Since I’ve started my weight loss journey, I’ve sort of started treating myself like an addict. I find a lot of my behaviours around certain foods are totally like Arlene describes addictive behaviour in our book. For me, my ultimate hit is POTATO CHIPS. See – a non-addict wouldn’t have used all caps! LOL
Seriously, that’s why I don’t bring chips into my house. They are a food I literally cannot control myself around. For example, after our book launch, the leftover chips somehow wound up in one of my bags and the following day, at 11:00 at night, after I’d gone to bed and thought about them being in my cupboard, I went down and got some. The next day they went down the garburator.
I also find that if I’m not careful my brain, my subconscious - whatever it is that controls all this stuff - tries to replace chips. For example, crackers snuck in. Don't get me wrong - I bought healthy crackers, low fat, lots of grains, but let’s face it – you can eat enough of anything healthy to turn it into a problem. So the crackers I bought for my occasional brothy soup became a nightly ritual while I was making dinner. My weight loss slowed down, my butter consumption went up. I realized I was trying to replace whatever it was I got from chips (fat? crunch? saltiness?) with these crackers. So I banned the crackers from living in my pantry – though I will buy them for a special meal/occasion – one box at a time – no matter how many the sale price suggests I should buy. Seriously, just because it says three for $5.00 doesn’t mean they won’t sell me one!
When I banished the crackers, I found myself heading in another direction that wasn’t where I wanted to go either. I just wish once I would use celery as a replacement for something I was trying not to eat!
Being vigilant is hard, it’s a non-stop 24/7 job. One of the things I always do to stay vigilant about is my journal. But here’s an interesting question. When was the last time you re-read your food journals? It’s good to use them daily, to keep you aware of what’s going in your mouth, but you can follow trends in them too. Go back, read a couple of months and see if there’s something you’re gravitating to, a food group you might be missing or avoiding, or a snack that’s possibly not on your intentions list. This is especially helpful if your weight loss has slowed or plateaued. I do the same thing with my exercise – I have a calendar by my scale where I record if I walk or swim or gym or sit on my butt (represented by a BIG blank square on said calendar). But when I’m standing on a scale that isn’t showing me the number I want to see, I can quickly figure out why.
Do you ever re-read your journals? What’s the best lesson you’ve ever learned from it?
Arlene says:
Ahhh celery, it just doesn’t seem to tickle the brain like other foods; which is really too bad.
I’m struggling with Christmas leftovers. We had folks over and I defrosted the Christmas goodies. Now I have shortbread, butter tarts, fudge and squares available … again. I hate to throw goodies out, but it’s back to that wasting food in the garbage or wasting food in my stomach. If they stay defrosted then I keep justifying why it is okay to have one after lunch or with supper. Unless I pick up the activity, which is unlikely right now, I cannot afford to eat this stuff. So as Deborah said, let’s shake it up, I have to shake up that old, unhealthy belief that all food is sacred and should not be wasted – sugar is not sacred!
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