okay, i'm sick of putting on weight. i'm a gay man and figure is important! so, i'm giving up snacks. i've tried diets, workouts, eating this, not that, eating that, not this. i've carefully combined foods, been a vegetarian, a carnivore, i've forsaken dairy and i've eaten pints of ice cream in a single sitting. i've slimmed my belly in photoshop. so, rather than add another impossible-to-maintain practice, i decided to keep it simple and real: no snacks.
i can tell its working already. i'm hungry before meals--a nice feeling actually--that's so different from the perpetually stuffed feeling i've grown accustomed to (as has my belly). stomachs hold only so much and this no-snacker "plan" takes advantage of that. i figure three meals a day, no snacks, that's just about the right amount of food for me. if i only eat two or three times a day, how can i really overeat? there's just not room. when i'm hungry, i tend to be attracted to healthier food, too, so i don't really have to worry about downing too many sweets. i do like a little chocolate before meals!
at dhamma dhara, where i meditate, we get two meals a day. in ten days i usually drop 5 to 7 pounds. i drink a lot of water, a dixie cup or two an hour. at least two of the pounds must be mental trash going out the door! but a lot of it is real weight loss, which just goes to prove that i'm on the right track with snackhibition. the two meals are breakfast and lunch, both vegetarian, no snacking between. this regime produces deep sleep with vivid (and informative!) dreams.
it's been fun to notice when and how often i feel like snacking. since i seem think about snacks almost as much as sex, it's clear i was a snackaholic. i'm thrilled by the sense of control i'm feeling when i ignore my snack attacks. not being a victim to an open bag of chips is profoundly empowering. going into a meal knowing i can eat it all guilt free makes dining almost ecstatic. americans are terrorized by food and the food industry. they've convinced us we need food all day long. forget drugs, it's time to declare a war on snacks.
3 comments:
i wish you luck, matt. i wouldn't be able to do the same. my whole metabolism drops (to where I feel lethargic) when i go more than 3 hours without eating. but i do try and keep my snacks to healthy-ish stuff.
but it sounds like you've already found success with your new regime. here's hoping it will lead to your long-term happiness and health!
thanks chris. i have friends who, like you, eat all the time and don't put on weight. some of them, to my amazement, probably eat twice as much as i do. my eating habits have little to do with my metabolism, i suspect, and much more to do with my habit of finding comfort in food.
You're hot just the way you are - but congrats on continuing to take care of yourself!!!
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