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1989-10-24
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DIETING PRINCIPLES
by M.D. Smith
CONTROL BINGE EATING: To avoid binge eating, think about
what day(s), time(s) and circumstances were present the last
times binge eating occurred. There is a good chance you were
in a negative mood, bored or both. It is likely to happen
again unless you are ready when the time comes. Set up things
to do to get you out of the house in a similar situation.
Already have a trip to the book store, craft shop or visit
with a friend lined up and written down. Also, always have a
good supply of low-cal beverages and crunchy raw vegetables
on hand to eat and divert yourself long enough to get
interested in something else besides eating or to get out of
the house. Exercise is uplifting for the spirit and body, and
a short walk will do these things for you while getting you
out of the house and temptation at the same time. This is
what to do BEFORE a binge eating spell can start.
If a binge eating spree is in progress, like ice cream or
something, AT LEAST measure out a normal portion in a bowl
and put the carton back in the freezer. The worst thing you
can do is eat "just one little spoonful at a time"....until
it is all gone. Then make a pact with yourself to get out of
the house just as soon as that bowl is empty. If you can not
get out of the house...at least leave that part of the house
for at least 20 minutes and put your mind on something else.
Concentrate on an interesting book, a game, a phone call to a
friend. Twenty minutes is a magic number, because it takes
that long for your stomach to tell your brain that you are
full or have had something filling to eat. That's why you
should eat your normal portion of food at the table, and then
go do something else for 20 minutes before starting to clean
up the leftovers....or to even consider eating something else
because you don't "FEEL FULL". In 20 minutes you might not
feel "stuffed", but you won't be truly hungry either.
Finally, during an eating binge, the mind-set seems to be one
of "since I have blown it now, I might as well let it all
hang out and eat everything fattening in sight." Calories
count just as much during an eating binge as any other time.
Also the popular notion that a melted ice cream sundae has
very few calories because "CALORIES DON'T COUNT AT ROOM
TEMPERATURE", is also a false premise. Inside you know, but
stop before it is all gone or you can not eat anymore. This
is a success of sorts...just being able to stop a binge.
Accept that the damage has been done and you will start
eating your normal diet at the very next meal. Don't try to
fast to make up for the binge, that will make things even
worse for you.
SALT: Yes, salt has NO calories, but it will stimulate your
appetite to overeat. Use seasonings, like "Mrs. DASH", in
place of salt. It is also healthier to do so and before long
food will taste better and more flavorful without salt.
EATING OUT: Then there is the problem of eating out at
restaurants. It is easier than it used to be because of the
many salad-bars that are available, even at the fast food
places where the kids want to go. Have the salad bar...fine,
but remember a few pointers.....NO SALAD DRESSINGS. Either
take your own pre-measured diet dressing or use plain vinegar
and a spoonful of oil. The dressings can easily be FIVE times
the calorie content of your entire salad. Stay away from
potato salad, ham salad and anything prepared with mayo and
other unknown calories. Limit the egg (75 calories per ounce
which equals one egg) and meats for toppings and cheese which
all have 100-150 calories per ounce. Have all the greens,
mushrooms, green peppers, onions, sprouts, cucumbers,
tomatoes and radishes you wish. Then you can have the fruit
dishes for desert and count only 75 calories per serving.
(This certainly does not count peaches preserved in sugar
syrup) Low cal drink and you are set.
Avoid places where you have a menu and a long wait for dinner
with bread and butter on the table while you wait (and
overeat). If you must go to a place like this, put the bread
and butter and things on another table and immediately order
coffee or hot tea and a salad (with no dressing) to munch on
while the dinners are prepared. Order what you know you
should have, and do not scan the menu for all those tempting
foods and descriptions. Order first to avoid the "that sounds
good, me too!" pattern that will get you high calorie foods.
As soon as you have eaten your normal portion of food, spoil
what is left with a lot of salt or something so that you will
not continue to eat until the plates are removed much later.
BEFORE AND AFTER DINNER AT HOME: If you are the one preparing
the dinner, swear not to taste or nibble while preparing the
meal. A big wad of bubblegum to chew on is a good diversion.
It keeps the mouth busy and keeps other foods out. Or have
some carrot sticks cleaned and sliced in cold water to munch
on and a diet drink to avoid taking in calories before
dinner. When it comes time for the meal, make sure of several
things. Serve the plates from the kitchen, not in bowls full
at the table where second helpings are too easy(ask your
family to indulge and go to the kitchen themselves if they
want seconds). Put all your food that you have measured out
and intend to eat on a slightly smaller plate (it looks like
more). Cut your food into very small bites, take a bite, put
your fork down on the plate,and chew the food very thoroughly
and completely swallow it before lifting your fork again.
This will slow your eating down a lot....very desirable. Food
tastes better when chewed thoroughly,especially carbohydrates
and breads. Even cut foods like apples into very small pieces
and eat with a fork. You will be surprised how long a medium
apple takes to eat in this manner.
Have the food look elegant and appetizing. Looks add a lot to
the enjoyment of any food, especially diet foods. Use good
silver and china.
As soon as the meal is over...if possible....leave the room
and let someone else clean up and store the leftovers...even
if you have to make a deal with them. If this is not
possible, then at least leave the area for a while to allow
time for the "stomach full" message to get to your brain.
Then already have your leftover containers out and ready to
put the stuff up fast. You are not a human garbage can and
starving people over in China won't benefit whether you eat
it or chunk it....so chunk it unless it will be used for
another meal. It is even good to get used to seeing
"perfectly good food" go to waste in the garbage. You have
really conquered this feeling when you can buy some of your
favorite food, bring it home, unwrap it and chunk it in the
garbage....it may be a dollar or two very well spent to prove
to your inner self that the world did not swallow you up for
committing such an unpardonable sin. If it doesn't go to
WASTE in the garbage it will go to your WAIST. Which do you
prefer? But if you just have to save it, put it in containers
that won't tempt you to eat it. After several days if no one
else eats it, it will spoil and you can throw it away with a
clean conscience.
Then leave the kitchen and even adjacent areas. Get busy and
absorbed in reading, doing something....anything to let food
and dinner get completely out of your mind. Some people say
that brushing the teeth is a good signal that eating is over.
FOOD LOG: Perhaps the single most important TOOL in dieting,
if that is the proper term, is the Food-Log. You must log
everything you eat that has calories in it (don't log diet
sodas and the like). This requires that you have a good
complete calorie guide for all types of foods and that you
weigh or measure everything you eat if not pre-measured such
as 1 slice of bread = 75 calories. Yes, this is a pain in
the neck to do at every meal and snack...but you must. This
is the only way you are going to REALLY KNOW what you eat
each day, count the calories and total each day and week
intake. Other programs in this series help you see how
important this is in calculations for speed of weight loss
and how to maintain once you get to goal. Any weight
counselor will tell you that the most successful and
consistent dieters always keep and log everything, even the
binges and BAD foods when it happens (yes even measure the
ice cream while you are having a binge). By the way, Ice
Cream has 43 calories per ounce and a full 1/2 gallon
container will deliver 2,752 calories to your body, over
double what your daily allotment of calories normally will
be. If you won't keep a food log, you are not serious about
dieting. I have known people who didn't diet at all, but just
by keeping a food log, lost 10 overweight pounds and didn't
think they did anything differently. Just looking at what you
have had to eat at the end of the day will add to your
feeling of having had enough....or may stop you when you just
can't stand to put a candy bar on your food log list. There
are many reasons why a food log works so well, but it can't
work for you unless you are dedicated to keeping it with you
at all times and using it. I keep a small reduced size log in
my shirt pocket at all times. It has 21 blank blocks on it;
good for a week's worth of meals with space for calorie
counts of each of the foods.
FOOD-PROOFING YOUR HOME: We all spend a lot of time in our
homes, and that is where a lot of the improper eating goes
on. The very first thing to do is REMOVE ALL FOOD from every
single room and location but the kitchen. Not one edible
thing anywhere in the house, but the kitchen. Then, put any
foods out of sight and/or easy reach that is not part of your
legal diet. The best thing is to have a separate cabinet with
the junk foods that you never open. Let whomever it was
bought for get it for themselves. Never take food into any
other part or room of the house. Always eat only while
sitting down at the table. This will help you from getting an
"automatic case of the munchies" when you sit in your
favorite chair in the den to watch TV. Also, don't sit in
that favorite chair if it will trigger the urges to eat.
Maybe you shouldn't sit at all if it is a danger time and you
will feel the need to snack...go for a walk, run errands or
call a friend from another room in the house...while you sip
on a diet soda poured over crushed ice.
GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT: When you have lost 5 or 10 or 15
pounds, give yourself credit. If a spouse fails to notice,
try one of these handy ideas. Next time you are both at the
grocery store, load up his/her arms with 15 pounds of ground
beef...and say "that's how much weight I have lost." Another
more permanent way is to get a large metal container, like a
10 gallon paint bucket. For every pound of weight you have
lost, add a pound of sand in the bucket. Soon it will get so
heavy it will be difficult to carry. This will demonstrate
very clearly how much weight YOU are not carrying around
anymore...and you can add more sand as you continue to lose.
It is a very good marker of your success. You need motivation
to stay on your eating plan and gradually adapt to a whole
new way of eating properly. So give yourself credit for what
you have done...for the good days you have had...don't kick
yourself for one or two BAD days. I heard a little saying
that illustrates this:
"WE AIN'T WHAT WE OUGHTA BE
WE AIN'T WHAT WE WANNA BE
WE AIN'T WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE
BUT THANK THE LORD....
WE AIN'T WHAT WE WAS !"
The only caution is not to consider yourself "CURED" when you
get close to or at your goal ... and go back to eating like
you were when you were fat. You'll get fat again. So look at
the weeks and perhaps months that you spend losing weight as
training for a whole new way of eating and handling problem
foods....plan to live this way for the rest of your life. It
is healthy and good for you. Take your frustrations, your
anger, your anxieties, your celebrations and all the emotions
and if you must react to them, react in NON-FOOD ways. Heck,
hit somebody or scream at somebody...that's better than
quietly going to the bathroom and devouring 2 boxes of
chocolate cookies, 6 twinkies, and an econo-pak of candy
bars. Then you still have the anger and feelings....AND THE
GUILT over what you have just done with foods. While
mentioning guilt here, if it strikes a familiar cord, by all
means read and print-out a copy of "REASONS" which is another
program in this series.
SOME PARTING THOUGHTS: "Life is like a cafeteria; there are
no waiters to bring success to you." "IF IT IS TO BE; IT IS
UP TO ME" You'll see this thought in another program, but the
point is that YOU are in charge of your own life...so don't
look to others for your success and have to depend on them to
diet and reach your goal.
Speaking of cafeterias...this really happened. It was a busy
day in the cafeteria and Marge was having a diet salad. All
the tables were filled and shortly a man asked if he could
sit at the same table to have his coffee and doughnuts. Marge
said sure. Presently, he finished his coffee and one of the
powdered sugar doughnuts, but had not touched the other one.
Then he got up and left. Marge looked at the other doughnut
for what seemed like a long time, knowing that soon the bus-
boy would come by and rake it into the garbage...so quickly,
like a spider darting after a fly, she whisked the doughnut
off the plate and began eating it. Marge was just about half
way finished with it ..... when the man returned with his
second cup of coffee!
The worst slogan for people on a diet to ever come down the
pike?
"BAKE SOMEONE HAPPY"
OLD CHINESE PROVERB: "That the birds of worry and care fly
above your head, this you cannot change, but that they build
nests in your hair, this you can prevent." Deal with life's
problems when they come, then forget them. If you don't, it
will all go to waist.
In dieting, we all have our good days when it is easy...then
we have the really rotten days when nothing seems to go
right. Well, everybody has those kinds of days and we just
have to get through them without letting it wreck our dieting
success. It might help to remember the story of this railroad
engineer when we think we are having a bad day....
A railroad engineer got up on the wrong
side of bed one morning. The water for
his shower was cold. His shoelace broke
when he tried to tie it. At breakfast,
his toast was burned. His car wouldn't
start and he had to take a taxi to the
yards. He was late, so when he started
his train he speeded up to 90 miles an
hour. Just as he swung around a curve, he
saw another train coming straight at him,
on the same track. He heaved a big sigh
and, turning to the fireman, said, "DID
YOU EVER HAVE ONE OF THOSE DAYS WHEN JUST
EVERYTHING GOES WRONG?"
Some of these "Principles of Dieting" are nothing more than
common sense, others are methods that have worked for
thousands of people in the past and can work for you. If you
have the commitment to live by the plans and ideas outlined
in these programs and text files, you WILL BE SUCCESSFUL !
Have a safe trip!