Just 4 Today, I’ll drink my fiber twice (done once), drink 2 liters of water (I’ve drunk about 1/2 liter), walk 5 miles (yesterday – 2.3), NOT eat between meals & NOT take seconds.
Just 4 Today is the basis of my weight control (and general theory of health maintenance.) It’s too overwhelming for me to contemplate doing this stuff everyday for the rest of my life. Depressing even. But, I can commit to sticking to a certain set of goals for just one day — that’s manageable.
The challenge is coming up with reasonable and useful goals. I don’t list every element of my plan. I’ve left off the part about logging everything I eat in my Nutribase food journal or my weight in Hacker’s Diet Online. Or a host of other things I use to help keep my focus.
Why these particular goals?
Well, my mom had colon cancer 30 years ago so I’ve got a genetic predisposition to it. While I eat a pretty well balanced diet, I don’t eat the 30 grams of fiber they recommend everyday. So the fiber supplement gives me a little boost that brings it to 100% everyday. With the supplement I end up going over 100% most days. So what?
The water helps moderate my blood sugar (I’m diabetic.) Maybe it’s hooey but, I think I get fewer headaches when I drink enough water. There have been studies that say we don’t really need those 8 glasses of water a day. Maybe not. But, I feel better when I do it.
Of all the things I do walking 5 miles a day is the most powerful. I used to just get up and take a quick walk around the block once every hour or so and it was easy to walk even more. But, since I stopped working in July my routine is still well – NOT a routine. I don’t have a nice neat block out here like I did in the city. But, I’ve got an idea for faking it. I’ll let you know how it works.
The not eating between meals confuses a lot of people. All I mean is I’m not going to snack or graze or nibble randomly. I happen to eat 3 meals a day — but, I’m not at all implying that 3 meals work for you. Or that all meals must follow some traditional standard. I eat what I want, when I want — I just don’t eat it if I haven’t planned it.
And that goes for seconds. By definition “seconds” aren’t planned. If I planned to eat them, I’d have put them on my plate in the first place. So they’re out.
What are you going to do — Just 4 Today?
Well, I have to say that I love the little rituals I’m developing as I do this. Taking a minute to weigh what I eat doesn’t slow me down much. And I really get to appreciate my food.
I really am eating what I want. Monday, I put 3 oz of turkey on my sandwich. Today, it was just an ounce. So it’s not about punishing myself. It’s about keeping track of my actions: I wanted some cheese with lunch and instead of just hacking at it in the kitchen, I cut some slices, weighed them and put them on a plate.
It’s the best of all possible worlds. Eat what you want and feel virtuous at the same time!