Chapter 6: The Basic Program

Well, I've finally arrived at the moment of truth: working the program.  It's a complex program that is best taken in by reading the book, but I'll tell you its central tenets:

Keep track of everything you eat, no matter how small the morsel. By keeping track, I mean weigh or measure everything that is accountable.  Write it down in your eating log every day.

Eat only during meals (maxi- or mini-meals) and at the table or other designated eating spot.

Weigh only once a week.

Worry about one hour at a time; if you slip up, record it and forget it. Strive to do better the next hour.

Focus on your eating behaviors, subterfuges of fat, the 5Ws of your eating problems and be aware of how they are sabotaging your efforts.

Use water helpers and chewy helpers and sweet-tooth satisfiers to make the diet more satisfying and filling.

Practice good eating habits until they become your normal behaviors.

Add troublesome foods gradually as you gain control until you are eating almost everything, but in smaller quantities.

The food plan is basically a diabetic diet: high protein, low fat and complex carbohydrates.  It's well balanced and nutritious.  But it doesn't allow the foods overeaters have trouble controlling, such as sweets, high calorie snacks, fatty meats--at least, not at first. 

It's a tough program to follow, especially in the beginning, but it has the capacity to really effect change.

In my next post, I'll tell you how I did my first two weeks working it.