on my diet logs

I've gotten a couple comments in recent weeks about having too many carbs in my diet, so I figure it's about time to set the record straight on my diet philosophies.

Before I get started, I just want to thank everyone who has commented here, and tell you that I do appreciate it, even if I don't seem to be listening to a word you say. :) Even if I don't use the suggestion right now, I do file all of them away for future consideration.

My diet plan is not one that I would write books about. It is never going to go down in the annals of history as the end-all, be-all way to lose weight (but neither is any other plan). I know that the things I eat are not the most healthy, or the best choices for a dieter. If someone asked me right now what I was doing to lose weight, the only thing I could really tell them is "paying attention". I pay attention to what I eat, and how much. I exercise more than I used to.

The next logical question is, "well, if you know there are better plans out there, why do it your way?"

Because I'm one of the most stubborn, fiercely independent, change-resistant beings on this planet. If I can't change things my way I won't change at all. This weight loss thing was no different. It didn't happen until I was damn well ready, and no amount of cajoling, insulting, heartache, well-meaning advice, hundreds of $$ spent on personal trainers, thoughts of a size 20 wedding dress, embarrassment at shopping at the fat stores, or anything else, was going to speed that up. I lied to myself constantly about it.

"I'm not eating too much, it's the job stress."
"I'm not eating too much, I've got some kind of medical problem."
"I'm not eating too much, I'm not exercising enough."
"I'm not eating too much, I just need some motivation."

The critical point for me was reached at the beginning of this year, when I finally resigned myself to the fact that I was eating too much, and it was probably going to kill me one day. I could either keep getting fatter, or I could change my lifestyle. Finally, the pain of staying where I was had exceeded the pain of change. And that, for me, is when things always get rolling. I've heard that's true for a lot of people.

Even after I had made the decision, though, I still had my personality to work around. I knew from experience that the more radically different something is from my current habits, the less likely I would be to stick with it. The more I had to change, the more often I would fail. The more often I failed, the more likely I would be to quit. Since I was ultimately looking for something sustainable over time, I had to choose a program that wasn't all that different from my current lifestyle. I also needed to take tiny steps, or this time would be just another in a long history of good intentions gone bad.

I chose to concentrate on one goal at a time. In the beginning, it was calories. I still ate the same things, just less of them. I cut out some major things...french fries, most sugared drinks, big fatty burgers, but I kept the things I enjoyed most...an occasional can of real coke, ice cream, Easter candy, beef, breads, cheese, peanut butter. The most important thing for me then, and still today, was vigilant documentation. It wasn't until I started writing down everything I ate on a dieting day that I realized everything I used to eat on an average day.

(Speaking of documentation...I don't count exact calories, especially with things I cook at home. On things I cook, I take the calories from fitday, and I round them to the nearest five. All meats are 40 calories/ounce in my world. When I eat fish, I overestimate. When I eat pork, I underestimate. I've had two people comment that my beef numbers are too low, and they're probably right about that.)

After the first months, I was seeing results, but not feeling as well as I thought I could. I was also seeing less progress, which was frustrating. My mind began to wander toward nutrition. I added a multivitamin, and then turned to weight watchers, which pays more attention to nutritional values without much more work for me. It's only been a month, but it's working well for me thus far. I've lost over 18 lbs in the 17 weeks since I started trying, which is completely within a healthy range. It's never as fast as I'd like, but I'm satisfied with my progress. When I stop being satisfied with my progress, I'll try something else.

Said all that to say this...I've no doubt that low carb diets work well for some people. But they are not the only way. The reason I don't try Atkins, or any other ketogenic diet, is not because I think they're bad...in fact, a low carb diet worked quite well for Robert a couple years back. It would likely work for me, if I had any desire to do it. At some point I may be willing, but now is not that time.

One of the biggest reasons I'm hesitant to go with a low-carb solution is that I am pretty consistently off-plan at least a couple days a week. In a low-cal normal diet, this is okay. In a ketogenic diet, it's a deal-breaker. Another is food preferences. I don't plan on cutting bread, pasta, rice, etc. out of my diet permanently, so why do it now? As long as I'm still losing weight on my current plan, I don't see any point in adopting a regimen that would make me give up more of the things that I like, and leave less room for my own fickleness. If that makes me a carb addict, well, so what?

Right now, I'm concentrating on making around 29 points every day. That's somewhere around 1300 - 1500 calories, if the nutrition is right. As my weight goes down and my exercise goes up, that will remain pretty constant. When I start to plateau, I'll look more seriously into other alternatives.