I’m watching my weight.<\/p>\n
Three things happened to me at about the same time to make this happen.<\/p>\n
First<\/b>, Doyce wrote one of the best weight-control and fit-eating and sane-dieting posts <\/a>I’ve ever read. No screeds about Donut Nazis, or how Atkins Was God, or Dammit I Like Fries, or about how Eating Grass and Rocks Will Make You Live Three Days Longer. <\/p>\n No, the bottom line: Pay attention<\/b> to what you eat.<\/i> And, well, eat reasonably. Don’t go back for seconds. Don’t gorge. But don’t starve yourself, either. Stuff like that. But most of all, be aware<\/i>.<\/p>\n The post included this open letter:<\/p>\n Dear America-in-General:<\/b> Remarkable. Inspirational, even.<\/p>\n (I am reminded, in Niven and Pournelle’s Inferno<\/i>, how the Circle of Gluttons also included those who dieted to extreme. The sin is not over-eating per se, but the mis<\/i>use of God’s bounty, and dwelling <\/i>too much on food, to the exclusion of Better Things. You can do that by obsessing on diet as much as you can by neglecting it.)<\/p>\n Second<\/b>, Margie started going to the gym. Which I think is just too swell for words. It’s not anything within my cosmos of activities to pursue at present, but I have nothing but respect and admiration for her for doing so.<\/p>\n Third <\/b>… well, you’d think it would be something else profound. Lent, perhaps?<\/p>\n Well, no. I was working on the photo album<\/a>, and ran across this gem<\/a>. Vanity is often a better motivator than piety.<\/p>\n So, I’m watching things. I’m being aware. I’ve been using the little Palm program that Doyce uses, RMRDiet<\/a>. I’m also playing with a program called BalanceLog<\/a>, which is a scosh pricier, but has both a PC and a Palm version (that sync together).<\/p>\n The idea is not to micromanage, or unduly deny myself of food, glorious food<\/i>. It’s not to be one of those annoying people who bug out their eyes when you order something that has fat, sugar, carbs, or taste in it. It is, as Doyce put it, to be aware. To know where I am, what I’m eating, how it compares. It’s to stop being willfully un<\/i>aware of what I’m putting in my body, and how it affects my weight (and photogeneity).<\/p>\n I’ve actually put in a weight goal. A very, slow, modest one, but one which, if I make it, will make me a lot happier. I’m weighing in at 238 at the present — though that’s on the bathroom scale, and it implies I’ve lost 11 pounds since last November<\/a>, which seems unlikely. On the other hand, it’s an index to start from.<\/p>\n We’ll see.<\/p>\n
\nWhat the hell are you doing?
\nCarb-counting bagels\u2026
\nLow-carb ice cream\u2026
\nBunless burgers.
\nChrist on a Crutch.
\nLook, it\u2019s really not that hard; order one<\/u> burger, order a six-inch sub instead of a foot, replace white bread with whole wheat, consume less sugar, be aware that a regular side of fries has 100 more calories than the rest of the damn meal<\/u>, combined<\/u> – and stay away from fad diets<\/b>. In fact, stay away from any diet and accept the fact that you need to eat well for the rest of your life instead of thinking a few weeks of ketosis starvation will make up for years of sleep-eating.
\nJust. Fucking. Wake-up.
\nAnd when you do <\/b>buy Ben and Jerry\u2019s, get the full-fat, high-carb variety and enjoy it. Better yet, share it with your friends. Enjoy yourself \u2014 just be\u2026 present<\/u> in your own lives.<\/p>\n