15 years ago I lost 40 Pounds…Now There's Just Less Of Me That Doesn't Have Sex.

15 years ago, at the age of 39, I began what was basically a high protein low carb diet and lost 40 pounds over a year and a half.

I would love to pat myself on the back and tell you I have amazing self-control, or vanity kept me from wanting to be chubby again, or that my stomach shrunk, or that there was some cognitive-neurological transformation that took away my desire to eat huge portions of food, but none of that would be true.

For the past 5475 days, almost every second of every day, I think about 3 things: carbs, sex, and smoking marijuana. I currently do none of those things.

When I started my low carb lifestyle in 2005, I found it psychologically easier to keep things simple. I purchased enormous packs of chicken breasts, tons of broccoli, and a variety of protein bars.

I would get cravings but would manage them by adding a myriad of meats, cheeses, and vegetables.

I've always skipped breakfast, so at about 11:30, I’d have a chicken breast and a vegetable. At about 3 o'clock I’d have a protein bar. And at 6:00 p.m. I would grill some kind of dead animal, typically beef, pork, chicken, fish, or shrimp.

I would treat myself at night with sugar free desserts in moderation and, you guessed it, more protein.

Eating in restaurants wasn't particularly difficult. I would get some chunk of meat, ask for double vegetables, avoid the bread and potatoes, and drink unsweetened tea. It worked just fine.

I stuck to the low carb ritual for about 6 years. Then, after I began to trust myself with portion control, I transitioned to what people now loosely refer to as an intuitive eating strategy.

Most of the time this involved careful planning and ordering what I intended to eat, and nothing more.

Restaurants were trying to attract people with ever increasing portion sizes. Since it didn't cost them much to throw on a few extra pancakes or an extra handful or twoof French fries.

No matter how large the portion size in front of me, my brain and stomach have forged an unspoken agreement that after a reasonable amount of food is consumed, I stop eating.

The challenge in restaurants was the fact that they used enormous amounts of butter and salt in a nearly uncontrollable manner to increase the taste. Controlling portion size and sticking to proteins and vegetables worked as a general strategy.

Does this mean I'm cured? Oh hell no.

As with anything that requires discipline, it's a day-by-day mind game.

You can't categorically quit eating,you just have to moderate it.

Carbohydrates like pizza, pasta, garlic bread, and cake, will always be nearly impossible to control, regardless of any cognitive-neurological-behavioral progress I've achieved. Put simply, pizza just taste too fricking good to stop after just one slice.

Does the fact that I equally crave sex and marijuana matter in this equation?

Yes and no.

Unlike food, I need more than a dead animal to have sex. Although it's been so long, I've had to stop looking at those Chick fil-A ads because the cows started looking strangely sexy.

It's difficult to put my psychological strategy into words.

That little voice in my head tells my body, “Someday I will let you eat as much as you want, have tons of sex, and smoke marijuana all day.” My body then asks my head, “When is this day coming?” And my mind eternally punts, “Pretty soon.”

This mind body, just-be-happy-knowing-someday-you’ll-be-able-to-pig-out-again, dynamic, has worked for about a decade and a half.

Will my body ever turn to my mind and say, “Enough! Stop teasing me and give me what I want.”

Who knows.

The mind does indeed control the body, the real question is what controls our mind?