Richard Ha writes:

You may recall that two weeks ago I gave up trying to lose weight merely by exercising more than I ate. I realized that despite the fact I love to exercise, that wasn’t working for me. Several times I had read that exercising alone is not a successful strategy for losing weight. But I also knew, intuitively, that doing a whole lifestyle change was not going to be easy, and I was looking for an easier way.

My problem, and I suspect the problem of many, is that I have a lot going on and counting calories is at the bottom of my priority list. That’s not good or bad, it just is.

Two weeks ago I discovered what I was looking for—a way to adjust food intake without investing a lot of time. I wanted a technique that was practical and nonjudgmental. In other words, it had to be something I would actually do.

The answer turned out to be a method called The New American Plate, suggested by the American Institute of Cancer Research.

More than anything else, this method captured my attention because I knew I could do it within my present lifestyle. I know that the best chance of success requires changing one’s lifestyle. But, me change my whole lifestyle? Come on—get real. Who am I kidding!

This method says one should try for a plate of food that consists of 2/3 veggies and 1/3 meat-type proteins. I stretch that to mean that one should try to achieve that goal by the end of the day or the end of the week. And then I eat anything I like, though I keep in mind that I will need to end up with a 2/3 – 1/3 ratio. I can do that! It has the added benefit of helping to lower one’s risk of getting cancer and other chronic diseases.

This past week I felt like I needed to catch up, so when deciding where to go for lunch, I suggested One Plus One Cafe at the Prince Kuhio Plaza, where I ordered the House Special vegetarian plate. That wasn’t hard at all. Many restaurants have vegetarian plates.

After having visited Hamakua Springs, Abel Porter, president of the Sullivan Family of Companies, and Amber Isom invited June and me to attend a luncheon at Mealani Experimental Station in Waimea Saturday. They were meeting with area ranchers and processors.

Amber asked me to bring a salad. So I made the lettuce/diced-tomato salad Alan Wong taught me to make. Amber told me that Abel mentioned the salad was good three times. I’m glad I did Chef Alan’s recipe justice.

Since it was a meeting of area ranchers, they had a steak barbeque. I fixed myself a plate that was 2/3 veggies and 1/3 steak and sausage. I was doing good.

But then Abel said they had brought Cheesecake Factory products on line and that they had some for dessert.

Having been to New York City where I tried all the cheesecake I could, I needed to judge this cheesecake for myself. I just made a mental note that I would have to eat a little more veggies in the next couple of days and it would be okay.

Now this is my kind of eating plan. By the way, the cheesecake was exceptionally good. It was right up there with Junior’s.

I traded an unopened lettuce and tomato salad and dressing for tasty, grass-fed beef steaks and sausages. We both came away from the trade feeling we received something of value.

So today I owe. If I eat a little more than 2/3 to 1/3 veggies, I should be good.

I’m looking for ways to increase my veggie consumption. For example, I keep sliced Japanese cucumbers in a bowl as a standby snack, in case I open up the refrigerator. I set no limits on that and Hamakua Sweet tomatoes.

By the way, I am not gaining weight anymore. I lost half a pound this week.