Lick The Lard

Today’s weight: 74.9kg

1. If I drink coffee after mid-afternoon, I can’t sleep. I have to avoid coffee past 2-3pm so that I can sleep at night.
2. If I’m crossing the road, I can’t just walk out. I have to stop, check traffic, and cross when the road is clear.
3. If I eat too much of the wrong types of food, I get fat. I have to keep what I eat in check.

Why is it that the first two of these are natural and easy to accept, but the third one throws cries of “You shouldn’t have to limit your eating!” in my mind?

Last night at the dinner party, I couldn’t eat three or four pancakes for dessert, for example - only the one. It gave me a feeling that I was restricting myself.

But I wasn’t. No-one else wanted to eat two or three or four pancakes - only me. Everyone else knew what their level was.

I would have been a pig if I’d eaten all those pancakes.

I’m re-learning that I need to stop eating before getting the “full to bursting” feeling if I’m to maintain my weight. It’s something that obviously slipped out of my mind - which is not surprising given that I gained 4 kgs before reaching the “emergency action” line.

I seem to remember that giving up coffee in the afternoons was difficult - but I had to do it because I wasn’t sleeping at night. It was hard to get used to at first, because I felt that I was limiting myself - but once I’d re-educated my body that it didn’t need coffee late in the afternoon, it became much easier. I no longer see it as a limitation, but as something essential to survive.

The dinner party last night was a success, and even more of a success because my weight was unchanged this morning. Re-learning “Don’t eat until ‘full to bursting’” isn’t limitation - it’s survival.