Many people are like the cat in this picture in that they become fearful and depressed when they are faced with small portions of food.

Dieting is "a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight". It is the process of eating fewer calories than we use as energy in the hope that our bodies will consume themselves and become smaller.

Our Culture generally finds Dieting to be positive and acceptable behavior.  It pours billions of dollars each year into the Dieting Industry, but strangely enough, everything is focused on MORE. Buy more. Get different and additional food, supplements, books, slimming club or gym memberships, personal trainers, equipment, therapy, medical treatment, etc.

MORE is the successful marketing message, but the secret of successful dieting is LESS. The truth is we have to eat less. To lose a lot of weight, we have to take in a lot less food than our bodies use up.

Our MORE culture says … eat less, but just a little bit less… and be sure to eat MORE of this, and do MORE exercise, and buy MORE of this or that.  Drag it out, take it slow.  Make sure it is a "HEALTHY" diet. Do what we say, we'll tell you just what to eat. You need to buy THIS and THIS... you need MORE. If you just eat less, it won't be enough AND it will be the wrong thing. "It's not safe; you'll starve; you'll throw your body out of balance; you'll lose your health; you'll lose your muscle; you'll get an eating disorder; you'll become anorexic; you'll die."

Starving to death takes a very long time for people who start out with a BMI of anywhere from ranges in the middle-of-normal, overweight, obese, severely obese, morbidly obese, or super-obese. Also, people simply don't develop a mental disorder known as "Anorexia" by going without food. The world is full of mirrors, everyone wears clothing, and almost everyone lives among other people. It would be very difficult for a normally functioning human being to be unaware of the fact that they have become underweight. If it happened, there is a quick and easy remedy.
Begin eating more. 
If there is food available, people who are not mentally ill, can easily start doing that.

The problem with dieting, and eating less, is that we like food, we like eating, and society tells us to do it…. together with those extra messages of: "don't get fat" and "you must eat THIS way".

My own small, inactive, elderly body doesn't require much food to maintain a BMI near the border of "normal" and "overweight".  It requires even LESS food to drop my weight anywhere below that number. So if I choose to work at accomplishing such a task, I have to eat very tiny amounts of food.

This section entitled "Delicate, Dainty Meals for an Exquisite, Elderly Lady" is designed to demonstrate what tiny meals look  like. For more information about that concept read more of the posts within this Blog Category.

 I have recently begun an experiment with my own version of a modified 5-Bite Diet. I've found the unmodified 5-Bite Diet to be a bit too restrictive for my personal situation.

My own concept is to eat 3 tiny meals, each of these meals consisting of approximately the same small total volume. The amount of this total volume is approximately 5 normal bites, or between ¼ to ⅓ cup. These meals can consist of any food substance that appeals to me, but whether it is candy or cucumber, the volume remains the same.

Within this plan, outside of these 3 daily meals,  I drink only non-caloric beverages, such as water, black tea, up to 16 oz of crystal light, up to 2 diet cokes. I also allow myself up to 6 oz of tomato juice and 2 cups of clear bouillon for additional sodium and potassium. Artificial sweeteners are acceptable, and I allow myself up to 2 small containers of sugar-free jello, and up to 2 sticks of sugar-free gum per day if I wish.

I haven't yet decided how long this experiment will run, and while I will be sharing some of the dieting BEHAVIOR, I will not be sharing the dieting RESULTS here at DietHobby - including any weight-loss, or weight-gain - while the experiment is taking place.

Here are some specifics about a few of my tiny meals.

BREAKFAST TWO
Estimated calories 144

Contents and Calories
⅓ cooked original pork sausage patty - Jimmy Dean - 45
3 mini pancakes - frozen - Krusteaz - 55
1 tsp butter - 34
2 Tb Mrs. Butterworths sugar-free maple syrup - 10
…….Total = 144 calories

LUNCH ONE
Estimated calories 144

Contents and Calories
½ slice wheat bread - 45
2 thin sliced deli select roast beef - 30
1 tsp light mayo - 12
1/6 avocado - 40
1 Tb alfalfa sprouts - 1
1/10 oz plain potato chips - 16
…….Total = 144 calories

LUNCH TWO
Estimated calories 89

Contents and Calories
1 Teriyaki Chicken Wing - 48
1 bite Blackberry cobbler - 41
…....Total = 89

Dreams can be fragile. They begin in the heart and mind. Those who achieve great things start with a dream.

Whatever it is, it's YOUR dream, and bringing it to life depends on the specific realities of YOUR situation; PLUS what YOU think; what YOU feel; and what YOU do.