“It is the mark of an educated mind
to be able to entertain a thought
without accepting it.”
Aristotle

Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology.

The ability to entertain a thought and examine it from multiple perspectives, without necessarily accepting the premise of the thought, is a mark of an educated mind and a mature philosophy because it demonstrates a lack of fear for new ideas, a solid understanding of – and trust in – one’s own position and it implies a willingness to change one’s mind. Conversely, actively avoiding entertaining opposing thoughts, demonstrates a fear of those thoughts and implies an unwillingness to adapt to new ideas.

Entertaining thoughts that might contradict what one already believes is a cornerstone of science.   Scientists actively search for thoughts that might contradict established theories, even – sometimes especially – their own.  Aristotle’s quote above means that we can think about an idea without automatically accepting it. We can choose to look at things from an objective point of view and weigh the facts carefully before making a decision.

It ALSO means that it is unnecessary to make a decision to accept, or to reject, every single concept that crosses our minds.

A fellow Forum Member  wrote:
 

"My calorie count needs to stay at 1200 to lose
and it has been averaging 1500.
So for now the only thing I know to try is cutting back to 2 meals a day.
This may be an every other day thing...we'll see.

At any rate I am now 12 lbs. over the top BMI for normal weight range
and have gained 8 lbs. over the summer. This can't go on."
 

What is described here is a common occurrence for those of us with older bodies who have lost and are working to maintain weight-loss. People who track their food... even during "bad" times ... can actually SEE this happening. Actually SEEING it is rather unusual, because most people in this position "give-up" and don't track, begin eating more, and regain all of their lost weight.

I am working on this same issue right now. It is very difficult to continually eat a calorie average low enough
to maintain weight-loss. I find that ..for me.. doing EXTRA exercise burns very little calories. and makes me very hungry so I wind up eating more than I've burned.

  For the past 4 weeks, I've been running another experiment with an Alternate Day Eating type of plan. My plan is more of a zig-zag, calorie cycling plan rather than one of Intermittent Fasting because I'm still eating all throughout every day... only I'm having smaller portion, lower-calorie meals totaling about half the calories on alternate days.

Success for me would be to average losing 1/4 to 1/2 lb weekly,  and get back into the blue area of my Weight Maintenance Range, (and this year I raised my maintenance range to make it run 5 lbs higher).

Due to water-weight-swings etc. it is impossible to judge weight-loss success in such a plan except over quite a lengthy time period. My stabilized weight is running about 3 lbs less than it was 4 weeks ago, but most of that drop came in the first week, and it is too soon to see whether this plan will cause weight-loss. It is also too soon to tell whether or not such a plan will be sustainable for me.

       
Below are Eight charts showing Yearly Averages of my own Daily Food Intake. Beginning 9/20/2004 through 8/8/2012  ...  an 8 year period (approx 7 years 11 months) 2880 consecutive days of detailed record keeping.

Despite low-calorie eating, one can see that my nutritional needs were adequately met during the entire 8 years. I find it personally interesting that although I experimented with a great many different "diets" and eating plans, my nutritional yearly nutritional ratio averages wound up overall being quite similar.

One CAN see slight differences in nutritional ratio due to various experimentation with various low-carb eating plans during the past 3 years in that the fat ratio increased slightly; the carb ratio decreased slightly, while the protein ratio remained fairly constant.

                                                     

FOLLOW UP NOTE: 
Be sure to read the Final SUMMARY
showing average weight and average calorie comparisons.

1st chart Below started on 9/20/2004 - therefore the yearly average is 42 days less than 1 year.

SUMMARY
9-2004 through 8-2012 
8 year period (approx 7 years 11 months)  2880 consecutive days of record keeping

Date        Weight

9/2004: --- 190.5 lbs.
8/2005: ----145.2 lbs.
Loss 45.3 lbs. - 1235 average daily calorie intake
11 month pe...

I consistently record my food intake and weight data in various computer programs.  I have now been doing this consistently every day for almost eight years. ..…. as of the time of this writing, for the past 7 years and 11 months.

The Computer and software program in which I record my food is a useful TOOL. There are many such food journaling programs,  but my own personal choice (at this time) is a program called DietPower. (Update 2018: My Recommended Food Journal for beginners is now  "My Fitness Pal". My behavior of RECORDING my food intake every day forces me to stay aware of my actions, and it keeps me out of Denial. I know what I'm doing, and what I've done, and I continually face my own actions head-on.

 Sitting at the computer and entering the daily data has become a Habit which …most of the time….is an enjoyable one.  It is sometimes emotionally difficult to actually write down Everything I've eaten, but in a way it's similar to a Catholic going to Confession. My frequent input of my total food information often brings a sense of relief and sometimes even personal Absolution, a feeling of pardon or forgiveness.

I am Accountable for my eating BEHAVIOR every day, no matter what it is.
My weights are the RESULTS of my eating Behaviors, and those RESULTS are actually outside my personal control. I am responsible for the food that I put into my mouth (my behavior). I am not responsible for what the scale says (my results) because I cannot control what my body chooses to do with that food.

Therefore,

I am responsible for my Behavior, but not for my Results.

The scale is merely a TOOL that reflects the total weight of one's total body, including fat, water, bones, fecal material etc. It shows the RESULTS of my eating BEHAVIOR.

The scale is without personality. It is not a Judge and Jury of my actions, but is merely a reflection of them.
Ones individual weight on one single day might not be very accurate, but graphing many days of those individual weights gives an extremely accurate picture of the RESULTS of one's eating BEHAVIORS.