Change the Channel

This is an unusual point of view about diets.

Mention the word “diet” to me and I instantly gain ten pounds. That word makes me feel deprived and controlled … which only makes me want to receive comfort … and I turn to food for my comfort.

I’ve tried them all. Some diets more than once. For some, you must count calories or units of food. For others, making a written list of everything that goes into your mouth is the backbone of the diet. Some focus on only one type of food, such as veggies. Dr. Atkins espoused protein as the only way to go, complete with menus. But all diets that I know of focus on food.

I’ve thrown away the idea of grazing. Supposedly if you eat something every two or three hours, you kick your metabolism into high gear and you will lose weight. That meant that every two or three hours I had to look at food, decide what to eat and be totally focused on food.

How, may I ask, am I supposed to lose weight while I think only of food?

Recently, I decided to “Change the Channel”. I’ve canceled the food network in my brain.

If I were an alcoholic, I could choose to never drink again. A drug addict can totally stop taking drugs. It just doesn’t work that way with food. Our bodies are designed to need fuel, which comes in the form of food.

So what if I just made friends with it, instead of seeing it as the enemy? Nice carrots. Lovely lettuce. Any minute now I’ll be petting it like I do the dog.

It’s just that to have to choose when and what to eat backfires with me. I want someone else to say what restaurant we are going to (enough time in advance so I can get all my defenses up). That way I don’t have to think of Outback, Olive Garden, Red Robin and the list of available places to eat. By the time I’m through deciding which restaurant, I want to eat EVERYTHING! At all of them.

Since I’ve taken this new point of view I’ve lost two pounds. And then I read on Facebook that a friend of mine is finally down to the single digit clothes size. I’m not sure I was there as a child. And the really irritating thing is that in the 1970’s, I lost almost 100 pounds over the space of two years. For those of you who don't know me, I am ranting about the fact that I cannot seem to lose 20 pounds. That's all I'm asking.  

And so I’m off to experiment another day with my new way of looking at food. Or not looking at it. See what I mean? To talk about losing weight, you talk about food.

Now I’ve talked about food long enough. Guess I’ll go be friends with some ice cream.

 “Oh listen, dear child—become wise;
   point your life in the right direction.
Don't drink too much wine and get drunk;
   don't eat too much food and get fat.
Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row,
   in a stupor and dressed in rags.”

                       Proverbs 23:19-21 (MSG)