Different ways to lose weight

There are many ways to lose weight. The common element in all of the ways is a net loss of caloric input into the system. Simple net equation, which means exercise more or eat less. Any other "rule" is just a detail or way to trick someone into eating less by "feeling fuller" or exercise more by "distracting away" from the effort. My favorite way to lose weight is go play more ultimate. I've scandalized Mom before with that suggestion. For some reason I have yet to fathom, she thinks there are people who don't lurve playing ultimate.

My mom is crazy.

Eating less, although nearly as effective as exercising more, has never exactly a favorite. Who wants to stop eating the tasty, tasty food? And if it's not tasty tasty? Then why are you eating it?

Recently, I have been eating less, though not exactly intentionally.

Four years ago, I had a strange allergic reaction to life. Every single part of me itched. My eyes itched. My nose itched. My mouth itched. My ears itched. My skin itched on my legs, my arms, my scalp. Yes, even that itched, too. In an effort to figure out the cause, and to rule out any dietary causes, I changed my diet drastically: no meat, no wheat, no dairy and no soy products.

Do you know just how hard it is to eat without eating meat, wheat, dairy or soy?

It's hard.

The outcome of the diet was the discovery I have a wheat allergy. Not celiacs, but a gluten allergy that caused stomach (chest) pains, acid reflux and whatever else I might have had. I stopped eating bread and most items with wheat in them. I didn't cut out all the wheat in my diet, just the bulk of the wheat based items. The stomach and chest pains went away and, like most pains when the source is gone, I forgot about them.

In the last few months, however, I started being a lot more cavalier about my wheat consumption. I'd go to sandwich shops for lunch (scandalous!). I'd have toast and English muffins for breakfast (shock!). I'd eat pasta (oh no!). I. Would. Have. Whey. Protein. I know, I know. That's a big one.

I should have known better, I really should have. I shouldn't have tempted fate quite the way I did.

Alas. I did.

Recently, I've started eating less than I normally would eat, not because I'm on a diet, but rather because eating hurts. I managed to eat enough wheat these last few months, coupled with bizarro stress, that eating has become painful. I can usually get about four or five bites in before I'm full. Not really full, but the sensation is much the same, a pressing feeling in my stomach indicating I'm done eating.

So I stop. I stop with 3/4 of my food still on my plate (hey! leftovers!). It's strange, mostly in that I'm not actually feeling hungry, nor am I particularly tired most of the day. I've also cut out most sugars and many sweets (oh, ice cream, how do I miss thee!), in the off chance I'll be able to fix these pains before they become too bad. I have to remind myself, however, when I walk through the bakery at the grocery store that, no, these tasty tasty chocolate cakes are not forever banished from my diet, they're just treats now, to be eaten and savored on special occasions. Such reminders prevent me from purchasing a double decker chocolate chocolate cake and downing it in the store while throwing money at the cashier on the fourth bite.

Maybe if I'm good enough now with the wheat and sugars, I won't have to go back on the no wheat, no meat, no dairy, no soy diet to fix my tummy.

Because that diet IS hard.