Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

The Hunger Manager's Diet

I'm not a PHD with degrees in nutrition. What I am is someone who's figured out how to lose weight. Yesterday I weighed 178.8 and this morning I weighted 176.8. My weight is coming down in a slow and methodical manner, which is exactly how I want to lose it.

Some might ask what I eat... ? and I'll be glad to relate that, however, it's not so much what I eat but rather how and when I eat it. First off let me say that I'm conscious of every bite I take and don't eat impulsively, just because I feel a slight twinge of hunger. It's my view that twinges of hunger (or worse) were a normal part of the daily lives of our forbearers. When you feel a twinge do something active to focus on something else. If you can't deal with the "Twinges" that explains why you cringe standing in front of the mirror.

When I get up I have some grapes and half an apple. Snacking on fruit in the morning beats the heck out of grits, cornbread, waffles, syrup toast and bacon. I realize that after becoming used to such a heavy fare for breakfast, then small portions of fruit are not going cut it at first. So to begin with eat a small bunch of grapes and maybe the whole apple. Scale back as your body adjusts to your new eating habit. Don't believe the time worn adage...., "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day?" In response I can only say that if someone has a vocation that involves serious manual labor then maybe a case can be made for a heavy traditional breakfast. However, as we grow older and become less actively engaged in physical toil, the need for a calorie packed morning meal is less important. So my advice is try a fruit breakfast and don't wolf it down. Now, I can guarantee that around 10:30 AM you'll be experiencing more than just a twinge of hunger. At such times I eat a package of Planter's Peanuts. They are harder to find in packages then they once were, but Sam's Club carries them and if you eat this snack slowly... in a few minutes the pangs will subside. This will carry you through to lunch time.

For lunch the rule is to eat half of what you do normally, but again take your time. Give your stomach the opportunity to dial down the hunger gauge. This will get you to dinner. Here is where the serious eating takes place... but again resolve to take your time and eat smaller portions. Since dinner will be your main meal this should carry you through until bedtime. Try and avoid evening snacks like the plague. This approach to eating works for me and while the scale ritual might not show a daily weight loss, I can guarantee that in the course of your week you'll not be disappointed.

This brings us to the dreaded morning weigh in. These are my thoughts. When you step on the scale there are three possible outcomes. You gained weight, you lost weight or you stayed the same. Since most scales weigh in tenths of a pound you'll rarely show the same weight from the day before. In interpreting this daily feedback it's best to take the results with a grain of salt. This is to say that you shouldn't get either too elated or depressed by what you see. A scale reading is more for information than action. Sure, if you show a steady gain for a week, that would indicate you might be on the wrong track. However, if you stay with your resolve, and think about everything you eat... then more often than not, the morning look will be a favorable one.

The point to all this is that it's not the food that's so important, as eating only at those times you feel a real need, and then eat slowly. Give your gut time to signal "Enough" before pursuing a single minded effort to clean your plate. This might have pleased your parents but this practice is a bad idea.