[The Little Bowl] Two Week Experiment

[Guest guest]

I am approaching my one year anniversary of my diet. I started this journey on September 1, 2009. I have been faithfully counting every calories for one whole year. I cannot even begin to explain what an incredible lesson it has been and continues to be. The biggest (and hardest) lesson has been in discovering that I hardly need any calories at all, even to maintain my excessive weight. I realize that part of this is due to not being active while living in an 18 wheeler, but most of it is a simple truth, that in this modern society of plenty, we no longer are in touch with hunger or body signals when it comes to eating. I ended up weighing more than 300 pounds because eating was no longer about satisfying hunger. I have been on countless diets, lost countless pounds, regained eventually because I did not have the daily discipline I needed to maintain my weight. I wanted the diet to cure me, which of course it never did. I would find myself in a constant battle with myself over whether I could eat something or not, whether to “let go†and indulge my whims, or deny myself food and suffer. The whole thing came from the wrong point of view, the wrong attitude and in a heck of a lot of self-delusion. I fooled no one but myself. I ate more food than I wanted to admit and I gained weight. So my question is, do I continue counting every calorie to be sure of my intake, or do I work my knowledge that I have gained so far? Am I at a critical point of my weight loss journey that could easily fold under me because I am overly confident of success? Am I ready to move onto intuitive eating, which is my ultimate goal? The last two days of shopping here in Hawaii, I am so taken with the amount of Asian (Japanese in particular) pottery and dishes. I have a thing for bowls. I have seen such beauties that have made my heart sing. The thinnest of bone china rice bowls to heavy thick dripping glaze hot pots. I have been in bowl heaven. Last night, as I was reading my Teaching of Buddha, I read about Buddha taking his “begging bowl†and leaving the Palace and his comfortable life to find out why humans suffer. I remembered the image of the bowl on ONE BOWL (pictured above on the book that inspired me). I got up and looked at the bowl I picked up yesterday simply because it wasn’t beautiful, or fabulous in it’s colouring, but it was a heavy white bowl with a silly image of a smiling sun. What a simply delightful bowl. A reminder to enjoy eating, to make it a positive experience, even when it is such a small amount. It made me think of my ultimate goal and how much following the One Bowl Method really helped me in the past. I have decided to use this bowl for the next two weeks as an experiment to see if I am ready to use it exclusively. I am going to continue the calorie counting so that I have an idea of what calories I would consume using the bowl. The shift will be in limiting my bowl fills to 4 a day, rather than relying exclusively on the calorie count. I am curious to see what I would consume if my “control†factor would be a bowl rather than numbers. I will measure the volume of the bowl so that I can get a feel for how much of any food I am eating from it, whether it holds 1 cup or two. This is a perfect time to try it, so that I can definitely complete a full year of calorie counting and to see if I am ready or not to do it. I don’t know, I had found a prettier bowl, I have a couple at the apartment that I really like, but this little ray of sunshine just tickles my fancy! This morning, I filled my bowl with the usual flaxseed meal and coconut cream, added a dab of peanut butter, which filled only about 1/4 or less of the bowl, so after I ate that, I added fresh pineapple and plum to about the 2/3 level. That is one bowl of food so far today, 385 calorie, 25 net carbs. OK so far. --

Posted By elisaannh to The Little Bowl at 8/11/2010 01:54:00 PM

[Guest guest]

Hey annh,I think you should continue on the path you are on.I don't know anything about intuitive eating but if it involves relying on instinctively knowing when you have enough food either on your plate or by fullness,then you are still learning at this point and should continue measuring your food.I knew one day I would have to alter my portion sizes and learn to eat in moderation,so that's why when I decided to change my eating habits,I made the

decision to go ahead and learn portion control and eating in moderation so I wouldn't have to struggle with learning it later.Whatever you decide to do,I know you will make the best decision for yourself,good luck. :)Daisy

[Guest guest]

I've been thinking about it for a while now, it's just an experiment to finish this month out with, since I am coming to the end of the first year of my diet. I am still measuring and counting, I am just shifting the focus to the bowl rather than the calories. It will help me decide my diet for the 2nd year. Most likely I will continue counting, but I am still curious. The bowl holds 1 cup of food. I want to see what my calories would be if I ate 4 bowls of food a day.

I practiced Intuitive Eating in 2003/2004. I did well with it to a point. I feel that it can help maintain weight for the severely obese, but does not really work as a weight loss method, because we are not as intuned to body cues (or we wouldn't be over weight to begin with). I think IE works best for normal weight people who have trouble with overeating now and then. This is just my opinion and I am not knocking for anyone else who wants to go in that direction. For me, I did learn a lot about normal eating and the return to the joy of eating after having been on a rollercoaster to dieting and bingeing.

I am NOT ready for IE yet. But I am curious if I can move towards a way to keep my portions small without counting. The one thing I do not want to do is fool myself into thinking I can slip slide around and not finish all the way to my goal. We'll see.

   elisaannh

-- Re: [The Little Bowl] Two Week Experiment

Hey annh,I think you should continue on the path you are on.I don't know anything about intuitive eating but if it involves relying on instinctively knowing when you have enough food either on your plate or by fullness,then you are still learning at this point and should continue measuring your food.I knew one day I would have to alter my portion sizes and learn to eat in moderation,so that's why when I decided to change my eating habits,I made the decision to go ahead and learn portion control and eating in moderation so I wouldn't have to struggle with learning it later.Whatever you decide to do,I know you will make the best decision for yourself,good luck. :)Daisy