So here we are in early February, and my progress has been glacial, but the scale and my clothes are telling me I am moving in the right direction. One thing that was killing my progress and which I am getting under control is eating after dinner. Not only has this been a longtime habit I had to break, but I also had to break it cold turkey. Like any other addiction that must be overcome, I had to have a hard stop with it because a gradual stop wasn’t working and was the source of needless frustration.
How have I done it? A few ways. First, I started eating dinner later – at 6:30 rather than 5 pm. I told myself that my evening eating is an addiction. I say ‘is’ because one slip, one bite usually causes a catastrophe of eating too much – even healthy food. As one person told me, “It’s okay to be hungry.” Yes, I know, a light snack may curb those hunger pangs, but, in my case, it’s like the recovering alcoholic who imbibes one and then goes down the slippery slope. It hasn’t been easy to go cold turkey, but in my case, it is the only way – maybe for only a few months, maybe permanently. We will see. I also recently started keeping a food journal, which has been a big help and eye-opening. To be honest, it’s a pain in the ass to track everything right down to the time I start and finish eating, but like going cold turkey on the food consumption in the evening, it keeps me on track. For example, if I eat lunch at noon and finish half an hour later, there is no possible way I could be hungry two hours later.
Based on my doctor’s recommendation, I started intermittent fasting this week, and it’s going well. My goal is to do it through March and monitor my progress. I also keep in mind that at my age, my metabolism is not as fast as it was in my youth, and eating the amount I did back then when I was super-active isn’t wise.
So, that’s it for today.
John Berkovich Talks 