Dieting Again: Day 7
In Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles, there’s a baboon named Khufu who only eats food that end with the letter O — Doritos, Cheerios, and I am sorry to say an occasional Flamingo. This idiosyncrasy made me laugh. I’ve thought about going on a letter diet before as well. For me, it’s not so much a letter as a sound, though. I like things that start with an ssss sound — cereal, sandwiches, salads, soups, spaghetti, salsa, and so forth.
In fact, I think if I limited myself to cereal, sandwiches, and salads, I could go for months on end without even noticing I was on a diet. I’m considering it.
My main issue with eating is that I eat while my mind is on something else. I don’t pay enough attention to how much I’m eating or how fattening my food is. Cereal and sandwiches work well for me because they are easy to portion size even when I’m not paying attention. They’re also easy to prepare when I don’t have time to deal with anything else. They are a great way to keep on track with limiting calories.
This is why the low carb diet did not work for me. I know I could come up with some things that go sss without indulging in carbs. Squash comes to mind. Maybe sweet potatoes if you aren’t too terribly strict on the carbs. Spinach and celery would do it without a doubt. Cereal and sandwiches are out the door, though. There isn’t a low carb diet book out there that suggests a steady diet of them.
That’s a pity.
People talk a lot about lifestyle changes when they talk about dieting, but I’m sort of over that. I’ve got to figure out a way to make my diet fit my life, not the other way around. If I haven’t become a person who pays attention to what I’m eating while I’m eating it in the past four decades, I’m not going to now.
I do need to change my eating patterns, but I need the changes to fit my life patterns. Basically, I need to allow myself convenience foods.
Diet books tend to generate lots of guilt over taking the easy way out. Probably, that’s why people rarely manage to stay on diets long term.
Today I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, a Subway sandwich for lunch, and a bowl of cereal for supper. I was busy. This was the best I could do.
You won’t find this plan in Atkin’s, but it worked for me today. I wasn’t hungry between meals, and I kept my total calories under 1400. If I need to feel guilty about this, I’ll have to do it later. Right now I’m just going to revel in the fact that I’ve made it through Day 7 of a diet without giving up. So there.
No guilt. Never have guilt.
I do know what you mean by eating while your mind is on something else. I started early on with this, eating while reading (EWR) when I first learned to read. My theory is that eating impossibly fattening foods while reading enhances the total experience, and I’m all about the hedonism, most times. And go for the convenience, too, is what I say. Good luck!