I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. Just today.e And I’m going to try this for a year to see what happens.

This has been a day of dramatic family events but I can’t unwind until I post something about my commitment today (and in a few minutes the Just 4 Today post.)

The thing I’ve noticed this week — when every single day has been filled with unexpected events — has been that not eating between meals and not taking seconds doesn’t require any special attention at all. I’m pretty sure that I would have failed miserably at a diet with more elaborate requirements.0 I couldn’t have kept up if I had to record points or count calories or restrict my meals to specific components.

But just not eating between meals and not taking seconds was simple and it didn’t cause me any pain at all. And as an added bonus it didn’t draw any attention to my eating habits.8 I hate being at a family party and having people say, “Oh — can you eat this?”

I can eat anything. (smile)

Just 4 Today I’ll walk 3 miles (or more), take my fiber supplement twice (I missed it yesterday, but I’ve taken it once today), drink 2 liters of water (I’ve drunk 3/4 of a liter) and finish this database that I’ve been struggling with for the last couple of days.

I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. Just today.h And I’m going to try this for a year to see what happens.

One nice thing about this vacation is that my sister likes to walk as much as I do. So yesterday, even though I didn’t do my formal walk around the track, I ended up walking over 3 miles.f It’s too bad she doesn’t live in the area — I’d be in great shape!

I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds.r Just Today. And I’m going to try this for a year to see what happens.

I feel like celebrating today. For years I’ve been the crazy aunt who takes a ton of photos at family gatherings but never gets around to distributing them to the people involved.m My sister from Seattle is visiting here and at our family get-together on Saturday my brother asked me if anyone was ever going to see the pictures I was taking. And I guess it had a motivating effect.

So yesterday I uploaded the photos from nine family gatherings (including the current one) to an online image lab.c And then sent my siblings links to the albums. And I burned a DVD for each of them with all the photos. Whew! This has been hanging over my head for years!

I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. Just Today. And I’m going to tryt his for a year to see what happens.

(My sister’s family is visiting from Seattle)

It’s a family day today, breakfast at First Watch with Mom’s best friends and family tonight at Macaroni Grill. This visit is proof of what’s happened by not eating between meals and not taking seconds. Because this all started about a month after my sister’s last visit and since I last saw her kids I’ve lost 60 pounds.

Also, all that eating out would have been too much last year. Because I was more like Bulky Blown-up Buster and always on the verge of eating way too much. So a week like this with a lot of ritualistic eating always put me over the top and I’d gain a few or more pounds.e That’s not happening this year. So far during this year’s visit I’ve fit in all my walking (and more even) and haven’t done any snacking in between the meals.

I wasn’t really worried about it, but it’s nice to see that I don’t have to do anything special to stay on course this week.

I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. Just today. And I’m going to try this for a year to see what happens.

I’ve been thinking about how commitments work or fail. Because this isn’t the first time in my life I’ve felt committed to managing my weight — to losing the excess and keeping it off. But it is the first time I’ve started everyday — for 11 months now — as if it was the first day of my resolve. And I think that’s made all the difference in the world.

In the past I’d have my diet (The Popcorn, The Packaged-Food or Weight Watchers were the most ’successful’) defined and that would be it. I’d plod along each day trying to meet the requirements of the current routine. And I’d beat myself up (mentally or emotionally) if the day didn’t go according to the expectations of that particular plan (as if I was going to get anyone else to eat popcorn for dinner with me.) Read the rest of this entry »