Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Staying on Track

It's tough!

I feel like it is a real struggle for me to fully get back on track.  I'm trying to figure out if this is just the new "steady state" of being a person who lost lots of weight and now needs to keep it off - the snack and meal decisions that are sometimes perfect and sometimes unhealthy.  I know the unhealthy ones add up.

I could look on the positive side at how far I've come and the new habits that I've acquired, but right now, I need to face the ugly truth.  Peanut butter is crack to me.  I love whole wheat bread, and have started eating it.  I'm feeling more snackish than I did when I wasn't choosing to eat bread.

I just started reading some of my old blog posts, and remembered my Optifast workbook.  These are some of the suggestions:

  • Ask yourself if you're really hungry.  If you're not, physically leave the kitchen.
  • Do some deep breathing, and let the breath out slowly.  Relax.
  • Am I having an emotional trigger?  Go outside, walk around, breathe, find a distraction or ask if this is an issue I can control and evaluate it.
  • Fix something to drink.  Make sure that it's not thirst, instead of hunger.
  • Get rid of the trigger food(s).  Ugh. 
Tomorrow I'm going to weigh myself since it has been a couple of days.  I know that regular weighing helps me to stay accountable and keeps my head in the game.  I also recently started my TOM so I didn't feel very light, if you know what I mean.

I also notice some correlation with the time of my cycle and my desire to eat more.  Maybe the hormones trigger anxiety, I don't know.  But I sure as heck can practice better coping strategies.  Repeated practice is my only hope for change.

There are no quick fixes, of that I'm certain.  I just wanted to publicly proclaim that I'm not backing down from the challenge.

4 comments:

Karen said...

I like your list especially #1...get out of the kitchen! Simple yet so hard sometimes. Good luck with your goals in 2015,

happyinca said...

Thanks Karen! Today I'm putting some of the tempting thing WAY out of sight. I'm already feeling better :-) and in control of my environment. Sometimes I have to spill my guts in order to move forward.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, leaving the environment is a big one for me! Good job putting the temptation away from you!
Wendy

happyinca said...

Thanks Wendy! Using this technique big time since it's the day after hosting a sleepover birthday party! House is full of crap, but I'll be getting rid of it today. Now, I'm going out for a run :-)