Day 24 - 2010

I'm losing the weight loss battle. Bread is my new enemy. I had some french bread last weekend that was so amazingly good. I couldn't stop eating it (horrors - white flour). And a few days ago, I had a craving for more. I have this mistaken mentality that for some reason I deserve to eat stuff like that because after all, I'm giving up sugar and meat and all that other bad stuff.... So I went to the store and found some pumpernickel bread (my favorite) and there sitting along side it was some marked down sour dough bread, a real deal. I bought it and now I have consumed most of the whole loaf. My regular healthy whole wheat bread has been in the frig for a long time because I eat a slice every once in awhile. But the artisan bread, I eat like an addict. I think I can eat the whole grains because they are so filling so I don't need to eat as much of them. And they are healthier for me anyway. What was I thinking? Okay, I just shouldn't allow that white stuff in the door.
Enemy number two is that I can't throw stuff away. Like when the kids come up I try to have them take the leftovers home but when stuff is left, I can't throw it away. I know I shouldn't eat the whole loaf of sour dough bread but it is wasteful to throw it away, I know it is waist filling. It goes against my "children are starving around the world so clean your plate" mentality. It is too wasteful. I really need to trash that stuff and get it out of my sight.
Maybe I'm being a might too hard on myself. But that white flour IS sugar when it hits the system. I've given up bagels for the same reason - pure sugar. This surely won't harm me forever although the scales are something I don't want to face for awhile after this white bread fiasco.
Enemy number 3 is portion control. If I can get a handle on these three things - certain foods, getting rid of (throwing stuff away) the tempting foods, and portion control, I'll be on my way. I'm sure of it.
I was watching Oprah yesterday, catching up on some of the stuff I have recorded. She had two very good shows, one with Michael Pollan (Food, Inc.) and one all about diabetes with Dr. Oz and others. They both supported what I'm doing. It is always nice to hear it from outside sources. I wanted to write them and tell them about the Word of Wisdom.
Michael Pollan eats all foods but he is very careful to find out where they come from. He eats meat that eats the stuff they were meant to eat (grass fed, etc.) and not the meat that sits in dark barns gobbling up antibiotics and stuff to make them get so fat, so quick, that they can't even support their own weight. Anyway, he summed it all up in seven words - "Eat food, mostly plants, not too much!"
Another support to my way of life.
She also had an actress, Alicia Silverstone ("Clueless"), who had written a cookbook, "The Kind Diet." She went cold turkey(ha) on a vegan diet. She told about how her complexion cleared up and that her eyes got clear. She reported so many benefits of this way of life. (All vegans will tell you that.) It got me thinking again. How far can I go with this diet of mine?
I felt better, almost immediately, when I ate only raw foods. Is that what I need to do? Forever?
I want to lose weight. Dr. Oz said that your waist size should be at least half the size of your height. I'm 5'5" (65 " tall) so my waist should be no bigger than 32.5. He said diabetes type 2 disappears at that size and if it is more than that you are at risk.
Lots to think about here. I just need to get really and truly committed to a life style and get some self discipline going. I need to be tough and get this job done!!! Here's when the temptation to self loathe comes in. I hate it when I fail!!! I just can't seem to get a handle on this. Last year I lost weight by eating meat and all kinds of things that I don't believe are as healthy as my diet is today, and yet this year I can't seem to shake off the pounds at all.
EAT LESS
EAT SMART
EAT THE RIGHT THINGS
EAT TO LIVE NOT LIVE TO EAT
QUIT EATING BY 7:00
These are my personal rules. But Michael Pollan says it perhaps best.

"EAT FOOD, MOSTLY PLANTS, NOT TOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"