Since August, I have been trying to think more judiciously about the food that I eat, both in type and quantity. I no longer eat pasta or bread, eat much dairy, I don’t eat a lot of red meat, I’ve cut out chocolate and sweet things and for a time I also cut out alcohol. Some of these things are more difficult to sustain than others. Drinking is hard, or at least, not drinking is hard, more for it’s social attributes than for my inability to avoid it. Sweet things are hard to avoid too but it turns out there’s a simple answer to every hard dietary question.
I don’t feel like I’ve lost a lot of weight, but I’ve certainly lost around 10 pounds. Clothes that I haven’t worn for 6 years now fit, my belts don’t. My clothes hang differently, my underwear is more flattering, my face is slimmer, I feel stronger and more energetic. It’s hard to want to give that up for a moment of weakness over a box of After Eights and a pie.
If I want chocolate, I have it. If i want cheese, I have it, but after having none at all, it’s a miracle how small a piece you can have just to satisfy your cravings. There’s something glorious about discovering control with food again. I’ve never been particularly fat, nor particularly slim and food has always been a point of contention with me. I don’t like a great variety of things, I love comfort food, I feel a lot of dissatisfaction with a great majority of healthy things, mainly that my hunger isn’t satisfied so fruit has always been something I’ve ignored for the most part.
Turns out that eating a variety of balanced and nutritious foods does actually make you feel good, curb your hunger and help your mind. I think I’ve always wanted to ignore it as fact because eating mashed potato was so much better. It still is much better, but not better than having a waist, or just the one chin.
