Weigh-in Wednesday: Jan. 24, 2024
Time to face some uncomfortable truths
Since October, I have been making incremental improvements to my diet in hopes those changes will lead somewhere positive. A few things have become clear – some good and some bad.
The good: My current routine of fasting through breakfast, having a protein shake and nuts for lunch and then a regular dinner has been great. Energy is abundant. Sleep is better. Life has improved. Those outcomes alone have made this project worth it. No complaints. (Just kidding – I'll get to the complaints in a minute.) The other benefit – and this is the most important one – is I am now more OK with being uncomfortable.
There's a book about stoicism called “A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy,” and what I like about it is that The Good Life isn't defined as a happy one – because happiness as an emotion is impossible to sustain all day. The goal of The Good Life is tranquility, which is more achievable and sets you up to experience more moments of happiness. This spoke to me. Comfortable and tranquil are related, but it's clear to me I've long confused them.
There are parts of this book I use in my daily life – I wrote about one of them here. There are other parts of the book that challenge the reader to be uncomfortable. Because I don’t like being uncomfortable, I paid the parts of the book about embracing discomfort the least amount of attention. That was a mistake, because it turns out being uncomfortable is really handy when you’re trying to get healthy.
I did not know until I started fasting that fasting is really just being uncomfortable for long periods of time. I have ALWAYS eaten at the first feeling of hunger because LORD FORBID I AM UNCOMFORTABLE FOR EVEN A MINUTE. Now my take on hunger is – this is just a feeling, I'm not in danger of dying from starvation, and I can just ignore it. (Basically — how I felt about the check engine light before I started buying cars I cared about.)
OK, now the bad: I'm going to have to get even more uncomfortable if I want to hit my goal of living in a body that has a standard human mid-section. I'm stuck. I think I can cut down how much I eat at night. I think I can exercise with greater intensity. I haven't done those things because they decrease comfort, but it's becoming clear that discomfort is the way forward. I'm not going to break through until I REALLY learn to quiet my Inner Italian Grandma. “You wanna another meatball?” Gee, I don't know... “Here, have-a three more meatballs.”
I can make that joke because I am part meatball.
If you've dieted before and lost and gained, you know the question that must now be asked: Is a lifestyle that necessitates being some amount of uncomfortable sustainable? Will I embrace discomfort, achieve my goal and then lose all progress as I turn back to comfort? Isn't this how all diets end and reverse – as we become too comfortable? The answer is – I don't know what will happen. I suspect my best chance lies in the idea of embracing those stoic concepts of using discomfort to one's advantage. The Good Life isn't earned by getting everything you want whenever you want. It's won in the fight.
Drum roll, please...
Starting weight: 187
Last week: 180
This week: 180
Goal: 170
Feeling: This is the most energy I've had since 2015 (when the kids were born and began robbing me of my essential life force)
This week's newsletter was definitely inspired by the fact that I've plateaued at 180 for a few weeks now. If you have any tips on breaking through a plateau that don’t involve core exercises, send them my way.
Shout-outs
Laura wrote in response to my piece about the glory and shame of owning an office blender: “I don't have an office blender. I like to eat my lunch rather than drink it. And I'm discovering some food intolerance along the way, one of them being yogurt which is used in many smoothies, When I cut that out of my diet I felt much better, but now I'm afraid there may be others. So not only do I have to worry about eating healthy foods, I have to zero in on which of these healthy foods is making me feel like Violet Beauregard. Vegetables and fruits, which are full of good-for-you fiber, can also make you feel bloated and miserable. What if it's salad?? No loss, no gain for me this week, just feeling sorry for myself. I'm in this for the long run, so I'll keep plugging along. And by the way, I think it's every McDonald's where seniors hang out all morning. Back when I was a student at Regina High, the hangout was the one on Mayfield in South Euclid. Good luck!”
Laura – I wish I could say I have a food intolerance so I could empathize and commiserate with you while making hyperbolic comments to distract you from your own frustrations. But I do have a drink intolerance – beer. I used to pretty much only drink beer – rarely liquor or wine. Ohio is a beer state. I was a beer guy. Beer – it's what's for lunch. (Not an actual saying – but it should have been.) I don't have a lot of “the ravages of age” complaints, but, at some point, my body turned against most beer. I can have a couple extremely light domestics, but if I dip into the stouts, porters, IPAs and heavier beers with names like “Hoptimus Prime” (real name of a beer) or “Ale Be Honest Officer I've Only Had Two” (not real name of a beer), then my stomach and I spend the next day in deep regret. All of which is to say: If you ever see me out drinking tequila, that's just me making good life choices.
Do you want a buddy to check in with on some goal of your own? I'm here for you. Leave a comment or shoot me a message.
Well....you didn't gain, so that's positive. And you still feel great....another positive.
I cannot claim to be an expert, I can only share my experience. About 14 years ago, when I turned 50, I lost 40 pounds in less than six months on Weight Watchers. It was great once I got in the groove and my food choices became automatic. I'm sure you can guess what happened.....I gained back every one of those pounds. I thought once I became a size 6, I could eat like a normal person and maintain that weight. Wrong. By that time bad choices became the new habit.
I am now 14 pounds away from that lowest weight in my life, but it has taken me almost a year, and this time I am exercising too. I realize that as we age our metabolism slows and we need to eat a lot less and move a lot more. This is why I am so frustrated: I am moving more and eating less and it is taking for. ever.
So what I have learned along the way is that we shouldn't "diet." We need to make new life choices. Whatever you are doing now to lose weight is what you need to do for the rest of your life and not stop when you reach your goal. That is why I like WW. To stay within the number of points you need to lose/maintain you eventually choose healthy foods to keep hunger away. You can eat a Big Mac if you like, but then you can't eat the rest of the day. You can eat pizza....nothing tells you not to do it, but you have to adjust the rest of your day, and you probably shouldn't do it all the time.
Can you eat the way you are for the rest of your life? Would you be OK with that? Just something to think about.
I finally broke through a round number and lost 1.3 pounds this week, so maybe I'm feeling a little giddy. Good luck this week.....I know you can do it!