Losing Count.
I’ve noticed a lovely thing happening more and more lately.
I’m forgetting the calorie counts of my every-day foods.
I was toasting an English muffin yesterday morning and I realized I couldn’t remember if it had 130 calories or 140. Or if my sausage-inspired soy patty was 80 or 100.
I’m not running tallies in my head as often, not looking at my food and seeing numbers. I get to the end of most days and don’t know to the calorie what I’ve eaten and, better yet, it doesn’t even occur to me to try to calculate it before I decide whether or not I’m having dessert.
I’m sure I could ballpark it and be pretty close, but the not-knowing-for-sure? It’s so….calming.
Even though I’ve tried to actively avoid calorie-counting since last April, to find that I’m no longer avoiding it but actually forgetting how to do it altogether, to discover that I’m letting those numbers slip out of my head, it makes me feel like the Secret Dieter is finally letting go of me.
I’ve been trying to ignore her voice for months, but it’s like she’s beginning to stop talking so much.
She apparently thinks I’m a lost cause.
And I’m pretty okay with that.
(On a sidenote: Am I crazy, or is it possible that my hair texture has improved dramaticallysince I’ve stopped dieting? It’s so…shiny! Swingy! I’m like a Breck Girl over here! Is that the magic of nutrition at work?)
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Your sidenote reminds me of this. Scary how close to the truth satire can come, isn’t it?
Oops, that were supposed to be a link to this address: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38915
Apparently I messed it up.
I think it’s beyond the power of nutrition, I think it’s the power of being happy with yourself and what you’re eating. I’m happy that you’re forgetting : )
Heh. I stopped counting calories just three weeks ago. I haven’t restricted, though, in over a year.
You’re right that it’s calming. It feels good, natural, and right to trust my body. It knows what calories I need and how to get them and keep track.
We were never meant to micromanage every morsel that passed our lips… Let my body “count” the calories. I have better things to do
I love that you describe the soysage (what I call it) as a sausage inspired soy patty. Fantastic. I’m gonna go eat a sloppy faux.
Were you a lowfat dieter? Because your hair needs fat to be healthy and shiny. So does your skin.
Your experiences (both moving forward and struggles) give me hope that I will also be able to move away from dieting and restricting and towards being kind and good towards myself.
Dude, I noticed the same thing about my hair when I stopped restricting calories. I think Emily’s partly right there…it having something to do with fatty acids or essential oils or something that a nutritionist could explain far better than I. The better point to be made here though: congrats! This is a good sign.
Fats. Definitely fats. Hooray for you!!!!!
Your hair will probably also grow faster and break less easily.
this is great!
but… i have to ask… do you have any tips on how to push the numbers out of your head? i’m practicing not tallying, but i still see numbers, as you say here, when i look at my plate. is it just a matter of time?
i’ve read most but not all of your past posts, so maybe it’s there and i’m missing your 12-step program : ) as for the tallying, i’m getting along fairly well screaming LALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU whenever the dieter in my head starts to do the math.
It occurred to me several months ago that I no longer know the caloric count of a brussel sprout. I just had brussel sprouts for dinner last night and I didn’t bother to look. I consider this progress.
I *knew* I wasn’t imagining the better hair. Excellent. I needed more reasons to eat lots of avocados and I’ll add this to the list.
Mrshotsauce, I am sorry to say I have no program for forgetting the numbers. And I haven’t forgotten all of them, that’s for sure. But not using them every day, well, I think they just sort of slip away. But, heck, it’s taken me over 9 months to get here, so I think it’s just a time thing. As for silencing the Secret Dieter, I like your tactic. For the first two months, I kept an envelope with various 2 - 5 minute tasks in it that were things I enjoyed, and when my urge to calorie-tally got really strong, I’d get something out of the envelope and do it. It’d distract me and soothe me a little bit and helped me over those really anxious moments.
Oh, and Bekbek? “Sloppy faux”? All kinds of awesome.
It’s the fat! Fat is good for your hair and your skin! I bet your skin is getting softer and shinier, too. Hurrah for NOT DIETING!