Today is the magic day! I had hernia surgery 3 months ago exactly. I am supposed to be able to resume weight training as of right now! I hope to start on Saturday morning... but 3 or 4 days ago, I started getting pain around the surgery site. I'll call my doctor in the next few days and ask his advice.

200 Calories Over Yesterday
So how do I handle the 200 calorie overage yesterday? Today is a high calorie day... I really wanted to work out this morning, but decided against it. I can't afford to dip my high calorie day below 2500 because the whole point is to bring my metabolism up.

Hmm... I think I'll burn an extra 100 calories on my cardio tomorrow and Friday, but eat my usual 2500 calories. That will bring the daily totals to 1750 - which is just slightly below the recommended 1800 minimum... but that is okay. It's only for two days.

Why Did It Happen
I know you're probably thinking, "200 calories? What is the big deal?" but the problem is where they came from. I plan 4 of my 5 meals per day to the gram. The 5th meal is dinner, and it varies depending on what my wife cooks. The reason I went over is because I spontaneously added pita chips to my lunch, and goldfish crackers to my dinner. While I did measure both before eating them, it wasn't something I planned ahead of time. (There is also the little matter of eating highly processed food, but I'll let that slide.)

Spontaneity is the Bane of Weight Loss
I work within 5 miles of 10 great restaurants: TGIFridays, Claim Jumper, West Steak & Seafood, Islands, Marie Calendars, Subway, Taco Bell, McDonalds, Carl's Jr, and some Greek place whose name I always forget. I say "great" because each one serves junk that tastes good. Not too long ago, I used to take great pleasure in deciding where to go for lunch and what to get. Instead of thinking in terms of "what should I eat?", I was enjoying the self-indulgence of "what do I want to eat today?"

The True "Self-Control" in Dieting
Emotional and physiological exceptions aside, I believe that the real reason we gain weight is self-indulgence. The availability of food gives us the ability to eat almost anything we can think of at any time of the day. Our bodies, still wired from eons of "eat what you can when you can", rewards us with lots of good feelings for feeding our cravings. To lose fat, we must exercise self-control... but not the sort that you may be used to.

Have you ever heard some self-righteous skinny punk suggest that all an obese person needs to do is "put the fork down"? This is evidence of the pervasive myth that being overweight is just about eating too much food.

The self-control that an overweight person needs isn't about "not eating", is the willpower to eat the foods and quantities we should eat instead of the food that we want to eat. It's about the discipline to plan our foods in advance instead of making it up as we go. To do this effectively, we have to know what our bodies need and in what quantities.

Heck, doing what we know is right instead of simply doing what we want to do is the key to success in all areas of life, not just food and exercise. There is no stronger anchor for self-esteem than knowing that you always do what is right instead of what is easy.

Intended Audience...
I never know who reads these blogs, so I wanted to issue a disclaimer of sorts. These blogs are written to myself... This pep talk is how I reinfoce my own values; so, if I sound like I'm lecturing from the pulpit, know that I am imagining myself as the only member of the congregation...

--B