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February 14 Recalibration I'm significantly more weight-conscious than the average American. I
dread the thought of someday becoming overweight, but I also don't want
the issue to cause stress in my life and I never, ever, want to go on a
"diet". Without diets or any other strict rules governing our eating behavior, Shawna and I have found that over time, without fail, our eating habits balloon to the point that we're eating more than twice as much food as is healthy. That means twice as much fat and twice as many calories, and our waistlines start to expand. In order to get back in the habit of eating normal portions of healthy food without constant dieting, we've invented a tradition of "recalibrating" once a year by going on a WeightWatchers-style points-counting diet for one month. The basic concept behind WeightWatchers is that calories aren't bad as long as they're from healthy, low-fat foods. You're given a certain number of "points" per day, which you "spend" on food based on its calories, fat, fiber, and portion size. You're allowed extra points if you exercise, which is a great motivator. The month-long recalibration helps us return to normal portion sizes; I'm often eating over 40 points at the beginning of the month, and am back down to 22 points at the end. It also helps us eat more of the healthier foods that had slowly dropped out of our diets, since we maximize our daily points by seeking out low-fat foods and eating significantly more vegetables because those are "free". Some might say that, technically, we actually are dieting for one month out of the year. But the goal for that month isn't to lose weight, it's to re-teach ourselves how to eat healthy foods and to reestablish good eating habits. It's not a diet, it's a recalibration. And it's helping us to stay healthy and fit, so I plan to keep it up for a good long time. Bon appetit! - Jas Comments (1)
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