No More Diets

How do I know if eating too much or too little?

If you leave the table and feel even slightly uncomfortable then you have eaten too much. The aim is to feel satisfied rather than stuffed. The only way to detect this point during a meal is if you eat slowly and focus on the food rather than eating quickly and mindlessly.

If you have been overeating for some time and your body has got used to having too much food you may have to retrain your stomach to get used to less food over a few weeks by gradually reducing quantities. The right amount of food for comfort is about the size of two fistfuls - not a huge amount - but your stomach is about the size of your fist and has to expand to accommodate even that quantity of food.

In order to get a balanced diet it’s best to eat lean protein about the size of a pack of cards, a small portion of whole grain carbohydrate and filling up on fruit and vegetables. But in practise if you keep quantities down you can eat more or less as you like - it just won’t be as healthy.

For most people eating this amount for lunch or dinner, a snack will be required between meals - mid morning and mid afternoon. Choose fruit, vegetables and a little lean protein to quell your hunger.

Apart from this the only thing to be aware of are the hidden calories in drinks. Drinks don’t fill you up but they can easily add as many calories as a meal. Be wary of milky drinks (including coffees) and fruit juices as well as alcohol and sugary soft drinks.

Once you have regulated the quantity of food you can tell whether the food choices you are making are causing you to lose weight, gain weight or stay the same. Generally this plan is enough to lose weight if you don’t waiver from it. If you want to waiver (and let’s face it we all have special occasions when we might want to) then you may have to start and change the type of foods you are choosing as well as the quantity.

I’ve already lost 52 pounds, but I’m having trouble with the rest. I would be grateful for any tips and especially motivation. I sometimes think about giving up and just settling with my current weight as it is still better than before. I seem to have lost my motivation and I need a good kick in the pants, so to speak.

Far from needing a good kick in the pants I have to tell you that you are very special. Do you know how hard it is for most people to succeed at losing 52 pounds? Please see this huge achievement for what it is and reward yourself for how much you have done so far (just don’t choose a food reward!)

However I have to warn you that the most dangerous time is now, when you have come so far and still have a way to go. This where it’s easy to slide back into old habits and put the weight right back on again. How heartbreaking is that?

If you are finding it hard to keep on losing it may be that you are just bored with your food and bored with your exercise routines.

It is probably not you who needs to change but them! Remember that food quantities need to be readjusted as you lose weight especially if you have lost a lot - it takes a lot of calories just to keep 52lbs alive and ticking over.

Rather than adjusting portions downwards again and feeling hungrier take the opportunity to hunt out some new recipes that will excite your taste buds as well as kick start your weight loss again. And try some new activities too so that you are not bored with the same old routines.

This is the time to inject some new life into your efforts so that you enjoy the process as well as the sense of achievement.

How can I possibly diet when I only eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. I only have a half hour break for lunch so it is always very rushed most days only a couple pieces of fruit on the go. My job is very active Home Care in which I would be cleaning four or five houses a day plus personal care is also added into my days work. By the time I come home and cook dinner I am too exhausted to exercise further.

Oh dear. It’s no wonder you are exhausted if you are going all day with only a couple of pieces of fruit between breakfast and dinner. This is really too little food to keep anyone going even for a sedentary worker never mind someone with an active job like yours.

The main problem here seems to be that you are eating too little to keep your metabolism going - your body will be conserving fat and calories because it thinks you are starving.

It’s important to spread your calories throughout the day and not eat everything in one dinner at night. Half an hour is still enough to get some good nutrition including some lean protein and I think it would do you good to have a small snack mid morning and after noon as well. Then balance your eating with a smaller dinner than usual.
It sounds like you are probably getting enough exercise already so that may not the way to go for you. (You know you have to run more than a marathon to lose a pound of fat so even for most people exercise is a bonus and a way to keep healthy rather than the main way to lose weight).

Focus on healthy regular eating for a while to get your metabolism back on an even keel before you think about losing weight.

Also if you are on your feet all day and not eating much between meals make sure that you are drinking enough water and not drinking calories - it’s easy to forget that sugar in tea, coffee and soft drinks can add up to an awful lot of calories not to mention those in fruit juice, milky drinks and alcohol.