Less is more

I’ve lost a few pounds and have kept them off. I’ve reached that point in my life where I’ve noticed a change in my metabolism, directly related to changes in activity. I’ve become one of the herd who can easily put on a pound or two over the winter months. Although a pound or two is not a bad thing when you’re slender and fit, it’s the cumulative effects that I’m worried about. A pound or two a year over a span of years starts to add up.

Consider the trend that, in the past ten years or so, I’ve gained about twenty pounds. Admittedly, my “fat pants,” the largest size I’ve ever worn, are a size 6, so I have no room to complain about weight. But I can complain about the trend and work to prevent another 20 lbs from depositing themselves comfortably, a pound or two at a time, over the next ten years or so.

I’ve really cut back on snacking at work, particularly in a work place where it is a rare occurrence to have a week go by when someone hasn’t brought in doughnuts or cookies or a cake. It’s particularly helpful when the snacks brought into work are placed elsewhere, not in my easy reach. It means there are that many fewer empty calories entering my body, what I don’t consume just leaves more caloric intake to contribute to other people’s expanding asses.

I’ve directed my snacking urge towards drinking more water, which I have a hard time drinking. Instead of heeding my desire to grab a cookie or head to the vending machines for a quick fix, I down a cup of water. It fills me up and gives my brain the cue it was looking for.

I’ve steered clear of processed baked goods lately as well. Yes, I still have my desserts, usually dishes I bake from scratch. I know what’s in them, I can choose to use oat flour or less sugar, I know what I bake isn’t full of hydrogenated oils. I’m not saying that home baked goods are healthy, I’m just in control of what gets consumed.

Overall, staying away from snacks at work and avoiding processed goods and drinking more water has resulted in a significant reduction in consumption of empty calories. And just doing the ‘eat less’ part of the ‘eat less, do more’ adage of every diet in existence, is enough for me to maintain and slowly keep weight off.