Recently I have been spending more time at my desk working – less moving around. Although, I was getting some exercise, cycling, swimming, stretching(yoga – sort of), I was still very gradually gaining some pounds. I’m generally pretty comfortable around 180 – 185. One eight-five is my limit, but I was several pounds over that and I didn’t want to get back up to the 212 that I was about 8 years ago.
There are a million diets, some claiming I eat too much fat, or eat too much meat, or eat too much cheese or eat too much bread – well, you get the idea. I think I was just eating too much. There was a datum that I used many times before to trim down: Don’t eat until I’m full. Recently I tended to eat until full.
By ‘eat until full’ I mean that I would sit with a plate of food before me and continue eating until I was full. What happens then is that in five or ten minutes the rest of the food hits the stomach and I’m ‘stuffed’. I’ve over-eaten. That was fine when I was young and active, either swimming several miles a day or doing construction. But not now. So, I make smaller meals and stop before I’ve finished the plate or bowl and wait to see if it is enough. That and cutting out – or at least down – the desserts, has in a few days turned the gaining into losing weight. I want a way to keep my weight down that I can live with my whole life and not have to eat special foods. I eat pretty well and generally take care of myself but do like my food.
I’m not sure where I originally came up with this idea of ‘not eating until full’ – it may very likely have been Adelle Davis but I’m not certain.
How not to over eat:
1. Eat more slowly (this one does NOT work for me).
2. Put less on your plate. (Put your food on your plate and then take some off before you go to the table.)
3. Cook less. If you are used to having 3 potatoes for dinner, cook only 3.
4. Don’t eat in restaurants. Believe me, unless you are willing to leave food on the plate at a restaurant, they stay home and eat – the food will be healthier anyway.
5. If you have to have dessert, have it on certain days and halve the amount that you usually take. Or try and have something with less sugar. Though, just straight less is better than less sugar or less anything else specific.
