Lifelong, Permanent Attention

robingmurphy

I've been trying to copy quotes or information that I want to remember and remind myself of in the future. Today, I got this from The Hacker's Diet:

"The stark reality is that permanent weight control requires permanent attention to what you eat. Life long, permanent attention. The monumental pile of nonsense, mysticism, and bad advice associated with dieting stems from the all-too-human tendency to deny this simple fact. But fact it is, and like most unpleasant facts, it's best faced squarely and treated as a challenge to be overcome."

That's one of the things I'm trying to teach myself. When I've fallen off the wagon and gained weight in the past, it's because I was in denial about this fact

zombiemomjo

THIS! Totally need to embrace this! Thanks for posting!

QueenofHearts023

Very true... I basically eat now like I will eat in maintenance. All I have to do then is add in 2 snacks and I'm golden. it's so much easier to keep the weight off when you develop lifelong habits.

dolliesdaughter

Calories in and calories out. Very simple, no detox necessary.

robingmurphy

Here's a link to The Hacker's Diet, in case your interested. It's free online. I'm enjoying it. Especially good for engineering, data-nerd types.
https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/welcome.html

brb_2013

I love it, and also hate it. Haha. Of course I know it has to be lifelong but now as I'm still struggling to get under control the idea of a life sentence of calorie counting is an exhaustive thought. But I'm going to save this quote for my own collection, it's important to remember. After all, when I stopped paying attention I gained 40lbs back so I know I won't be doing that again.

42firm03

I view calorie counting as management of disease. It's no different from the other maintenance medications that folks take to keep themselves heathy: sinthroid or glaucoma drops. Whatever makes your normal normal. You just do it.

This also helps rob the scale of its power. Which I need!

jemhh

Yep, this is the difference between me keeping weight off and gaining it all back as I have years ago when losing. I have come to accept that I will forever have to be mindful about my diet and activity level.

VeryKatie

That is a really good quote. I like it.

yourhiddengem

42firm03 wrote: »

This also helps rob the scale of its power. Which I need!

That's the best part to me about calorie counting. I don't have to be as scared of the scale because I'm doing something to be in control of my weight besides just weighing myself and being anxious.

besaro

100%

robingmurphy

The way that this time is different for me is that although of course I want to lose weight and achieve goals, I'm much more focused on developing the HABIT of monitoring what I eat calories-in-calories-out every damn day forever whether I'm motivated to or not. I'm focused on developing the habits of planning what I will eat, and tracking what I do eat, every day, no matter what, no excuses.

Jruzer

42firm03 wrote: »

I view calorie counting as management of disease. It's no different from the other maintenance medications that folks take to keep themselves heathy: sinthroid or glaucoma drops. Whatever makes your normal normal. You just do it.

This also helps rob the scale of its power. Which I need!

Yup. I agree. I once read someone saying that many formerly overweight people have "obesity in remission." That's how I feel. I have a chronic condition that I have to manage. I don't feel sorry for myself, and I don't think the management of the condition is that difficult. It's just a fact to accept.

rosebarnalice

The challenge for me is finding the boundary between "attention" and "obsession." I'm willing to be "mindful" or "attentive"; but I don't want to be "obsessive".

robingmurphy

Another good quote from The Hacker's Diet:
"A person with a broken feedback system will always tend to gain or lose weight. In the Food and Feedback chapter we've seen how Oscar and Buster, victims of incorrect feedback, gain weight simply by heeding the deceptive message of appetite. When Oscar or Buster go on a diet, the diet tells them what to eat and when. And, for reasons we now understand, it works! As long as they follow the diet and don't cheat, they lose weight as rapidly as promised and arrive at the end of the diet thin, happy, and feeling in command of their weight.

Then they put the diet away and rely, once again, on their built-in feedback system to tell them how much to eat. But it's still broken! Sure enough, their weight starts to creep upward and before long all the progress of the diet is erased. People with a tendency to gain weight need continual guidance about how much to eat. Withdrawing this guidance at the end of a diet, or couching the need for ongoing feedback in a manner that implies, “You're a fatty, and to be slim you'll have to spend the rest of your life on a diet” is as deplorable as lending a pair of glasses to a nearsighted person for six weeks, then removing them and saying, “OK. You're on your own.”

If your eyes don't focus, you need optical correction to live a normal life, and you need it all life long. The fix that lets you see as well as a person born with perfect vision needn't be obtrusive nor prevent you from doing anything you wish, but you have to continue using it. If you happen, instead, to lack a built-in eat watch, you shouldn't feel any more guilty about technologically overcoming that limitation than your friends do about wearing glasses. Gotta problem? Quit whining, fix it, and get on with yer' life!"

brb_2013

HappyCampr1 wrote: »

brb_2013 wrote: »

I love it, and also hate it. Haha. Of course I know it has to be lifelong but now as I'm still struggling to get under control the idea of a life sentence of calorie counting is an exhaustive thought. But I'm going to save this quote for my own collection, it's important to remember. After all, when I stopped paying attention I gained 40lbs back so I know I won't be doing that again.

Lifelong, permanent attention doesn't necessarily mean a life sentence of calorie counting. Many people in maintenance only count calories when /if they reach the top of their weight range. Then they count calories to take off those few pounds. Rinse and repeat. This just means that you may have to count for a month a year, or something along that line. If you get good at maintenance, it may be less than that. It's an individual thing.

The issue really is that we're going to have to pay attention and be mindful for the rest of our lives. This is why it's so important (imo) to stick with a plan you can live with and make habits that you can sustain.

I am speaking from a place of having never been able to maintain, I just have a lot of fears over it. I'm one that will likely have to count always just to be sure, I don't know though. I have a long way to go before I have to worry about it too much.

Tigg_er

robingmurphy wrote: »

I've been trying to copy quotes or information that I want to remember and remind myself of in the future. Today, I got this from The Hacker's Diet:

"The stark reality is that permanent weight control requires permanent attention to what you eat. Life long, permanent attention. The monumental pile of nonsense, mysticism, and bad advice associated with dieting stems from the all-too-human tendency to deny this simple fact. But fact it is, and like most unpleasant facts, it's best faced squarely and treated as a challenge to be overcome."

That's one of the things I'm trying to teach myself. When I've fallen off the wagon and gained weight in the past, it's because I was in denial about this fact

QFT

alohajls

It's a life sentence. On the one hand, that's sounds really grim and bleak, but on the other, it's sort of freeing to know that watching what I eat is just the way things are. No choice about it, just have to embrace it.

tomteboda

Yep. I priced that to myself when I lost 60 lbs at 19, (225 - 165) then let the weight creep up slowly over the next 17 years so that at 36 I was far worse off (270).

14 months later In down to 199. When I reach my goal weight, I will have to mind my eating for the rest of my life.

WalkingAlong

I don't think there's anything wrong with using a food scale for life, but I think that most of us can learn other ways of portion control, too, if we choose to. Unlike poor vision, portion control is a skill you can work on.