So what does non-diet weight management look like? It isn’t as easy as it would seem. Some things are hard to be rid of.  For many of us having a plan gives security, so for me living without a plan for the day feels a bit scary. But being able to sit and think before each meal or snack, “What do I really want to eat right now?” is an exciting alternative. Another really exciting thing is knowing that I don’t have to give anything up. Just the feeling that I am not supposed to ever eat bakery items or candy bars or brownies or whatever just makes me want them more, so I end up eating them. Knowing that I can have one when I really want one actually makes me stop and think before I dig in. I drove past the bakery and, of course, thought about white coconut covered long johns. But then I was able to think, “No, I’m still pretty full from lunch. I’ll have one another day.” And I drove right past, no problem.

It isn’t about throwing out everything I know about nutrition. Those things are, fortunately, deeply ingrained in me. I actually prefer whole grains to processed things. I love so many fruits and vegetables and, when given the chance to actually think what I feel like eating, come up with meals that include all of these healthful elements. What has changed has been telling myself what I will eat for every meal and snack, with no thought to whether I’ll actually want to eat that when the time comes.

I am, of course, limited to what is in my house, so I’m eating the things I normally do, with just a few exceptions. But I might have something for a snack when I usually have it for a meal or vice versa.  And when I eat it, I have this joyful feeling that I’m eating what I want to – what my body is craving – at that moment.

I’ll admit that I’m nervous about what this will do to my weight, so I’m allowing myself one weigh-in a week – on Sunday mornings, just to keep tabs so my weight doesn’t sneak up on me. I think it is only fair to allow my choices next week to be influenced by what I learned this week, and so on.  But if I don’t lose anything, I won’t panic. I wasn’t losing anything before and I’m enjoying eating a LOT more now.

Even though this isn’t a prescribed diet, there is a suggestion that I am trying to follow, which is based on how the body responds to foods. To avoid a sugar low after eating something sweet, it is best to eat 1/4 to 1/3 of any meal or snack in protein and the rest in carbohydrates. The carbs are where we get our energy, but consuming protein at the same time causes the whole stomach-full to be absorbed more slowly. Not only does that eliminate the crash, but it eliminates any cravings I might experience. So, for instance, before I had a candy bar for snack (Snickers – my favorite!), I had a couple slices of turkey. As a note, I probably won’t have a candy bar for snack everyday, but I had a buy two, get one free coupon and went ahead and bought them. Eating something I like makes me happy and the calories won’t be all that much more than they would have been with a normal, “diet” snack. And I won’t be craving more of them any time soon, so I don’t need to worry about that.  I guess the plan is to just give in right away, rather than try to fight against cravings, then finally give in anyway, and feel defeated and guilty.

Does any of this make sense? I’ll get to the more scientific stuff later, but I just wanted to give an overview of what I’m doing now with my eating.