The first thing to do of course when this happens is to stop and think about it. You are hungry as hell… why?  You get plenty of nutrients, have a well balanced diet, but yet you suffer through moments of ravishing hunger. It’s not very comfortable. And anyone reading this blog knows that I am all about making losing weight as comfortable for yourself as possible. I don’t believe in suffering. Why should I put myself through that… yet, with all of my efforts to make losing weight as comfortable as possible for myself, sometimes it really sucks and I am really uncomfortable. Rare, but it happens. It happened last night. So what did I do?

I gave in to relieve the pain. lol. No I did not run up to the bagel shop and buy a dozen with cream cheese. No I did not run out and get fried Chinese take-out. And since my kitchen has been transformed into a health and wellness center, there’s really nothing here to seriously pig-out on.

My daily calorie limit is around 900 calories a day, roughly anywhere between 800-1000 calories a day. I’m certain that I must have had 1200 yesterday after giving in. But, the giving in totally relieved my suffering and didn’t cost me a lot in terms of calories. We are talking 2 small slices of whole wheat bread with a smidgen of butter and apricot preserves w/ a cup of milk. WOW was that satisfying. I felt better afterwards and certainly did not feel crazy like after eating a whole box of pastries from the Afghani bakery down the street. lol.

This is what I love about being on a very low calorie diet, suffering is minimized, all around. The problem with so much of weight-loss philosophy is that it seems to be based in some sort of “punishment.” The fat person needs to be “punished” for being fat. Just like the smoker needs to be “punished” for smoking. It’s sick! Who has the right to judge anyone like that? Yet, it’s a common thread in our society when it comes to fatties and smokers. “Only punishment will help you get healthy.”  BULL HOCKEY STIX.

I’m smoke-free for almost 6 months now… and I did not do it by punishing myself. I did it with electronic cigs. What I needed to stop smoking was to set myself up for success, not failure. The e-cig did that for me.

Same thing with my weight loss, and I fully expect to be a size 10 or 12 by the time spring rolls around, people. That’s a big improvement from the size 20-22 I was packing before I started my weight loss program. I applied the same logic from quitting smoking to my diet regime:  I always set myself up for success, not failure.

Success works like this:  On this very low calorie diet, it’s certainly not every day or even every other day that I have an extreme hunger attack.. This week it was one day out of 6. It’s been one day out of 14 before. The thing I like about my diet plan is that now that I have transformed my kitchen, if I do have a hunger attack, I’m only going to go about 300 calories over my 900.  Before the kitchen transformation, I HAD to sit here and SUFFER THROUGH HELL just to stick to my diet.. and frankly, I’m no longer willing to play the “pain to gain” game. I don’t want pain! Pain sets you up for failure!

1200 calories yesterday was not a failure. I feel better today and a bit less hungry. My 900 will be easy and pain-free today.

And how is your day going? 

Speaking of which, wasn’t Buddha a big fat guy? All of those depictions, statues, etc., Buddha is always a big fat happy guy, I’m not sure if he was following his own rules on this, but nonetheless, if you’ve ever seen or met any Buddhist monks, they do not weigh as much as Buddha at all, most of them are really slender people. Probably has something to do with doing as Buddha said and not how he did. lol. Anyways.. on with the list, I’ve printed out the bold ones and taped them up in my kitchen:

Bhojanapatisamyutta (food)

1. I will receive pindapāta (alms round) food attentively.
2. When receiving pindapāta food, I will look only into the bowl.
3. I will receive curries in the right proportion to the rice.
   
4. I will receive pindapāta food only until it reached the rim of the bowl.
5. I will eat pindapāta food attentively.
6. When eating pindapāta food, I will look only into the bowl.
7. I will not dig up the rice making it uneven.
8. I will eat curries in the right proportion to the rice.
9. I will not eat rice only working from the top down.
10. I will not cover up curries – or curry mixed with rice – with white rice because of a desire to get a lot.
11. When I am not sick, I will not ask for curries or rice for the purpose of eating them myself.
12. I will not look at another’s bowl with the idea of finding fault.
13. I will not make up a very large mouthful of food.
14. I will make food up into suitably round mouthfuls.
15. I will not open my mouth until the portion of food has been brought to it.
16. When eating, I will not put my fingers into my mouth.
17. When food is still in my mouth, I will not speak.
18. I will not throw lumps of food into my mouth.
19. I will not eat by biting off mouthfuls of rice.
20. I will not eat stuffing out my cheeks.
21. I will not eat and shake my hand about at the same time.
22. I will not eat scattering grains of rice about so that they fall back into the bowl or elsewhere.
23. I will not eat putting my tongue out.
24. I will not eat making a champing sound.
25. I will not eat (or drink) making a sucking sound.
26. I will not eat licking my hands.
27. I will not eat scraping the bowl.
28. I will not eat licking my lips.
29. I will not take hold of a vessel of water with my hand soiled with food.
30. I will not throw out bowl-washing water which has grains of rice in it in a place where there are houses.