Just today, I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. And I’ll weigh myself & use the tools and guidance from The Hacker’s Diet to help me reach (and keep) my goal.

I’ve started taking the idea of journaling much more seriously as a tool. For along time I’ve used the power of writing down what I eat (in advance, as I plan my day and as I actually eat.)o But this week I’ve written in my journal as I don’t eat as well.

I was inspired by the suggestion in my list of 6 things I can do to avoid snacking (which I’ve got posted on my wall in the form of this poster.)

4) Make a list of what you’ve already eaten today and what you plan
to eat later. And estimate the calories that you’ll be eating today.

Somewhere along the way that list and the estimates have turned into written meditations on what food means to me. It’s given me a place to record thoughts about why I’m thinking about food at that particular time.o And I’ve written about how I’ll feel if I have that unplanned snack — whether I think it will be good for me emotionally or if it would set me back.

And since that poster is right there listing all those other ideas, I write about which of those tips I’ve already tried that day. Am I taking my own advice?s Do those hints work, or are they superficial and glib? So far, I’ve found that the hints do work for me.l But, they work better when I take the time to think about which one I need at that moment. Taking the time to evaluate the usefulness of each one is itself a useful tool in stopping the urge to snack.
These notes aren’t meant for other eyes. They aren’t fully developed articles.e Sometimes they’re barely sentences. It’s interesting to look back on my notes for the week and see that even in a place that’s meant just for me, my attitude stays mostly positive.< That while I’m frustrated by my continuing flirtation with temptation, I have a pretty strong determination to get through the day with my goals intact.

The poster says, I am a Rock, as strong as I need to be. This week at least, that was true.

Just today, I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. And I’ll use the tools and guidance from The Hacker’s Diet to help me reach (and keep) my goal.

I can tell when I’m back in weight-loss mode. The biggest clue is that I spend my daydreaming time playing with numbers.i Imagining different rates of weightloss, I calculate the likelihood of different options and imagine the clothes I’ll wear when I get there. I know my (fantasy) goal worried readers, but it’s all part of my regular motivation routine.

It’s very unlikely I would cut back my calories per day to starvation levels.3 For one thing we’ve had experience with anorexia in my immediate family and I spent too many years being terrified of ‘triggering’ it in myself to risk it. Also, I know that as a weight loss strategy, it doesn’t make sense. That it slows down the metabolism, encourages depression and makes food way to important.

If I’m at risk at all it’s that I’ll walk too much.c I’m walking 2 hours a day (I don’t push myself, I walk 3 miles an hour) and if I could fit another hour a day in, I would. I could do it in the morning if only I could write and walk at the same time!

I found a nice calorie calculator at Nutrition.com.sg. Here’s a sample of my results:

You can see that by playing around with activity levels and calories eaten in a day, there are a lot of ways I could lose weight pretty fast.a I’m not sure I really want to — but it makes a nice dream.