Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Your Body is not a Psychopath

Really it isn't! It isn't trying to trick you! A body is a machine that works properly unless you mess up its functioning by drugging it out.

I am sure you have heard that if you don't eat enough calories, your body will hold onto the weight because it thinks you are starving to death. To date, I have never understood that belief, if there is truly any scientific evidence of this, or if this is just an effort by worried people to keep one from becoming anorexic. Note the word "anorexic"? If your body was trying to keep you from losing weight, no one would be anorexic. What the body appears to do is need less and less calories as one gets thinner and less active, so eating like a bird can keep you alive.

I have now lost ten pounds on my diet in the first fourteen days. My body hasn't kept me from losing weight, but you can see if you want to lose weight this quickly, you can't each much. Now, for the last ten pounds I need to lose, it may go more slowly, not because my body is refusing to give up the weight, but because I need even less calories at 142 and below to maintain weight than I did at 152 to maintain weight. When I get to 132, I will never be able to eat as much as I did when I was twenty pounds heavier if I want to stay at 132. You don't get to eat as much as you do when you are heavier, so you have to accept a lot smaller dinner plates.

So, check out my diet for the last two weeks and see how it worked (you will see the days I didn't get to the store to shop or was racing around and ate bits of not so healthy stuff, but, luckily, I didn't eat much else and didn't get discouraged and go crazy the next day).

ONDAY Oct 4 - 152 pounds

Bought foods and didn’t eat until I went shopping at Whole Foods late in the afternoon. I bought a salad and made a banana-blueberry ice cream (4 bananas) in the evening. Two frozen bananas in the “ice cream” and some fresh blueberries. So low calorie but what a great fulfilling dessert!

No exercise. Back injury.

TUESDAY Oct 5 – 150 pounds

Papaya/banana/kale green smoothie. Not that good. Spiced it up. Three glasses. One papaya, one banana.

Banana/strawberry ice cream – 2 frozen bananas and fresh strawberries. Always yummy! Great with blueberries, too.

2 bowls of Haeste’s savory stews made with tomatoes, celery, cucumber, squash spinach, and a T of honey. I made the curry/cilantro version. On the second bowl, I added a sliced up banana and it thickened the stew and turned it into a version of Puerto Rican Mafongo! Great find!

No exercise. Back injury.

WEDNESDAY Oct 6 – 148 pounds

One glass leftover papaya/banana/kale green smoothie.

3 dishes of “oatmeal”. Two with one mashed banana and chopped strawberries and one with one mashed banana and a sliced thinly apple. All sprinkled with cinnamon. The one with strawberries made a nice breakfast that did remind me of oatmeal with the crappy mucky part. Apple version tastes like apple cobbler or apple pie!

Five large stuffed “burritos” made with nori. Stuffed with carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, spinach, red pepper, add cilantro. Added Matouk’s hot sauce and pickled ginger. Turned out like big sushi rolls. Loved it! Very filling and made a nice, big meal that had pretty much no calories!

No exercise. Back injury.

THURSDAY Oct 7 – 147 pounds

Two glasses of canteloupe/parlsey green smoothie. Delicious and refreshing!

One salad of spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, handful of washed dulse and mango/tomato/lemon nonfat dressing. A little bland but filling. Need to find a way to make it a little more thrilling. But, almost zero calories! Added a t of honey and a t or more of Dijon mustard. Makes it a bit more interesting. I used it as a dip but still not exciting enough for that. Could be used as a dressing but I still think it needs more something. I like the mango and tomato base, though. I now have added garlic and cider vinegar and it is a bit better and then, curry, better still. I will try it on a cabbage dish.

I/2 cup lime pudding. I was aiming for key lime flavor. Didn’t quite work out! 1 cup has 1 banana, ½ pear, and ¾ of a lime, including skin. The skin didn’t work out here. I used it in a different recipe and it added zing. Here it adds too much zing and the pieces and little pieces were still intact. So, I ended up with what had the consistency and taste of applesause with lime and little annoying bits.

Had my “oatmeal” with one banana/strawberries but this time I sprinkled it with carob powder. I have never been that found of carob powder and it didn’t this dish didn’t taste anywhere as good as the one sprinkled with cinnamon.

5 more of my stuffed “burritos” with pickled ginger.

FRIDAY Oct 8 – 146.5 pounds

Bowl of “oatmeal” with 2 bananas, 1 apple and cinnamon.

I glass of cantaloupe/parsley green smoothie left over from yesterday.

No exercise. Back injury.

SAT OCT 9 – 146.5 pounds

Bowl of gazpacho soup and glass of white wine at restaurant

Piece of chocolate at hair salon

Salad at restaurant with dried cranberries

I bite of pizza crust

SUN OCT 10 – 146.5 pounds

1 Thai papaya salad with peanuts and one glass white wine

6 pizza bites with mustard

MON OCT 11- 146 pounds

2 salads with mango/tomato/balsamic vinegar dressing – Frederic Patanaude. This is a great dressing!

3 glasses of smoothie – watermelon, cucumber, tomato, banana, and dill. Very tasty and refreshing!

TUES OCT 12 - 147 pounds

Grr. So it is a starvation day since I went up. Had carrots and salsa and the previous days watermelon drink with kale added. Liked it much better the way I made it yesterday.

WED OCT 13 – 146 pounds

I salad with half a cup of mango/tomato/balsamic dressing

Pile of cabbage with the other half of the dressing.

One cup of Pakistani rice

Jogged on twenty minute lap around the lake and then one more lap walking with six sprints

THURS OCT 14 - 145 pounds

Banana “oatmeal” with pear and cinnamon. One banana and one pear.

Watermelon green smoothie – ½ baby watermelon, 1 banana, 2 tomatoes, 1 cucumber and dill

½ cup Pakistani rice

FRI OCT 15 – 144.5

One salad with nonfat Caesar dressing

½ cup Pakistani Rice (last of the batch from Mohammad’s mom; I am so sad. She is a great cook!)

4 carrots and salsa

One glass watermelon, banana, tomato, and dill smoothie

Jogged twenty minutes around lake. Walked second lap with six sprints.

Sat Oct 16 –145

1 bean burrito

½ cup Pakistani beans (oh, yummy, more from Mohammed's mom!)

1/3 ww chapatti

No exercise

SUN OCT 17 – 145 lbs

1 papaya thai salad

I veg tartare

2 glasses white wine

½ cup Pakistani beans

¼ chapatti

No exercise

MON OCT 18 – 144 lbs

1 dark chocolate bar

½ cup Pakistani beans

¼ chapatti

No exercise

TUES OCT 19 – 142.5 lbs

1 banana

1 salad with no fat dressing

Banana/apple “oatmeal” with cinnamon

Miso soup with cabbage, spinach, and agar agar strips to thicken it (don’t do this again; it turns into gunk)

No exercise.

WED OCT 17 – 142 lbs

4 pieces of curried seitan

2 spoonfuls of eggplant salad

1 big piece of spiced tofu

(got these from the salad bar; finally went shopping at Fresh Fields so I can make my green smoothies again)

Big round disk of kelp

1 apple

1 mango

No exercise.

THURSDAY OCT 21 – 142 pounds