Fuck It Diet

Because of my health problems I am watching my weight again and am on somewhat of a new diet. More on my health problems is on my journal/general news blog starting just after the 4th of November with a link back to these archives.

A long digression, really this whole post is a long digresion away from liberal causes to being healthy. - I created this blog so relatives and friends wouldn't have to put up with political and religious and sexual shit and bad language as much unless they wanted to. Also it gave a liberal theme to these posts which became much more popular even if it is still only a slimy reptile in the blog evolutionary world. (I thought it would be a small suicidal mammal by now.)

Well, I started my diet right after I realized I was severely overweight, obese, at over 230 pounds at the end of 1999. Right after Jan 1, 2000 I went on the Carbohydrate Addict's Healthy Heart Diet and went down to 185 right before Thanksgiving 2000. Unfortunately, it comes creeping back if you don't really follow the diet. A nice diet by the way as long as you take magnesium pills to help prevent kidney stones and watch out for the desserts and sugar which you are allowed. At the end of October, 2003 I was back to 215 and really off the diet - not eating well, too much fatty foods, too many sugars and starches. I had not been feeling well for a couple months.

I wasn't feeling well because my blood pressure had skyrocketed. I had a mini-stroke on November 4th and went to a doctor who prescribed a diet with lots of fiber, no sugar, no caffeine, no fatty meats, almost no red meat, and even more fiber.

I have reached a very slow weight loss stage on the new diet and I got to wondering why. I realized it was because when the diets are working for me they are fun.

The one big meal a day with salad and dessert worked for me at the time. I was also eating a variety of foods and healthy foods like fish a couple times a week. If I have only one real meal a day (4 carbs or fewer snacks for any time else) I wanted the food to be great. But over a long period of time the one meal a day I decided isn't that healthy if you eat too much like me.

The new diet keeps what I learned about carbs and sugars being bad for me but spreads high-fiber meals and snacks throughout the day. This was fun at the beginning. “Look, I can eat apples and fruits and high-fiber whole-wheat bread and beans on this diet and yogurt with bran or high-fiber cereals.” In fact, I have to eat four slices of this cardboard bread, better as toast, and other high-fiber foods each day.

I guess I’ve learned that if the diet is fun for you and you have learned a few good lessons about the evils of refined carbs, sugars, and fatty meats you can lose weight and get healthier. I am going to go back to having fun with my diet and trying interesting foods and see what happens.

What brought this on is comedian Margaret Cho's new Fuck It Diet. She's discovered she is losing weight eating what she wants and a variety of interesting things each day and having fun.

I'll update my weight at the end of the year. I'm under last year at this time and that hasn't happened in a while.

More soon, if my brother doesn't persuade me to move to Canada or Costa Rica. Or if I don't suddenly get a job and have no time for this.