It's Not a Diet -- It's a Lifestyle!

At some point I have to face the fact. This new eating plan of mine is not a "diet" per se. Well it is a diet in the literal sense, in that the foods one eats constitutes one's diet. But "diet", to me, and I think in common use, connotes a temporary change to the way one eats. As in "I'm going on a diet tomorrow, now please pass the hot fudge" OR "yeah I tried that diet, but after awhile I just got tired of eating all that bacon."

But a thought occurred to me yesterday as I passed by my old McDonald's (I say "my" because I think the franchise owner owes me stock given the amount of miles I logged at the drive-thru). This "diet" I'm on needs to stick. I can never go back to the way I used to eat.

I must admit I felt a twinge of nostalgia for the care-free days of free-for-all eating. But the fond memory was short lived, as I quickly realized a) how FAT that behavior has made me, and b) how gross my eating habits really were.

To give you a sense of what I'm talking about, let's step into the wayback machine for a trip down memory lane, and look at a day in the life of fat me. After the morning routine I would typically head downstairs for breakfast. While getting breakfast together I might whet my palate with last night's leftover goodies - maybe 2 or 3 toll house cookies (150-225 cals) or a brownie (300 cals). Breakfast might consist of a big bowl (or TWO!) of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal (250-500 cals) with whole milk (150-300 cals) and a tall glass of OJ (200 cals). Then I'd head to the office and of course pop in to the cafeteria to pick up a little something, like a poppy seed muffin (~400 cals) -- ya know, to "tide me over" through the morning. Back to the caf for lunch...a plate of whatever looks good, like the double hot dog plate with curly fries (easily 700 cals), and of course a tasty dessert like a big fat brownie (300 cals). Are we fat yet? During the afternoon I might snack on some of the treats I stashed in my desk drawer, like half a sack of Jelly Bellys or half a big Cadbury Fruit and Nut bar (400 cals). Uy, I can hear my heart begging for mercy. Dinner might be a helping or two or three of bowtie pasta with meat sauce (easily 500 cals) and a big salad loaded with croutons and feta cheese and plenty of dressing (probably another 500) and maybe a roll or two (300) to wipe the plate and make sure I sopped up every last calorie. And how can we forget dessert??? How about a little family outing to Tasty Treat, hey the kids are glad to indulge Dad's "idea"! A cone of orange sherbet, soft serve (the best!) - (probably 300-400 cals). And by the way, I haven't even mentioned the little "bites" throughout the day - a few chips here, a cookie there - no doubt another few hundred calories

I don't think I'm exaggerating. It's a miracle I can fit through doorways given the way I was eating. You'd think I'd been living in constant fear of an imminent famine, or training hard to unseat the incumbent Guiness record-holder for world's fattest man. Honestly, what the heck?

So clearly, there is no going back. The sooner I realize this "diet" I'm on will never end, the happier I will be. Ironically the modern-day connotations of the word "diet" are inherently self-defeating. Diets don't fail because they don't work. Diets fail because people stop the diet and then gain the weight back. DUH!

Actually I'm optimistic. The many diets I have tried have all failed for fundamentally the same reason - they are too hard to follow. Weight Watchers (when I did it) was way too complicated, there were way too many rules and restrictions and there was way too much counting stuff. The Mike D diet, while super-effective, was not a practical lifestyle diet for me. Having oatmeal every day and NO CARBS for the rest of the day, and three protein shakes throughout the day, is just too hard to integrate with the rest of my life - work, travel, vacations, etc. This diet I'm doing now is much easier, in the sense that the foods are widely varied, widely available, and largely interchangeable. I am diligently counting, via MyFoodDiary, and watching the fat grams and total calories - but I can see how, over time, I will just "get used" to eating this way, and at some point I won't have to "count" any more. And then, it won't be a diet, it'll be a lifestyle!