Why it's easier for me to diet

I really find it easy to stick to my diet, really, because it's largely become a part of my life, ingrained into my being. It hasn't happened overnight. It hasn't happened in a short while.

Sometimes we are doing things right and just don't realise it.

I've always been seen as a "healthy" eater at the workplace because:
1. I eat vegetables and fruits every day
2. I bring home-cooked food every day
3. I eat a raw salad with my food on most days (I'm not one of those who can eat just a salad for lunch -- doesn''t work for me ;-)

According to me, these steps means half the battle is won.

There are these other problems of mine which have made it easier for me to stick to my plan:
1. Whenever I eat out, I fall sick : It's not something I'm proud of, because it probably means my immunity sucks. But, it also means I AVOID eating out, which really is a big help. It's sometimes horrifying to develop a fear of eating out, but then it works to my advantage. You always notice how when you eat out, you eat more, and always feel heavier than when you eat at home, haven't you? I end up with loosies. So just two weeks ago when I told hubby I won't cook, and wanna eat out, I went ahead and ate a great meal, came home and well headed for the loo! I do have an underlying condition of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), something I developed after I had a baby.

2. And then I have imagination:  My imagination goes haywire and I think of all the psossible cockroaches and rats in the restaurant kitchen, how they may not be covering the food, washing vegetables ...and it's enough to send my scurrying to the kitchen to whip up something special for myself AT HOME.

3. I seem to have developed some sort of allergy to fat -- specially deep-fried food. Again, I get the loosies.
So, I avoid fried food as much as I can. Which is really difficult because I LOVE FRIED FOOD. The taste of it...aaah... But these days I don't keep such food around the house and when I see fatty food these days, I honestly get repulsed. I do gorge on it once in a  way, but I've realised these instances have come down dramatically. So when I do feel like having fried food, I make it from scratch at home where I know the oil I'm using, at least, isn't re-fried.

But consistency is what matters and it hasn't been one of my strengths. I hate it when I set myself back, of my own volition, and have to start from where I left off...life should be one continuum...but then life wouldn't be fun!

Five diet modifications I made to lose weight

Here are just some of the changes I made in what I eat, how I eat, how often, and how much I eat in order to get a wee bit slimmer.

These are not very dramatic things. But these are the first few things about your eating patterns that you CAN easily change.

 I love my food and am not willing to give it all up entirely...I still eat chocolates and chips. And I have my bad days when, well, plans just derail, and I end up straying off the path.

But once you know that these small little itsy bitsy changes are making you feel better, that's incentive enough to keep going and coming back to THE PLAN if you stray.

Again, these are not strategies I devised all by myself, but this is what I FOLLOW (and it's largely from Rujuta Diwekar's book):
1. Eat fruit first thing in the morning. My favourite is plantain/banana. Very rarely apple or mango. Sometimes papaya. It revvs you up for the day, it's healthy food, and it makes you feel good about yourself. I believe in the philosophy that you must eat fruit before other food, not after, else it turns useless for the body. In case there's no fresh fruit, eat dry fruit -- my fav is almonds and raisins. Don't start the day with biscuits or tea/coffee.

2. Eat every two hours. It makes sure you eat less. It really works. It makes sure you don't get so hungry that you binge when you finally get your hands on food. Just munch and graze along.

3. Make food afresh. It has helped me a lot. I've always been a refrigerate-and-eat, ok-with-leftovers person. But now I'm changing that. It just FEELS so healthy to eat food afresh. I cook breakfast and lunch in the morning, and part of the dinner too. But there is something freshly made at dinner time. Yes, it takes time and effort, but it's worth it. It makes me feel good.

4. Smaller portion size. Smaller plates and bowls. Yes, they make a difference. Once you get used to smaller portion size (the most difficult part of a diet I feel) your stomach seems to shrink and get used to this new quantity. My example: I used to eat 4 idlis or 5 dosas. It's very difficult to stop at the ideal 2. Now I've come down to 2.5 or 3. And now, I can't eat more than that. It does take will power, though, to resist a second helping.

5. Eat all sorts of food for dinner, but eat less, and early. No sweets and fried food in this meal. Too early is not possible for me. That takes HUMONGOUS effort. But less and no sweets is a rule I can follow. Avoiding carbs at night doesn't work for me...I was raised on a high-carb diet since childhood. But I eat less rice at dinnertime. That works, I suppose. Also, since I eat late, eating less quantities eases digestion, so I sleep without heartburn -- a problem i had to face every night earlier.

Feels good when someone says "Hey! You've lost weight!"

Wow, so a colleague almost jumped when she saw me, after returning from a three-week tour, and exclaimed "Wow! What are you doing? You've lost so much weight!"

I mean, is there something else that can give you a higher "high"  than such a comment?
I haven't yet weighted myself after May when I started out on this weight-losing venture.

I haven't been keeping up with my diary entry every day here on the blog. Life has become so hectic at work and at home.

And this hectic schedule is what really gets us women out of shape. Again, I'm taking all inspiration from Rujuta Diwekar's book, agreeing with most of what she says, discussing the issues she tackles. We tend to ignore our needs so often because well, it's not tied up with the needs of our family. Husband is travelling, so I won't cook a propah breakfast, or will skip making a subjee and live off salad and bread maybe... You know, trying to convince yourself that "why should i cook just for myself?" or some such logic.

It's tragic we don't care much for ourselves as individuals, na? I know all this and yet I do it all over again. That's wither called weakness or stupidity...I can't decide.

Really, with Hubby travelling, with Sonny absolutely refusing to let me exercise (he wakes up soon after I wake and comes and pushes me or sits on my lap!!), it's becoming a challenge to keep with my schedule -- both with exercise and food. The last week I've let myself wander off track and in the process let myself down too much.

I MUST MUST MUST wake earlier. But aaarggh Bangalore's beautiful cloudy weather makes you want to curl up and sleep well into the morning these days.

What I am keeping at though, is smaller portions, more frequent meals. The size of  my tummy tires has reduced, though they're still clinging on steadfastly to my sides and front like a little child.