Balancing Values

 Eleven plus years of working to maintain my weight within my goal weight range has taught me that the only right road in Maintenance is the one I create for myself. 

I research dieting issues, listen to dieting advice from others, and do various short-term-diet-experiments, but ULTIMATELY,  What, When, and How, I eat involves a continual personal evaluation and balancing of my own Values.  

DietHobby is my digital Scrapbook. It advertises nothing, sells nothing, charges nothing, and accepts no donations.  It is my own personal website which exists to help me further my own personal Dieting Hobby, and it reflects my personal experience in weight-loss and maintenance.

One-size-doesn’t fit-all, and I address many different ways-of-eating whenever I find them interesting or applicable to me.

For me, Dreams and Goals need to be based on REALITY, which means they need to be based upon a sensible and practical idea of what can actually be achieved or expected.

I have a clear idea of my own personal weight goals, and have an image of how I want to look and feel at my Ideal Weight Goal.  I also have an intense desire to BE there - not only Reach that Goal, but Stay there Forever. 

However, what I’ve learned is that ...
Life involves Balance and Trade-offs which are based on what each of us “brings to the table” (genetically & otherwise), as well as what each of us values the most. 

There are many different definitions of what is individually “beautiful” and also of what is “healthy”, and ….for many people here on earth,….. a BMI number doesn’t define either beauty or health. 

Not only do people define Beauty & Health differently, there are many differences in how highly various Food and Eating issues are valued within each individual life. 

Advertising, the media, and the Diet Industry tells us that “thin” is the most beautiful and healthiest body type. Most people who reach a weight at the bottom of their BMI range would be considered “thin”, and some might even consider those people to be the “healthiest” that they could be, because of their low weight.  However, there are others who define “Beauty” and “Health” differently, and THOSE people would prefer and choose different weight-goals.

Here is a picture showing my own personal ideal Weight Maintenance Range.



As part of my own “dieting hobby” I’m always reading and learning about various diet plans, non-diet plans, ways-of-eating, and lifestyles. My many diet experiments have helped me to develop a deep understanding of my own personal preferences. I like some diets and diet “experts” better than others, but I continually work to remain open to new or different possibilities.

The DietHobby ARCHIVES contains many articles that talk about the specifics of my own eating and weight struggles.  Every year I become more and more convinced of the truth of the following statements made by the obesity specialist, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, M.D.:

"at the end of the day if you don't like the life you're living while you're losing weight, you're virtually certain to gain it back."

Physiologically, Plateaus don’t exist.  Unless it’s a TEMPORARY trick of the scale, …....... if you’re not losing, either you’re burning fewer calories than you think; you’re eating more than you think; or some combination thereof. 

However, although there’s no Plateau, there IS such a thing as a “FLOOR”. 
If you’ve truly stopped losing weight, there are really only two questions you need to ask yourself.

1. Could I happily eat any less?
2. Could I happily exercise any more?

If the answer is "yes" then you can tighten things up, but If the answer to both is "no", there's nothing left for you to do. 

This is because if you can't happily eat any less and you can't happily exercise any more -- then it's unlikely that this will ever become part of your permanent behavior.

For me, maintaining a large weight-loss involves striking a balance between how I want my body to look and to feel at a specific size; AND how little food I am prepared to eat indefinitely. 


But what’s personally important isn’t a Constant. As Life Happens our Values tend to adjust to fit into our present Realities. 


The body is designed to wear out, and if we live long enough, we will die from old age. 

Here in my 73rd year of life, my thinking and my goals are more short term than they were in my 60s, 50s, 40s, 30s, 20s, or teens. 

I find that now I tend to value my physical comfort more than my physical appearance, and that I’m far less willing to spend time experimenting with ways-of-eating that I don’t find enjoyable.

At this time I still place a high value of keeping my body somewhere inside my “normal” BMI range, and I am still willing to eat very small amounts of food indefinitely to do so. 

However, …. if the only way I could maintain that body size was to eat only 5 bites of food twice a day for the rest of my life, would I be willing to do that??? ….If the only way I could maintain that body size was to entirely eliminate specific foods from my life … whether it be sweets, carbs - refined or otherwise, meat, or dairy products like cheese or butter?????? 

My own personal answer is:  No!!!  

Neither of those things would be an acceptable trade-off for me.  It’s a matter of values.  
In order to be able to moderately eat those foods, I would choose to accept being a larger size.

   
................How moderate?  
................How much larger? 



That’s where the individual balancing of values comes into play.

Note to those of you who are interested:  This week I’ve started a different diet experiment which involves eating approximately six tiny meals per day, while working keep my calorie intake at or below my energy burn.  I plan to post food pictures here at DietHobby under the title: “Tasters Choice” which is inside my Photo Gallery, under the Heading RESOURCES.
 

Running to Dinner