I had a moment of despair earlier in the week. There is an event coming up that will involve food and drink nae doot. When I said I would rather not go and eat, it was put to me that I could go and not eat. How to express that it doesn't work that way? No one would say that to an alcoholic, would they?
After saying goodbye to my old friends, I have been behaving well. There were crisps today, but I've been smoothieing (blech) and oatcaking in the morning and souping and salading at lunch, with a quick circumnavigation of the building afterwards. Last week, my average was 9660 steps a day, give or take.
I gave up cigs, then started again (which will kill me first I wonder?)
Now all I have to do is cut out the mountain of basmati rice I seem to be eating every day...
I read something today that caused a slight shift in my perception of my weight problem and doing something about it.
I found Fat Man Walking. Mr Vaught has walked across America in an attempt to lose weight. He has lost 102lbs (coincidentally, about what I'd need to lose). On this page he says:
OK, it's extreme and I couldn't afford the time or the money. But it was what he said about rehab that smote me between the eyes! I've heard many times the words "complete change in lifestyle" but never quite so clearly. I shall have to think about this some more.
After saying goodbye to my old friends, I have been behaving well. There were crisps today, but I've been smoothieing (blech) and oatcaking in the morning and souping and salading at lunch, with a quick circumnavigation of the building afterwards. Last week, my average was 9660 steps a day, give or take.
I gave up cigs, then started again (which will kill me first I wonder?)
Now all I have to do is cut out the mountain of basmati rice I seem to be eating every day...
I read something today that caused a slight shift in my perception of my weight problem and doing something about it.
I found Fat Man Walking. Mr Vaught has walked across America in an attempt to lose weight. He has lost 102lbs (coincidentally, about what I'd need to lose). On this page he says:
"I have an addiction and there needs to be dedication and sacrifice to cure addictions. If I had a drug or alcohol addiction I would go to rehab. Well, what I have in mind is rehab for the fat guy.
I am going to take six months out of my life and walk across the United States from San Diego to NYC." (my italics)
OK, it's extreme and I couldn't afford the time or the money. But it was what he said about rehab that smote me between the eyes! I've heard many times the words "complete change in lifestyle" but never quite so clearly. I shall have to think about this some more.
5 comments:
This is an interesting insight, but I can't help thinking you're being a bit hard on yourself, thinking of yourself as an addict.
I quite like the athlete's approach to food: it is fuel, to enable you to perform, and you eat what will enable you to perform best, no more and no less.
Between the athlete and the addict fall the rest of us...
A propos of nothing, I have just discovered that strawberries - my favourite fruit - are very low in calories (25 per 100g). The calorie counting is still going well but the running has gone by the wayside, which is probably what will happen to me when I attempt the 10k a week on Sunday.
If it's any consolation, I started smoking again as well, both as a stress reliever and an appetite suppressant. I figure that my drinking was far more threatening a problem to my health than a few cigarettes a day, and anyway I fully intend to stop when I get down to my target weight. I feel loads better for not drinking, but have an irritating cough from smoking.
I thought it was Paula Radcliffe who went by the wayside. (Boom boom.)
Interesting segue there - from addiction to food, to smoking as an appetite suppressant. Current thinking is that smoking doesn't so much suppress your appetite per se, as give you something other than food to suppress your nameless cravings with.
Re giving up cigs: it's a case of timing. Coping with the craving means a good deal of indiscriminate and sometimes bizarre noshing, frankly.
And on addiction: I kind of feel that labelling myself as an addict is the easy way out. It means I can duck the responsibility for getting this way. But not for getting out of it eh? :o)
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