PODSNACKS/Art of the Diet

When you are underfed, harassed, bored, and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit “tasty”. There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you.-George Orwell Good habits are worth being fanatical about. -John Irving Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.-Mark Twain The Art of War is to me The Art of the Diet.  I initially named this blog in the fine art use of “Art of”. I had developed a whole new portfolio of fruits and vegetables as a way of learning to eat and enjoy more of these food groups.  That strategy worked. I now love them and look forward to eating them. But, as I've maintained for seven years this weight loss, I realize the Art of the Diet is less about its fine art meaning and more about the Art of War meaning: skills acquired by experience, study, observation of your strengths and weaknesses and knowing your enemy's strengths and weaknesses.  The archaic meaning of the art of something is “a skillful plan”. THIS IS A REBROADCAST OF ONE OF THE ESSENTIALS OF EIGHT YEARS OF MAINTAINING A SIGNIFICANT WEIGHT LOSS.  I HAVE TO HAVE A PLAN. I MAY NOT ALWAYS FOLLOW THE PLAN PERFECTLY BUT I HAVE TO HAVE ONE.  NEXT WEEK, WEDNESDAY, JAN 3, 2018, I'LL BE BACK TO A NEW SEASON OF PODCASTS. SHARING MY THOUGHTS ON MY NEWEST PLAN AND OTHER NEW THINGS. A COMBINATION OF SCIENCE, COMMERCIALISM, AND MY OWN PERSONALITY.  THE LATTER IS WHAT IS RARELY DISCUSSED IN ALL THE PLANS OF THE FIRST TWO CATEGORIES BUT PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT IN MY EXPERIENCE. Every once in a while I post some real time short videos on my Facebook page.  Some of them are even in focus.  Come and visit. So, today, we talk about the need for skillful plans made up of daily habits that can be used as strategies to combat the challenges of our bodies, which like it or not, are agitating behind the scenes to regain our lost pounds. It doesn't depress me to know this. It energizes me.  I hope this is the message you get from this episode 41 of PODSNACKS, Art of Diet & War. http://www.artofthediet.com/skill-sets-save-slippery-slopes/ http://www.artofthediet.com/hiding-in-plain-sight/ http://www.artofthediet.com/still-life-active-habits/ http://www.artofthediet.com/the-science-of-shame/ http://www.artofthediet.com/diet-truths-forest-trees/ http://www.artofthediet.com/time-make-yogurt/

Allie Brosh.  Oh, the talent, the wit, the insight.  She blogs about her life, wrote a book called, “Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened.” If you do nothing else this coming year, tune in to Allie.  Whatever road you are on, you'll recognize a fellow traveler. {THIS IS A REBROADCAST OF EXACTLY TWO YEARS AGO AND SOME THINGS REMAIN THE SAME.  BUT, ONE PROBLEM IS THAT ALLIE BROSCH SEEMS TO HAVE RETREATED FROM LIMELIGHT SO YOU'LL HAVE TO CHECK OUT HER WRITINGS BUT I DON'T THINK THEY ARE CURRENT ONES.  AT THIS TIME OF YEAR I THINK OF “NEW YEAR” WITH ANTICIPATION AND DREAD.  SO, I'M GOING TO END 2017 AS I ENDED 2015: COMPLAINING, LAUGHING, AND TRYING TO GET ON WITH IT. December 20, 2017: I will be posting a video weekly on my Facebook page (probably on Fridays) at least till the end of the year with updates on my progress with the new Freestyle program. Would love it if you would comment and tell me whether you like the videos, if you are doing the new program, how it is going…etc.  My page is www.artofthediet.com/artofthediet . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————– So, today, for me, it's New Year's Resolutions.  Traditionally, for me, the time of year when I am filled with dread as I know with certainty I am only adding to the ancient junkyard of years' resolutions past. I don't believe I've ever followed through on any New Year's resolutions even though at any other time of year I am capable of setting a goal and working at it dutifully. Well, most of the time. Just not at the beginning of each new year.  But, hope springs eternal.  And, Allie Brosh, whose book and calendar was sent to me as a gift, has clarified miraculously the problem I am having this week grappling with how to prepare for another year of weight maintenance.  My 6th year. Here are her thoughts on motivation: “Most people can motivate themselves to do things simply by knowing that those things need to be done. But not me. For me, motivation is this horrible, scary game where I try to make myself do something while I actively avoid doing it. If I win, I have to do something I don't want to do. And if I lose, I'm one step closer to ruining my entire life. And I never know whether I'm going to win or lose until the last second.” ― Allie Brosh, Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened Now, I think this is just genius clarity on why maintaining weight loss is so rare and obesity researchers despair that “long term” studies are basically defining “long term” as “one” year and they struggle to populate that length with successful folks. I think it is why, for those of us who are successful in keeping lost weight from returning- why we encounter psychological periods where we simply make no flippin' sense to ourselves.  None whatsoever. We know what to do.  We've done it.  We say we want to continue to do it. But, we don't. I've managed to do it for almost 6 years and this past year has been the hardest.  It is as Allie Brosh suggests, “trying to make myself do something that I actively avoid doing”.  I have caught myself on so many occasions saying,

“If I know better than you know what I am up to, it is only because I spend more time with myself than you do.” ― Daniel C. Dennett, Freedom Evolves The Unconscious Diet.  Is there such a thing where one maintains their weight loss without having to think about it? Apparently, yes. I’m not one of them, mind you.  Nor have I ever met one.  Sorta like my meetings with extraterrestrials.  I think they exist but not from personal experience. —————————————– THIS IS A REBROADCAST FROM ONE YEAR AGO, 2016. BUT, SINCE I'VE JUST STARTED THE NEW WW PROGRAM CALLED FREESTYLE (AND AM FINDING IT SURPRISINGLY EASY TO DO. SEE MY FACEBOOK/ARTOFTHEDIET UPDATES)  I REMAIN EXHIBIT A FOR THE OPPOSITE OF AN UNCONCIOUS DIETER AND SINCE IT IS DECEMBER 13, 2017 AND DOUG JONES IS THE WINNER IN ALABAMA,  BETWEEN THAT FACT AND FREESTYLE, MY STEP IS A BIT LIGHTER AND HOPE MAY STILL BE ALIVE FOR MAN AND WOMANKIND. ANYWAY, BACK TO THE ARTICLE FROM THE NYTIMES FROM A YEAR AGO THAT PROMPTED THIS PODCAST. —————————————————————————————– But, I’m told in a article in the NYTIMES this week that they do, in fact, exist.  Along with several other categories of “weight-loss plans that worked.”  AND, that obesity is not just ONE disease but many diseases, sorta like cancer. Oh, to be an unconscious one in more ways than one. But, if I were one of the unconscious ones, I’d write “The Unconscious Diet Book” and sit back and let the money roll in. But, I’m not one of them but I can discuss this article in some depth in this episode of PODSNACKS/ Art of the Diet, so you can figure out where you may be in these categories. Having to do this podcast weekly forces me to think more than I’d like to about this issue, yet, I also know if I don’t think about it, if I’m not conscious that this is my challenge on a daily basis,  the regain train will stop at my door. So, As Daniel C. Dennett suggests. “If I know better than you know what I am up to, it is only because I spend more time with myself than you do.” So, let’s deck those halls and talk about diets, cancer, drugs, counting, combating as we head into the holidays, shall we? It’s still better than a political conversation. And, PS. I end on my final review of “This is Us” the TV program that everyone seems to love..except me.  Warning! Skunk at lawn party approaching. New York Times Article:

“Maintaining a significant weight loss is a daily battle with your body playing for the wrong team.”-Pat Coakley Ah, that would be me, Pat Coakley, and this is a rebroadcast of episode 39 of Podsnacks the weekly edition of www.artofthediet.com and this weeks' tips for weight management come from Laura, and 8 year Lifetime WW member who once was in jeopardy of being kicked out of WeightWatchers because her weight went too low. Getting pregnant with twins was her response! I am rebroadcasting this because I just wrote two sticky notes with “everyday” on them and stuck one in kitchen and one on bathroom mirror.  If left with my own awesome denial powers, I'd be thinking I could deal with weight management on an intermittent basis. My default position is not a trustworthy one. I have come to realize that no matter how many years I do this, I always want to return to bad habits and can rationalize this return with the assuredness of current Presidential press secretaries.  In other words, while lying to myself, I do not break a sweat. So, we all have our story and Laura is no exception. In fact, on the surface, she may appear to have little in common with my daily battle with my body playing on the wrong team but if you listen closely, and I'll talk a bit about this at the end, there are actually many similarities.  Plus, she's capable of creating daily habits that she doesn't end up resenting!  For that reason, alone, I think you might enjoy meeting Laura. My conclusion: Habits You Don't Hate You Do. The shownotes page is at www.artofthediet.com/39.  The number 39. Here are the past week's posts: http://www.artofthediet.com/podsnacksart-diet-podcasts-38-episodes/ http://www.artofthediet.com/childhood/ http://www.artofthediet.com/cauliflower-pizza/ http://www.artofthediet.com/renoir/ http://www.artofthediet.com/5685-2/ http://www.artofthediet.com/weight-management-ninety-seconds-check/ I created a new collection called “Puppy Garden” with custom coaster sets from your own pet photo. But, Guaranteed Xmas delivery is offered ONLY if ordered by December 8th. Here is your discount code AOD10OFF. /**/

“I would have assumed you understood despite our vague suggestion otherwise, we do not welcome constructive criticism.” -David Thorne There are two topics that elicit spontaneous snarkiness from folks: weight and clutter issues.  This week I am tackling both and the name of my diet book (the title seems to change from week to week) is “The Declutter Diet”. THIS IS A RE-BROADCAST FROM ONE YEAR AGO.  PS. I chose to rebroadcast because I have just “decluttered” AGAIN, a year later. Although truth to be told, my oven racks could do with another overnight in the trash bag. Plus, although I did not find a favorite hammer in my bathroom like last year, I did throw out lipstick bought in 1987. Also, I totally gave up watching the TV program, “This is Us” which, of course, became wildly popular with the rest of the world. Word to the Wise: Decluttering is like Weight Maintenance: you have to keep doing it. Know yourself. Me? There is no magical moment when I resolve never to have a cluttered hall table and really mean it. However, here is where the act of decluttering is truly a blessing: I get immediate satisfaction. If you struggle with chronic problems, as anyone with a weight issue does, this decluttering thing can be the one thing you have total control over and it reminds me what I can do when I am truly focused.   OK! I'll be dropping into Facebook this week and Instagram. What is the name of your Diet book?  Cuz, I know we are all writing one whether we know it or not. Marie Kondo, the author of “The LifeChanging Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” suggests that: The best way to find out what we really need is to get rid of what we don't. If this decluttering thing keeps up, I'll not only be maintaining my weight with some ease but after 71 years will finally be aware of what I really need. I hope to hell I can afford it. “Clutter is the physical manifestation of unmade decisions fueled by procrastination” ― Christina Scalise, Organize Your Life and More Procrastination. Do all evil roads lead to procrastination?  Well, let's not start in with that black hole. Also, I have a few critical words about the depiction of the obese characters on the very popular TV program called, “This is Us”.  I don't suspect I'll win any fans with my take on it, but, really, it's been buggin' me since I first started watching the program that I like overall but weakening with growing skepticism after each episode. Email me the title of your diet book, thoughts on decluttering, weight management or “This is Us” at: artofthediet@gmail.com. Remember, constructive criticism is all relative. Photo of my oven racks being cleaned: Here's a photo of my newly decluttered bathroom which uncovered my lost favorite hammer hiding.  What? Doesn't everyone store their hammers in the bathroom?   Remember your carrots! Here's a special Art of the Diet 10% discount code: AOD10OFF. /**/      

“I think losing weight, on any program, is done from a house built on a flat piece of land but weight maintenance needs a house built on a slippery slope.”-Pat Coakley [THIS IS A RE-BROADCAST from a year ago and guess what?  I think Slippery Slope Architecture for Weight Management is the single best concept I've had on this whole subject of weight management in 8+ years of gabbin' pretty much non-stop about this topic. I am going to try a Facebook LIVE today for the first time on my facebook page to wish y'all a Happy Thanksgiving! If I'm successful, it will be accessible just like a post even if you are not there LIVE. Probably around 11 AM if I can get the tech to work!  The day before Thanksgiving in the US at 11 AM. Perhaps the world's worst time to do a Facebook Live.  Maybe I should do it from the check-out line in a grocery store in order to get listeners! PS. I made a special 10% off discount code for my AOD podcast listeners. It is AOD10OFF at checkout at my store. I posted the AOD signature mug below! All orders on those have to be made by December 8th in order to be received by Xmas! So, why do I say this about the slippery slope for weight maintenance? Because losing weight can be done over and over.  Our individual stories can attest to that.  Statistics from any national weight loss program can tout, as WW did recently, that folks lost more weight on the new program (Dec 2015) after three months than new members lost a year earlier after three months on the older plan. Recently, a member admitted with great courage and shame that she was returning to WW for the 5th or 6th time, to lose 100 pounds. So, yes, we know we can lose the weight, over and over again. It’s the keeping it off that is the bigger challenge. I liken my 8 years ago 60-pound weight loss at 64 years old to living in a house on flat land.  I was determined. I tracked. I weighed portions. I put in my 10K steps.  I went every week to weigh in.  I was scared.  I was scared of being hobbled by knee and back problems as I aged. Heightened focus, whatever its source, solves some of the usual suspects, ie. my evil twin, from sabotaging my efforts. The seven years of weight maintenance, however, has required a house built on a slippery slope because all the things that got me to goal weight, though still effective, has lost out to my diminishing attention span and a body that subtly but insistently seems to be playing on the wrong team. (PS. There are biological and neurological reasons for that suggested in the article linked below, called, The Fat Trap.) So, today on the podcast, I talk to myself about some of my own skills that I forget but have written about or podcasted about for two years AND have used successfully in the past but continue to need to implement in the future for more than 90 seconds. The Art of the Diet for some weeks is the Art of War.  A set of skills really can defeat the enemy staring out innocently from the bathroom mirror each morning. Remember, Bill Murray’s quote about acting?  I know exactly how he feels. “Movie acting suits me because I only need to good for ninety seconds at a time.”-Bill Murray Weight maintenance would suit me just fine, too, if I just needed to be good for ninety seconds at a time. PS. I am hoping to prime the pump for the return to reason and my non-saboteur brain activity by decluttering my closet and drawers the Marie Kondo way.  The YouTube link is below.  Why don't you try it, too, and let me know if it helps your saboteur-self at: artofthediet@gmail.com

“A more unpromising boy never entered the Military Academy. Let this be a lesson to all of us. Looks are deceiving.”- General William Tecumseh Sherman talking about General Ulysses S Grant. I have developed my strategy for the approaching holiday buffet tables inspired by General Ulysses S Grant. (I'm listening to the audiobook by Ron Chernow, “Grant”). I can make everything about food but even I am amazed that I see parallels with General Grant's war tactics! It comes down to strategy and the importance of having one before the holidays (or battle) begins. I have one. I know it works if I execute it. Stay tuned.  I am also taking a hiatus from weekly new podcasts for next few weeks in order to focus my time on my online store and private commissions in order to invigorate my retirement savings. I also will be working on making a free download of my most popular podcast episodes so you can have the links all in one place so you don't have to go hunting. That will be available at the first of the year. I have listened for 24 hours of the 45 hours in the biography of Grant. So, I have been dwelling in 1964 rather than 2017. But, a few headlines have crossed my screen: you know who tweeting that he would never call the leader of North Korea, “short and fat”.  No, apparently, he wouldn't go that low?  I guess it's ok to call women fat, though: Rose O'Donnell, Miss Universe.  Another headline came through about Roy Moore in Alabama. His defenders citing the Bible say that Mary was a teenager when Joseph got together with her. Whaaat? And, finally, one of my favorite comedians, Louis C.K, admitted in an NYTimes article that EVERYTHING the women said he did to them, he, in fact, did.  Good grief. Sigh. I guess admitting it is better than the other two but the net effect? I am happy to be returning to 1864,  I'll await Appotomax. And, hopefully, it can happen again. I'll be making more of an appearance (a couple of times a week)  on my Facebook page (I am learning how to broadcast a Facebook Live) during this hiatus so come over and check it out.  Click here. www.facebook.com/artofthediet  www.artofthediet.com/118 If you'd like to support this podcast and also buy artful gefts for under $50, consider eggplant coasters! /**/   https;//gardenshop.thephotogardener.com

    What does Piglet of Winnie the Pooh and Sipress a New Yorker magazine cartoonist have in common? Truth and Accountability to this weight watcher (generic term not national program). What does an 8 hr diet have to do with weight maintenance? Absolutely nothing. Dr. Oz suggests there is a breakthrough 8-hour diet in a magazine “Woman's World? Really?  Ladies, sisters: is this really your world? “Piglet was so excited at the idea of being Useful that he forgot to be frightened anymore…He could hardly sit still. He was so eager to begin being useful at once.” A.A. Milne WINNIE THE POOH Sipress Cartoon  from The New Yorker: A father and his young son are watching TV. Dad says: “It's true…our President is also accused of doing bad things but, we hold our movie stars to higher standards.” A longer than normal podcast, somewhat windy, but these two artists help me maintain my goals of weight maintenance. Along with Michelle Obama and a Chicago poet, Marge Piercy. Links below! www.artofthediet.com/117 Would you like to support this podcast? How about some green and red hot peppers? Beauty while drinking. /**/     Marge Piercy's poem “To be of use”. Michelle Obama's Interview:  

“Wouldn't it be nice if retail therapy was covered by health insurance?”-Anonymous This week I'm talking about clothes. Specifically, Paul Manafort's clothes.  I'm taking my cue for subject from this week's headlines but fear not just from the sartorial point of view, not political. Women know the depths and the heights of retail therapy and, in particular, those of us who have been overweight at different points in our lives. As we go through our slim down periods or expanding periods, our closets reflect the accordian. I've had sizes six to 16 in my closet at one time. Paul Manafort was indicted this week for all sorts of serious charges but the one that caught my eye was his 800K tab at a men's clothing store.  I said to myself, “He paid 800K to look like that?” So, Schadenfreude (pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune) is my theme this week.  I admit it.  We have all overspent trying to look good or what we thought was “good” at the time. He appears to be headed for the “stripes” look while my sartorial misfires have been donated to Goodwill. I've lost power this week so I'm doing the podcast on dwindling battery power but I try to bring some depth to my shallow enjoyment of Mr. Manafort's version of “The Clothes Make the Man.” PS. I made this collage of jeans pictured above that were kindly donated to me a couple of years ago when I was doing a project about the “before” clothes often seen in contrast to the “after” clothes.   Here is the podcast where I interviewed a saleswoman for a well-known ladies clothing store.  She talks about “dressing room” stories and what they reveal about us. http://www.artofthediet.com/37 If you'd like to support this podcast, I suggest this mug reminding us of the true answer to all life's woes. /**/  

I hate housework. You make the bed, you do the dishes and six months later you have to start all over again. Joan Rivers Ok. This photo I took in Wyoming. I was in a car not on a horse. It's rare that street signs make me laugh. Anyway,  I've decided this quote from Joan Rivers is actually descriptive of my weight maintenance as well as housework, both of which, btw, are not in my DNA.  Housework can be completed by someone else, though, if you are at all like me:  a lover of order but just periodically incapable of it. Weight Maintenance, though. Oh, now, this is the only ad for weightloss I'd respond to:  “I'll do it ALL for you”. But, since science has yet to be able to create the equivalent of “in vitro” weight control, I've got to do it myself. Cue song for Pity Party then just get on with it. Welcome to the last 8+ years. Stop. Begin. Stop. Begin, again. Repeat Until You are Dead. This week, I began again.  Got back to basics and made the basics last more than one day.  Wasn't perfect. Didn't do 13K steps every day. Didn't totally avoid the bad carbs.  But just like the arc of the moral universe supposedly bends slowly toward justice (Um..if this is true, we are in a real wide bendy period, just sayin') my will power bent slowly this week in the self-control direction. And, in the process, I realized how good it feels to exercise habits of choice as well as exercise for the body. Self-Control and Will Power have often been my topic over the past two-plus years of podcasting and blogging. Hopefully, some of the links to previous podcasts as well as written posts will populate below. For audio listeners, that means the shownotes page at www.artofthediet.com/115. The number 1-1-5. The quote that suggests how serious this topic is to me comes from Leonard Cohen, the late great songwriter. He was answering a question about how wrote his songs, songs like “Hallelujah” just in case you are not familiar with him. He said, his “writing begins with an appetite to discover my self-respect. To redeem the day. So the day does not go down in debt. It begins with that kind of appetite.” Now, isn't that what all of us with weight issues struggle with every damn day? The battle of the appetite isn't just about food is it? It is about redemption. If you have a weight problem long enough in this culture, you are gonna need periods of feeling redeemed.  That feeling comes from self-respect. And, self-respect is often the first casualty of being a woman and overweight in the US of A. Despite being normal weight for 8+ years now, I can see the damage quite clearly. It's sort of like having your house flood and after the waters recede you can point to the waterline all around the rooms in your house. And, PS. This week I read an article where French woman are finally becoming fatter. I know I shouldn't rejoice but c'mon. How many articles can a girl read about how French woman are so svelte yet eat butter and croissants? Ok. Back to basics. My appetite for self-respect increases with a week like this past one.  I simply have a bit more of it.  I did what I said I was going to do. Not perfectly, of course. The arc of the moral universe or my self- control never bends toward perfection. Another article I read talked about how exercise can help with self control.  That link is here: If you'd like me to send you one of these “Thank You” cards for listening to the podcast, send your land address to artofthediet@gmail.com   Here's my new Funny Mug for Terrifying Times: (If you order more tha...

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