Time is passing and I am still attempting to make this latest strategy work. For the most part, it works exceedingly well. Then, there are the weekends. I can clearly see that I am going to have to mix things up a little bit on the weekends and exercise a little more control. During the week, this approach feels more natural than anything I have done in years. It feels good to quit trying to force myself into eating like I think I should or how others say I should.
I cannot help thinking that in prehistoric or early civilization times, people were surely not eating 5-6 mini meals a day. So why is it, that we insist this is the best way to balance out our metabolism and keep ourselves fit? I bet early man was doing just fine on one or two good-sized meals a day. And I also bet there weren't a lot of fat cave people walking around either.
So with that preface, I am feeling more confident about my decision to limit myself to two meals a day. Within these parameters, I don't even feel like I need to control or restrain myself at mealtime. That is, as long I as I do make an effort to eat healthy balanced food. For me, that wasn't the challenge. I rarely eat anything deep-fried or fast-food anyway. As a vegetarian, most of that food isn't even on my radar screen. My problem was that I was eating too much food all day long.
When it's not mealtime, I still have to exercise control. That means in the mornings and in the evenings before I go to bed. So far the evenings have been a breeze, unless I have blown it all day long, like on Mother's Day. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it seems to be hopeless until dawn the next day. However, if I can make it to lunch, staying on my plan is nearly effortless. After all, I eat what I want at meal time until I am completely satisfied. I think that is the key to making this plan work. It just doesn't feel like a diet.
And so to the results.....I am now down three more pounds since I started this new approach. That's in line with my expectations, even considering all the missteps along the way. I still have three years to get this weight off, so if I can establish a strong habit of two meals per day, I think I can be pretty close to my goal when I am ready. That's it for now.
I didn't know that you are a vegetarian. I have been feeling more and more lately like that is the way to go (I say as I am about to do three weeks of low carb!) but have no idea how to cook that way. Do you have a cookbook or two that you would suggest for getting started with that?
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