To wit:
Everyone has their own acceptable level of comfort. Some can't fall asleep until they are in the 'exact' comfort zone, while others can be fine sleeping on tank tracks. Some people can't be satisfied with their fitness levels until they look like a particular person, do better at someone at some event, or catch the eye of that certain someone. Others, well, we know them, too, who are simply content that they wake up each day, and are often surprised that they made it through another night. Still, they aren't moved enough by this to DO something to change their lives, they just accept that this is what it is, and hope for the best.
(side note: i am WAY off track again. i'll try to get back...)
Lemme address eating. Or diet. Or food choices. Whatever you want to call it. "things i put in my pie hole, including pie". I don't care. I am going to call it 'intake'. For those of us who struggle with the amount of intake being greater than the amount of our output, we may find ourselves searching for that be-all-end-all answer to better health/weightmanagement/body composition. I have done it. Sometimes I still do it. Life here in America is about choices. We all have the right to make choices, even bad ones. While I don't necessarily agree that vegan is the way to go, I'm not going to try to stop anyone from doing it. Same with paleo or any of the other diet trends that are out there. Unless i see it as potentially harmful or fatal (phen phen, anyone?), I'm content to just sit back and watch how things unfold.
One thing that I do believe, however, is that trying to make your new intake regime drastically different from your current one in order to lose weight (or obtain some other goal) can be setting yourself up for failure. What? Let's take ME as an example. I consider myself a true omnivore. Except for slugs, insects, and snakes, I'll pretty much eat anything in the 'normal' American (and, well, Japanese for that matter) diet. Ok.
lemme qualify that. i WON'T eat things like Little Debbie snack cakes, Hostess products, frozen entrees, cheezy poofs, pork rinds, etc. ok? clear on that? good. whew......LAST thing I need is SMART FOOD sending me a case of their stuff to 'try and review' for my blog. umm...no, thanks. ANYWAY.....If, after reading some book or article, I come to the conclusion that I must change what I eat and limit myself to only 'beans and greens', as my office mate has done, I will FAIL MISERABLY in my endeavor. I tried it for a day earlier this week. Even though my salad made me feel full, it only had about 200 calories. I 'need' 1800 a day to reach my weight/composition goals. SO. if lunch was to be where i wanted to get most of my calories, i would be hard pressed to reach 1000 calories by eating salad. Even with pinto beans or black beans or garBANZO beans. That, and I'd supply enough natural gas into our room that we'd surely have to evacuate this wing of the hospital.
However, if i take a look at my usual intake trends (either in by using a food diary or by counting calories), I may (will) be able to identify certain trends, and can tweek THOSE to help me reach my goals. Oh, lookie here! I eat 750 calories AFTER dinner, in the shape of ice cream and cookies. Hmmm....maybe i should shift that to earlier in the day, when i am still burning calories. I mean, even if i eat 750 calories worth of salad (holy garden, batman) at 10pm, i am still not doing myself much good. That, and I'd supply enough gas under the covers that the blame would readily shift from the dog to ME, and that's not good. (So far, I don't think my wife knows about dutch ovens, and I hope to keep it that way.)Keep it simple, but keep it steady. (TWSS)
Gene, I needed to read this today.
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