Is Weight Loss Anti-Social?
Life is social, and one of things people do when they get together is eat. In some cultures eating is an essential part of social interaction.
An opinion piece (via RedNova) talks about the effect falling in love can have on the waistline:
First date: 480 calories for a frappucino.Second date: 1,200 calories for popcorn, Gummy Bears, M&Ms, large Coke at the movies and one chocolate milkshake with two straws afterward.
Third date: 3,000 calories for a vodka tonic, deep-fried calamari, salad with bleu cheese dressing, Steak Diane, tiramisu and a bottle of Ferrari-Carano merlot.
The issue here is not just about dating, but about social occasions in general. The moment we eat according to a planned diet, we have some challenges ahead - because life is full of unplanned things. That's what makes life interesting.
When a social occasion (family dinner, childs birthday party, meeting with friends etc.) becomes a stress (because of our diet) then I wonder if we are entering a dangerous place in our thinking.
Self-denial can often result in the rebound, lusting after that which we are trying so hard to avoid. This is where good nutritional knowledge kicks in. Rather than blindly following a diet to the letter, it might help if we knew the foods that were good for us. Then, when eating socially, we can make good food choices.
On the other hand if you are "on" a restrictive diet, you'll probably get yourself stressed over what you are going to eat (or not eat at all).
There are valid reasons for altering our social calendar because of our diet. If going to the pub on Friday night means you will binge drink, it's probably a good idea to avoid that situation -- or even better -- learn to drink sensibly. It's the same with food.
For some of us, going to an "all-you-can-eat" restaurant is unwise -- until we are at the point of being able to make good food choices (AND be happy with them).
Is weight loss anti-social? It can be, but I don't think it needs to be.
Re: Is Weight Loss Anti-Social?
I quite agree that it doesn't need to be. If you were using an every-other-day diet---alternating a low-calorie (Limit) day with a high-calorie (Target) day---no one would even have to know you were dieting. If someone said "Let's do lunch" on a Limit day, you could ask for a rain-check for "tomorrow, or three days or a week from today." After all, every other Monday (or Tuesday) would be a high-calorie Target day.
The system is based on the Habit Principle: It takes 21 days to change a habit. So after the first 21 days, it would be easy to do lunch on a Limit day without breaking the diet because you'd be hooked on normal eating. You could start so that all of your most important social eating---such as your grandmother's birthday party---would fall on a Target day.
You can change your low-high schedule---but no more than once a month. If you changed it more often than that, you would compromise the principle and jeopardize the permanence of your weight loss.
A two-day eating system is really like jogging: you work out one day (Limit day), rest the next (Target day). Jogging is the fastest, most comfortable way to get from point A to point B on foot. It's faster than walking all the way and more comfortable than running all the way. You could also say it's like interval training applied to weight loss. And anybody can diet for one day.
This system can also be used to stabilize your weight so that you never gain (or lose) another ounce. (Use this only if you are in good health.) Here's how:
On the Limit days, eat exactly half of what you ordinarily eat. If you usually have a sandwich and a bowl of soup for lunch, eat half a sandwich and half a bowl of soup. If you usually have a chocolate bar for a snack, have half a chocolate bar. Do the same for all your other meals and snacks.
On the Target days, eat the way you usually do. You don't need to change the kinds of food you eat; just alternate the days for 21 days. From Day 22 onward, every day is a Target day; you will never gain or lose another ounce.
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