It’s the last day of the decade and I lost 27 pounds in 2009. I have not weighed in at 156 lbs since 1982! So I have been wondering what made this year so different?

Reading One Perfect Meal made me recall Oscar Wilde’s reflection that “I can resist anything but temptation”. Perhaps this explains how I have devoured diets from Alli to Atkins without slowing my consumption of Cherry Garcia by the pint.

I never liked feeling hungry and deprived and then guilty for every second helping. After reading Baird Brightman’s book, I stopped counting calories and stopped feeling bad about loving food. He seems able to translate science into common sense ideasthat became habits this year. I want to share a couple these ideas into action that
seemed to tip the scales in my favor.

I think about what I really, really want to eat much of every day. OPM gave me permission to keep my voracious imagination Sometimes I even rank my taste temptations 1 to 5 on a mental menu. In the past, I would have denied myself the pleasure of such pudding dreams while turning into a bloated pumpkin by midnight one pint at a time. Now I make sure I have a good portion of whatever flavor comes in first and maybe a taste of place and show as well. I never go to bed feeling hungry anymore and I seem to wake up a little lighter each day without counting a single calorie.

And OPM gave me fresh meaning to the old adage about it being “better to give than receive” for a new reason. I find that when I am giving my time or energy – spirit calories – to meet a need in my community, I seem to eat a lot less. I guess I just need to feed someone’s hunger to feel satisfied.

But apparently it does not have to be my hunger or my spoon dipping into that creamy delight thatonce seduced me daily.

So my thanks to Dr. Brightman for writing this good svelte book on loving food and sustaining a healthy weight without leaving me hungry for more.

Dan from Downing Street