Weight Loss 3

On to Jump-Start Plan Stage 3 in Martha Beck's The Four-Day Win. Today the exercise was to complete a questionnaire to figure out my current diet profile. Martha has found that some people like lots of information and others don't want to know the details. Also, some people like a lot of external structure and others want to be independent of external structure. She's come up with 20 questions which help identify where a person falls within that matrix.


My answers put me primarily in the Scholar profile--high information, low external structure. I think that fits pretty well. I'm surrounded by rows of bookshelves, and always have been, and I am much more comfortable as an entrepreneur than as an employee. I like to do things my own way.

Based on my profile, here's how Martha suggests I proceed:

1. Get any or all of the books listed in the "High Need for Information" section of the chapter.
2. Read and compare information from multiple sources to see what makes sense and appeals to me.
3. Design my own program (or choose any from the "Low Need for Structure" section).
4. Practice being in "Watcher" mode when learning and testing information.

This book was published in 2007, so the reading list is a little outdated. I've emailed to see if there are more current lists.

In the meantime, I have some of the recommended books (of course). I think I can probably develop my own plan anyway, supplementing books I've got with information from the Internet.

Some initial thoughts about what my custom plan should include:

• no late night eating (which for me is more like bingeing)
• more exercise = reduced appetite (I'm hoping more gardening this year will provide more exercise, at least from now into late fall)
• three meals a day, and up to two healthy snacks
• smoothie in the morning (perhaps) so I get some fruit servings
• raw veggies for one snack
• concentrate on smaller portions
• include protein, carbs, fats in each meal

I also want to find healthier, easily homemade alternatives to crackers and chips.

I felt really good when following Dr. Said Sokhandan's food recommendations, and lost weight easily using his plan. With it, I could eat as much as I wanted as long as the food was on the approved list. Potential allergens and foods that often contain toxins or chemicals were eliminated, such as wheat, eggs, red meat, non-organic vegetables and fruits, etc. He also recommended some natural supplement formulations. I'll try to find that list.

I already drink quite a lot of water, though I could do better. I may also consult my current naturopath, Dr. Jean Layton to see what she recommends.