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.

How can I stop thinking about food?

It’s just typical isn’t it? Just when you want to reduce the amount you eat and lose weight you start thinking about food more than ever.

And to be fair - it’s hard not to think about food. It is all around us - at home, on every street corner, at every social function. We just can’t ignore it - and if we even try our hunger will bring us right back to reality.

So maybe it’s not possible to stop thinking about food altogether - we can really only try and reduce the times we think about food.

I find the best way to tackle this issue is to…

a) avoid getting bored - if you are doing something you love you will never think about food until you get hungry. Think about whether boredom is a factor and then start working on adding more interest and non-food related pleasure into your life. There is so much available to capture our imagination these days that there is no need to be bored. Whether you are bored at work or at home - tackle this problem at source - do you need a new job or a new hobby rather than a new diet?

b) plan food ahead of time. Take away the need to constantly think about food by planning your meals a week or a few days ahead and preparing them in advance too. If you always have something healthy and delicious to look forward to, you’re less likely to hanker after something else less healthy.

c) keep “unplanned” food (as much as possible) out of sight to keep it out of mind. Don’t buy what you know you don’t want to eat. Don’t wander past the bakery store of you know you’ll be tempted. Turn off the TV or avoid the commercial breaks.
d) never ban food - it only serves to make you want it more. If there is a particular food you love, which is not particularly healthy, plan small amounts with your meals or snacks

e) eat enough so that you are not hungry all the time - if you are trying to lose weight fast with a starvation diet of course you’ll be able to think of nothing else but food

Is there anything to help me lose weight without exercise as I’m in wheelchair?

While not wanting to put anyone off exercise (because it helps with weight issues in many ways both directly and indirectly) I have to say that, in my experience, it is usually eating too much food which is the main problem with weight management rather than the amount of exercise a person takes. And changing food habits which is the main key to losing weight.

I say that because when you gain weight it is not usually the lack of running or going to the gym that is to blame (after all you have to run more than a marathon to lose a single pound of fat). The problem is that it is too easy to swallow a pound of fat’s worth of calories (about 3500) without thinking about it. And even easier to let weight creep on little by little with 200 calories too much here and there.

With exercise many people get discouraged by how much physical effort they have to make to get results, and many others sabotage their exercise efforts too by “rewarding” themselves for all their hard work with more calories than they used up!

With healthy eating, portion control and eating less (small changes to your habits leading to bigger changes if necessary) you can often make a big difference to your weight with a lot less effort.

Of course, it always helps if you are active when you want to lose weight - every calorie you use up helps - but you can still lose weight even if you are not taking exercise. You just have to reduce the amount you eat accordingly.

But why not do what you can in terms of activity?

Think about what you CAN rather than what you can’t do. What range of movement do you have in your upper body for example?

There are some very fit wheelchair athletes around the world so being in a wheelchair does not in itself stop you getting fit and being active.

If it’s not actually that you hate exercise just that you don’t feel that you are able to do any because you are in a wheelchair then there are quite a few sites which might help you see things differently depending on what you are able to do of course (and what your inclination is).

Active wheelchair users enjoy a wide variety of sports including tennis, water-sports and Tae Kwon Do. Take a look at the pictures on this site “A celebration of wheels” and see that your limitations might not be as great as you thought.

Of course it depends on your whole physical picture. You may not be able to do those sports. You may not want to. You might have to build your upper body strength or lose a bit of weight first. It really depends on your circumstances and your preferences. If you decide you’d like to try something, be sure to speak to your doctor first about what is suitable for you.