A life of halves

I've never been one to worry too much about weight. I was a tall skinny kid who developed hips in my teen years (sadly not a matching pair of breasts) and then in college and my twenties I kept everything even stevens by lots of dancing, skipping meals, working four part time jobs, etc. My late 20's and early 30's brought on a weight gain due to a marriage and then the loss of that weight through divorce. Anyway, suffice to say I had the normal thoughts a woman would have about her shape but I never had to go on lots of diets.

Alas, this was not to continue (can you HEAR the violins, can you, CAN YOU??). A baby at 40 and I'm still fighting off the weight gain. Anyway, I got into fitness a bit, triathlon a bit (I am the least habitual person you'll ever meet so nothing sticks, I'm like the wrong side of velcro!).

Now I realise I am not a woman who is a candidate for Biggest Loser. But I have a great deal of respect for anyone who is trying to get the scale to go down the otherway, regardless of whether it's 10lbs or 100lbs. To control diet, to make time to exercise, to drink water, to get everyone around you on board, to exercise self control in the face of tempation, the deck is stacked against you to be sure.

I have been reading a book called 'In Defense of Food' by Michael Pollan. Enlightening to say the least. There is so much advise out there and so many 'experts'. I have tried a few things with limited results - limited either because the loss wasn't notable or I didn't keep it off (back to that least habitual thing). So what's a poor 'I am NOT weighint THAT!' girl to do??

Enter the land of halves. Let's face it - all portions are too big in the western diet. I am NOT going to starve. So if I take what's in front of me and 'break' it in half, I'll A. enjoy the food and shut off the hunger alarm and B. not overeat and C. possibly eat the rest in a couple of hours.

It seems to be working - the ultimate result is a few smaller meals. It does mean stopping yourself. It means eating with AWARENESS. It means not caving in. It means feeling a little hungry in the day. But as long as your blood sugar level is happy (I must keep mine up a little bit or no one wants to come near me) and you're hydrated and feeling good, you're ok.

What we're talking about is portion size. A protein portion should just fit in the palm of your hand. A 1/2 pound cheeseburger (sure it's a HALF of a POUND but don't be a smartass!) doesn't do that, or a full size chicken breast for that matter.

Eating WITHOUT thinking spells weight gain, and possibly health problems. Eating WITH thought brings about a bit of control, enjoyment and knowledge. By knowledge I mean you KNOW what you're eating, you've thought about it. It's something you know ticks all the boxes - some protein, a little bit of carb and fat (try and stay as far from processed anything as you can). Here is an example: In London on way to a meeting. Gotta find something I can eat but don't want too much. Don't want a sandwich. Find a falafel and humous and salad wrap - cut into two pieces. Perfect. Ate one at the meeting and one a couple of hours later waiting for the train home.

Sure, I'm enthusiastic now but that's because in 5 days I've seen results. And the first day is always the hardest, after that it starts to make sense and come a bit easier.

Wow, so that was preachy. But I like to share when I get excited about something.
I have half decaf, half-n-half, half a wine so it was only a matter of time, wasn't it?

Oh, the one thing I don't sacrifice is breakfast - I may not eat much if I don't feel like it but breakfast shouldn't be too skimpy (or skipped at all). A piece of toast - no way is that gonna hold ya. A pain chocolat? Now that's just silly afterall this is a kind of diet. But a piece of toast with a hard (or soft) boiled egg - good. It's the lunch and dinner that can be pared down and the snacks need to be pared down and REAL. Bag of Doritos? Not real. An apple? Real. 1/2 pack of salted peanuts? Real. Pringles? Definitely not real. A Snickers, nope. Some dried fruit and seeds? In small portions, good.

Anyway, you get the idea. Oh, with strenuous exercise, make sure you get your calories in - halves is probably not for you!

later half a tater

So it's not daily, but it's there!

Hello me (and you if anyone else is reading). We've made it through three full weeks of school and are now well into October! Hooray. The weather is changing and soup is on the stove. The indian summer here was beautiful to say the least, but I think it's on the wane.

I had hoped to sit down every day and add some witty, interesting, possibly humourous post - it hasn't happened. Much as cleaning the house on a regular basis hasn't, tidying toys, nope, nightly dishes, uh-uh, clothes always put up, that would be NO Bob. (Sigh). It just doesn't come naturally. What to do? How do we 'g' ourselves up? How do we motivate ourselves to carry out the most mundane of tasks when we are so flamin' tired?? Everyone else's needs get met (mostly) and then the house?? The bank accounts?? The cooking and cleaning?? Oh dear. How do those amazing women do it all??

I suspect they don't sit on their butts at 7:00 to eat something and watch Voyager reruns. I suspect they don't go to bed at 9:30 whenever they can (or earlier if we're really cooking with lazy gas). I suspect their husband is a bit more anal and keeps up with stuff as much as they do. I suspect they hire someone. Hmmmm. Not an option right now so, darn it, it looks like it's going to have to be me. Poor house. Poor family. Last seen gasping for last breath underneath a pile of papers, clothing, books and random stuff. They didn't sign up for this, did they? I feel like I am letting them (and myself) down.

But am I really??? Houses are lived in - that's what families do. There is so much going on in a four year old's life, does it matter that her toys aren't picked up daily or that things end up where they are dropped? Well, a little bit, it does. If I want her to be different - to learn about taking care of her things and keeping up with the endless wave of mess, then I must lead by example. I know this and I already see signs that she is following my hopeless lead.

I WILL get better. I need to go to something like LAA (Lazy Ass Anonymous) or have some treatment for Allergic to doing stuff after 4pm. I have great waves of motivation at 10am (any body clock specialist will tell you this is true) but 4pm? Fahgitabowtit.

Well, in the time it took me to type this I coulda done the dishes. My computer is a constant source of distraction - I can procrastinate indefinitely thanks to the internet!

Ok, ok, I'm going.
Later tater.