At Eat 4 Today we are dedicated to supporting each other in our efforts to control our weight and our health.
A Blog Inspired
E4T, the blog, was inspired by a lifestyle change I made last summer. At the time I was struggling with the side effects resulting from, well – obesity. I’m not going into upset you by listing them all here (although I probably will later). But, I will share the facts that at the time my stomach was constantly upset and I had pretty-much uncontrolled diabetes.
I’d like to pretend that my concern about the diabetes inspired the changes in my life. But, it wasn’t that at all. It was the constant upset stomach and other signs that my body was totally overstressed by all the extra weight I was carrying.
It was an extremely depressing time for me. I’ve never successfully kept weight off. Oh, I’ve maintained my weight long enough to think I was in control. But, sooner or later a family emergency or a prolonged period of chaos would prove that when things get bad, I eat. And eat, and eat and I eat.
A solution that works for me
I had been thinking about how frustrating it was that I couldn’t just give up eating. I never had any trouble quitting smoking – but, you can’t solve food issues quite that easily. I knew I could go back to Weight Watcher’s and lose weight at a pretty reasonable rate. But then what? Does anyone keep weight off once they stop going to meetings? I certainly never have.
I read an analysis of weight programs on Consumer Reports online, and they said that lots of diet plans worked, success was really a matter of finding what works for you. Great, that was a big help.
And then I realized that while I couldn’t give up eating
- I could give up eating between meals
- I could give up taking seconds.
- I could do this just for today.
- And I would try this experiment for a year.
So, all I have to do is get through today without snacking. I can eat what I want for my meals. But once I’ve served myself, I cannot go back for seconds.
Eating for today has changed my life. While before, I was looking for a program that I could follow for the rest of my life, now I’ve got a program that only has to work for today. Just today.
And it’s the story of that plan, and the experience of sharing my experience with friends that inspired the Eat 4 Today blog. My situation is hardly unique; in fact millions of us share those struggles.
I’m Catharine Hendricks, known around here as katiebird. I’ll be contributing articles about the status of my Eat 4 Today plan as well as thoughts about the diet industry (I’ve given a lot of thought to Weight Watchers), controlling diabetes and how my feelings about world events affects my ability to deal with any of this.
There are several regular authors. We each have our own particular interests. But, we also plan on commenting on each others articles — we all like a good discussion. We hope that Eat4Today will be a place where we can encourage and support each other in our daily struggles with food, eating and associated health issues.
And all subscribers are welcome to write an article sharing their stories.
We hope that you will also.
I love it. It sounds so doable!
~r
Thank you retta — I love you.
It’s a great site name, a great idea, and as you, katiebird have proven, it works. So what works for one can work for others too.
I’m looking forward to making a daily excursion ’round your health site. After only a few minutes here I already seen many great ideas for health improvement. Thanks for the effort expended.
NorthDakotaDemocrat — thank you very, very much for your kind words and encouragement. I am thrilled with the response. And I know it will only get better as we all develop a clearer idea of what we need.
I always put the Just 4 Today post up first thing in the morning (although first thing is a little later on weekends!). The other posts happen less predictably.
What a great, honest, and real way to tackle the situation. I’d give advice, but I’m sure you have heard it all before. Good luck! I’m going to try the same ‘just4today’ scheme for my serious procrastination problems.
Dear startkraving,
Thanks for stopping by. Lots of our visitors use the Just4Today space for non-food related issues. One dear friend broke a computer game addiction by coming here everyday….
Hi, Katiebird
Happy to find your site. Great philosophy. I do like your “just for today” and taking many small walks. I can do that. I lose weight on low carb diets but also gain it back as soon as I go to maintenance. I am going to join you taking it one day at a time.
One thing that I have found that helps me is to remember to drink water. I have learned that I mistake hunger for thrust.
Wow, stumbled across your site on the blogosphere, and the whole eating for today philosophy is very helpful. I find weight watchers, although helpful, gets me into this good week/bad week mentality, and I will give up eating well for a whole week just because I have had a couple of days with bad choices “so I can start over next week.”
Your philosophy is definitely a helpful way of thinking — I shall try this out.
Hi Katiebird,
I stumbled across your site while searching for health related blogs and posts. Your voice comes through as witty and entertaining yet I got a real sense of your frustration with endless diets and weight loss plans. I think your philosophy of eating 4 today makes the most sense in a world where tomorrow always offers a new chance to do over what we didnt get right today.
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We are committed to a healthy lifestyle and everyone here understands the obstacles associated with staying healthy - so in a way we are both in the same business of helping others reach their health goals and sharing knowledge.
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I look forward to hearing back from you! Caren