LETTERS TO MYSELF: EATING FOR WEIGHT LOSS

 As a follow-up to a previous post about losing weight, here are some detailed tips on how to start building healthy eating habits to help lose weight: 

1. Eat less. This meant that I: 

1. Only ate when I was hungry, until I was full.

2. Stopped eating breakfast and instead now I have a small snack (like a handful of nuts or a bit of granola) mid-morning to tide me over until lunch. 

3. Split takeout/restaurant food across several days (ex: eat as much as I want at the restaurant and take the rest home). Sure, the portion size might be small but I can always augment the remainder with veggies or chips or stuff I have at home and make it into a fuller meal.

2. Give in to cravings. This meant that I:

1. Didn’t restrict myself. Instead, I just ate a single or smaller portion. 

2. Realized when I’m eating a stand-in for something else. 

1. For example, sometimes I eat potato chips when I really want fries, because it’s the only thing I have. It’s usually better in these cases to just get the fries. Otherwise I end up eating the chips but never satisfying the craving for fries. This causes me to eat more chips to try to satisfy the craving, but I’ll eventually go get fries anyway.

2. The same principle applies for when food is under-seasoned or missing something (like salt or acid). This causes me to eat more, craving that taste but because I never satisfy the taste, I end up uselessly eating portions I normally wouldn’t and then I’ll go binge on other foods later that have that taste. For instance, eating under-salted fried rice has caused me to eat chips later the same night for the salty flavor.

3. Understand the psychology of my personal eating habits. This required me to be intentional and think about my habits. Some things I learned:

1. Learn how to tell when you’re full. For me, I’m full when my stomach gets tight and expands, as if a button popped. I’m satiated here but will likely get hungry in the next couple of hours.

2. Stop to think about why I’m eating. Am I actually hungry? Am I eating out of boredom? Sadness? Am I eating because I crave a flavor?

3. Know when I feel snacky. For me this is around 10:30am or 3:00pm. 

1. I learned this only during work from home, after fixing my other issues about food (overeating, eating when bored or sad). Eventually I realized that my body is pretty scheduled.

4. Make better choices. This meant that I:

1. Stopped eating out and cooked at home more. Getting an instant pot and feeling excited to learn how to cook as a hobby really helped with this.

2. Shared meals with my partner. This way we can choose a healthy dish and a not-so-healthy dish.

3. Add veggies to meals whenever possible (especially if the meal is less healthy).

4. Eat regular meals. Skipping a meal just causes me to snack without self-restraint later.

5. Re-educate myself on diet falsehoods. Some things I learned:

1. How to make a meal that will keep me fuller, longer. Fiber, protein and fat together will keep you fuller, so I try to build that into meals and try for at least 2 in my snacks.

2. You don’t have to keep eating if you don’t like how the food tastes. Better for it to be a waste in the garbage than in your body.

3. How hungry you are isn’t an indicator of how much to eat. It’s an indicator of how soon to eat.

4. You don’t have to give up your favorite foods or unhealthy foods to lose weight. It’s all about balance. It’s ok to have a slice of pizza but just make sure to get other things on the side that are healthier.

5. There will always be another chance to eat something. So if you’re at a burger place but you know the fries aren’t good, if you aren’t craving the fries, skip them and get them at a place you know has good fries.

6. Understand the consequences of my actions. Once I realized that over-eating caused me to have massive stomach aches that ruined my night, or lots of dairy caused painful gassiness, it made it easier for me to say no to certain snacks, or to stop eating after a couple of bites.