This is the hardest bit, keeping up the not eating ’til I’m hungry when every one else is at home. Eating slowly had certainly reduced the amounts I eat, but trying to cook meals around two hungry teenagers and a husband who never seems to put on weight whilst not eating when I haven’t worked up a true appetite is not easy. My family keeps asking if I’m not feeling well or whether I’ve lost my appetite because something’s wrong. I reassure everyone that I’m fine but I don’t want to admit that I am trying to loose weight – again.
I have been on so many diets over the years, some more successful than others, but one thing I have consistently found is that anyone who is thinner than you is an expert on weight loss. I get really annoyed with the Thinner-Friend who believes that it is their duty to take responsibility for your diet. I get really pissed off with the Thinner-Friend who looks at the plate of food your eating and says ‘You’ll never loose weight if you eat that.’ I’ve never actually thrown a plate of food at someone, but I have been known to throw food out of the window when the the dictator has offered to eat it for me! If you successfully loose weight then Thinner-Friend goes around telling everybody how much you’ve lost and extolling their own part in your success, but if you fail then Thinner-Friend will say ’She would look and feel so much happier if she lost weight!’ Thinner-Friend, let me tell you, I am not unhappy. I want to loose weight because I want to be healthier. I get unhappy when I am dictated to and patronised. Any unhappiness I have is not a result of being fat, although being fat may be a symptom of my feelings, but it is symptom and not the cause.
My family are not stupid. They know I am trying to lose weight, but if I don’t tell them, then they can’t ask me or nag me. I’ve noticed my 13 year old daughter has started to follow my example by eating more slowly and is therefore eating smaller portions, but if she’s eating smaller portions, then she’s not skipping meals in an attempt to loose weight. There is already enough pressure on young women to be thinner than is healthy. My daughter isn’t fat, she’s beautiful with nice rounded curves in all the right places She attracts far more male attentions than is good for her to handle but still she already she hates her legs so much that she insists hiding them in shapeless tracksuit bottoms. I worry that my skipping meals and not eating with the family will set a bad example that she will try and follow. I think that along with properly balanced meals, the Chew-Chew Diet will be the answer that sets a good example of sensible eating and weight loss.
