of times. BUT then there was a little para below it that said something like “If you do all of the 10 things and do NOT do anything to lose the excess weight you have, all of the above 10 things are pretty meaningless”. THAT HIT ME LIKE A ROCK and IT SUNK IN.
It is all about the ‘wake up call’. I have gotten it in my 40’s now and I have completely changed my thinking. Stopped all sugary products (never ate donuts or chocolates or sugar-pop anyways) to the extent I could. And, then made up my mind to lose weight and doing it with a simple treadmill (was really dusty!) and eating lots of times and in proportion with emphasis on protein and not eating when I was bored, or esp. late night or kids foods/leftovers.
That’s it. No Jenny Craig, no WW, no special CDs/DVDs/Programs, since all of those things are EXTERNAL to you. It has to start inside, and when it does, the external input is not necessary.
So, if this helps someone, great. If it does not, I recommend joining all of the health blogs and reading,until something hits you in the middle of your 2 eyes, but goes deep inside the brain. That is the day of awakening and it will all be a pleasure ride after that.
I did get “Insanity” from the net, but have not used it since it is too intense for my early start. Once I become fit, it will be worth it.
KKP