After nine months of Weight Watchers, I was a little tired of following the rules. I wanted to stop thinking and worrying about food and just enjoy eating. Cut to a few months later…oops. I might’ve enjoyed a little too much.
So I’m going to try something else! What if I cut out white flour and white sugar before 6PM? I’m a little inspired by Mark Bittman’s philosophy in “Vegan Before 6.” I’m already vegan 100% of the time, but what if I cut out a few of my vices until dinner time? I love pasta, bread, and cookies, but if I could just have enough willpower to wait until dinner, maybe I’ll be inspired to make better choices during the day. Breakfast is now smoothies, chopped fresh fruit sprinkled with cinnamon, oatmeal, and tofu scrambles. Lunches can be veggie (lightly!) fried rice, soup, kale salad, curries, and bowls made with whole grains, veggies, protein, and sauce. Snacks are grapes, hummus with sliced cucumbers, banana fro-yo, and apples with nut butter. I’m relying more on water and tea instead of sweetened lattes to get me through my day.
And then dinner? I can have whatever I want! How exciting is that? If I’m craving lasagna and a glass of wine, I can have it. If I want grilled cheese and a vanilla bean Dry Soda – done. A cookie before bed? Delicious. The idea is to make better, whole food choices during the day, so I’m not reaching for chocolate chip cookies every time I have a craving, because that happens a lot. Also, I don’t know about you, but I have a lot more willpower at the start of the day than at the end. If I can just tap into that until 6PM, I think I’ll notice a difference.
We’ll see how it works! I put my scale away because the weekly weigh-ins with WW were driving me nuts, so I won’t be using it as a way to track progress. All I know is that I’m not feeling that great and my jeans are a little uncomfortable. If either of those things improve in the upcoming weeks, I might be onto something. I’ll keep you posted!
Treading Lighter 