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