Blog Post Title

One Bowl Challenge

How the One Bowl Challenge came to be:

I was on a weight gaining spiral. Out of control with overeating. I was on a yo yo roller coaster. I would lose weight and then gain it again. I've counted calories, been on juicing diets, and dabbled in other types of diets that weren't lifestyle changes. On 6/12/2019, I weighed myself and I was at 270 lbs which is the heaviest I had ever been.

I had the feeling of despair come over me. I had

'started" so many times to count calories or would tell myself that tomorrow would be better. Tomorrow would come, I would be all gung-ho for breakfast, but then lunch would come and I would overeat and by dinner time I figured, well I blew my calories out of the water, I might as well start tomorrow. So I would binge for dinner. Horrible cycle.

So here I am feeling the despair and I thought to myself, what is my biggest challenge and how can I overcome this upward explosion of weight gain? I came to the conclusion that for me it is overeating. I suffer from portion distortion. I liked to eat. Not just eat, but eat a lot. That's when I came up with the one bowl challenge. I was so excited when I came up with it that I texted my mom, brothers, sister and wife to share the challenge with them. I knew that with weight loss that it helps to have someone that would help keep you accountable. So I extended the challenge to them and at the same time asked that they would help keep me on track. . . Now I am extending the challenge to anyone else who reads this post or comes across it.

So here is the challenge in a nutshell. Eat one bowl of food at each traditional mealtime and nothing more. This would help me not to over eat. Now, before you shrug this challenge off there are some more specifics. I didn't want to pick a bowl too small or too big, but one that was just right. A bowl too small would ultimately leave me malnourished and I wouldn't likely be able to stick with the challenge. A bowl too big would defeat the purpose and ultimately I wouldn't lose weight. A bowl just right would hopefully help me lose weight and give me good habits of not overeating. Habits that I would use the rest of my life. To lose weight the formula is simple consume less calories than you expend=weight loss. On the flip side, consume more calories than you expend=weight gain. Almost all diets rely on that formula in some sort of fashion. That is perhaps an over simplification, but the gist is there. The ultimate goal of the One Bowl Challenge is to consume less calories over time than what you expend by limiting portions. It is all about portion control. Now, I've told people about the One Bowl Challenge and the first thing they ask is do you just fill up your bowl and keep mounding it on? NO!!! Yes, I just typed NO in caps. LoL! Mounding it on defeats the purpose of the One Bowl Challenge. Since I started this challenge it is amazing to me to see how much we a preprogrammed as a society to eat as much as we can. So the answer is no. You have to be honest with yourself when doing the challenge. Ultimately I am the only one responsible for me and you are the only one responsible for you. So, picking the right size bowl and picking the right food to go in the bowl is imperative. Which brings me to the next point of the One Bowl Challenge. I know a woman who would only eat Snickers Candy Bars and a Coke. Because she didn't eat much, sure she was skinny. But, at the same time she was horribly unhealthy. She was sick a lot. So with the One Bowl Challenge you get to eat whatever you want that fits in your bowl. But you need to use all the knowledge about healthy eating that you've learned to be healthy. A well balanced diet with fruits and vegetables doesn't go away. This is strictly a portion control challenge. Sure, looking at macro nutrients, counting calories etc is still applicable if that what makes you tick. For me, I'm done trying to count calories and I don't like all the fad diets. If you're into one of those diets and it works for you, great. I'm happy for you. Keep it going. As for me, I'm going to eat what I want as long as it fits in my bowl. Yes, I will try to fill it with healthy foods. But I'm not limiting myself to one specific food. If I want some pasta, its going in my bowl. If I want to eat a doughnut, it darn well better fit in my bowl and I sure as heck am going to eat it. . . I'm just not going to eat the whole box. Which I've done before. My sister used to work at a doughnut shop and she would literally bring home boxes and boxes of leftover donuts. I loved when she worked there. Granted, that is when I was 15 and it didn't matter what I ate. My body and metabolism isn't the same now. I just can't do that anymore. . . look at where that has gotten me. Not a good place to be. So now, I'm going to try the One Bowl Challenge. Not sure if I can call it a diet, or if it would be considered a diet. I don't care too much for the word diet. So I'm calling it a challenge. I know that if I stick with it, I will be healthier all around. I am trying to change my mindset. By eating my one bowl, I know I'm not going to starve. But, by limiting myself to one bowl I know I'm not going to over eat, and ultimately will be healthier. My body is used the feeling of having a stuffed gut. Sure, with the One Bowl Challenge I'm going to feel hungry. But, that's a feeling I'll have to get used to. Interestingly enough, since I've started the challenge I find that less food is actually more satisfying to me. Meaning I am eating a lot less than what I used to and am still having the satisfaction of feeling full. No more snacking or binge eating. Just my one bowl at each meal. If your up for the One Bowl Challenge, follow me on Twitter @1bowlchallenge, or Instagram at OneBowlChallenge and Facebook. Let me know how it is going for you.