My dear friend Anonymous is reading over my shoulder as I write this.
The brilliant thing about taking photos of my food is that I don’t forget what I’ve eaten. I just wrote a completely different breakfast and then looked at my photos and realised I ate something different. Mrs Anonymous says I say that every time. Apologies if I am repeating myself. It is on account of my old age! 😉
Breakfast- not porridge and almond milk! Plain yoghurt with sweetener and muesli which I weighed out.
I went for a wonderful walk with my friends A in Golders Hill park today. We saw squirrels in the stumpery and elsewhere. A, this photo is for you.
Lunch in the park – pitta with salt beef and mixed salad leaves (Twice the quantity of pictured)
Afternoon snacks – several clementines, weighed portion of bbq rice cakes (which I would have forgotten had I not taken a photo), bulgar wheat when giving kids supper.
Supper – I was so hungry at supper and had three bowls of chicken soup with chicken, onion, carrot, kneidlach and bulgar wheat!No idea why I was so hungry, but I just was. I went to a shiur this evening and so ate earlier than usual.
Snack after shiur – some grapes
Mrs Anonymous is no longer reading over my shoulder. She asked for more commentary on the blog, not just the food. Ok…..
So we were having a chat about the blog, my weight loss etc (and her own dieting) and she said something very interesting. She said that she thinks that I will lose all the weight and then put it all back on again. This is based on her experiences of seeing others yoyo like this.
I beg to differ and here’s why.
I am not dieting. By this I mean that:
- I am not cutting out vast swathes of food, or overly restricting what I can eat.
- I am not having meal replacements or diet suppressants.
- I am not eating in a way that makes me miserable, anti-social and depressed.
- I am not not eating and exercising “until I’ve lost the weight, and then I can have all those treats again”.
- I am not losing large amounts of weight very quickly (although I’d like to).
- I am not fasting, or eating weird food combinations like only eating blue foods on Tuesdays and purple foods on Thursdays
This is what I am doing.
- I am eating healthy nutritious food that I enjoy.
- I have reduced my portion sizes
- I am learning to treat myself in non food ways
- I am reevaluating my relationship with food and activity
- I am becoming more active in ways that I can sustain and enjoy.
- I am slowly but surely losing weight.
Ultimately I am changing my lifestyle. It will probably take me at least two years to get to a healthy weight and to be living the lifestyle to sustain that. But the journey will be transforming me inside, mentally and emotionally as well as externally physically. That’s why I think that when I do get to a healthy weight, I will not gain it all back on again. The way I will be living by that point will be so different to how I was living for the last 33 years of my life that I won’t want to go back, and I won’t go back.
My approach is a positive one to weight loss. I want to be healthy, physically and mentally. I strongly believe that Hashem made us a world to enjoy. Our bodies are designed to need all types of food but also to enjoy them. Hashem didn’t need to make the incredible variety of foods He did. He didn’t need to make them look good, smell good, feel good and taste good. But He did because He loves us and wants us to have pleasure. One of the most regular pleasures we have in our lives is eating and drinking. I cannot and I will not make myself miserable in order to lose weight. In such a case, of course a person would gain weight again. I really and truly believe that by eating delicious real wholesome food and increasing my level of activity I will lose weight and keep it off for the rest of my life.
Who’s with me?
Thank you for all your likes and comments, I really appreciate them. I do foresee that this post may make some people think not nice things about Mrs Anonymous. Please keep those thoughts to yourself, any unkind comments will not be approved. She is a very good friend of mine and I understood her sentiment, which was not to be mean or discouraging.
Simcha
Slimming B'Simcha! 
That anonymous Mann is awful. Just saying. But your comeback was superb. Even so late at night.
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You crack me up. Whatever you want to call your yourself.
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Ms Anonymous is not correct in this case, with the greatest of respect. You are doing it differently, you are making lifestyle changes that can and will continue. I’ve seen people lose and keep it off. Keep doing what your doing, love the squirrel btw 🙂
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Thank you xx
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I think your hashgapha is spot on. I do believe that people want to do the right ting. Give them a “right thing” alternative that satisfies their need and they’ll be able to ditch the bad stuff.
It’s finding a right thing alternative that’s hard. Make doing the right thing unpleasant, hard or miserable, and that’s a recipe for failure, IMHO.
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I think your thoughtful analysis is key and the fact that you are doing it at the age you are and the person you are now for the right reasons. It will take time. There is no quick fix. But it is a new way of life , a new way of looking at yourself and what is important now is what is going to keep you on track.
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You are on the right track. I’ve spent double your years on this planet and have finally managed to lose weight and keep it off. I’ve yo-yo’ed all my life and not just by a few pounds. I’ve only been at a ‘normal’ weight (not sure what else to call it) for four months, but it has taught me that I have the important information. All of your ideas are valid. It is a lifestyle change that can win the race. We must place proper value on what is really important in our lives and determine what we are willing to do for the rest of it. No quick fix here, just a lot of introspection. Good luck to us both!
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Thank you and well done for finding a system that is working for you!
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Funny. I just ran across this post and wanted to comment. Whoops! I already did. I can only add that it is over a year later and I’ve still kept the weight off… in fact I even lost a bit more. It is a lifestyle change, and a thousand choices. Continued good luck to you. We can but try.
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