Those old demons - and a promise

Being home alone the last few days gave space for an old food demon or two to knock on the door....and I answered it.

Eating alone.

Unplanned eating.

Eating ice cream (even sugar free).

Eating too much - I guess it was binge eating, to the degree that I can do that now.

And so I want to make a promise to myself, but I want it to be public here. No more sugar free ice cream. I will make protein ice cream or frozen greek yogurt when I plan for that - but NONE of the stuff you buy at the store.

This is clearly a trigger for me and one that I cannot afford!

Free is not FREE.

Lynn,

Kudos to you for acknowledging this to yourself and to us! I think it is such a hard thing to do!! When you are home alone there is a tendency to eat more or things that you would not usually eat when someone is around. Definitely old demons!!! Unfortunately, they will ALWAYS be there! You have taken the first step and promised yourself and anyone else *****ads this post to cut out those things that are triggers for you!

I am SO proud of you!!!

Love, Beth

Awareness is the beginning of changing what we can, moving on to acceptance that there are things we need avoid and then the necessary action, in this case not purchasing more than a single serving size or maybe none at all, equal long-term successing. . .

Hugs, Laureen

I think I have to take the "not at all" approach for a while at least.

you can do this...i just cannot have those things in the house. one is too many and one is never enough

Very, very true Nic.

Lynn,

I have the same problem except mine is all the time.  My husband leaves for work before I even get home from work.  So I'm home alone ALL THE TIME.  My trigger food is also ice cream.  I too have decided not to have it in the house at all.  If I want it that bad, I'll go out and get a small sf version.  My husband also likes pretzels.  Another trigger food for me.  I don't want to deprive him of having them so I've asked him to put them somewhere other than the kitchen.  So far so good. He does the grocery shopping with me.  He told me from the very beginning that he is not the one on this "special diet".  He has been very supportive but he does sometimes bring food in the house that I have a hard time resisting. 

Good for you for coming forward with your "food demons".

Cyd

I'm a stress eater. My triggers are stress. How do you remove stress from your life?

I can eat an unbelievable quantity of saltine crackers or corn chips...but only a very small amount of chicken, tuna or eggs.

Why then...WHY...do I keep getting out the crackers? I'm guessing it's because I'm stressed out and want the crunch.

I'm re-reading my post op food requirements and going onto Eggface's Blog site to reestablish good food habits.

Good for you for seeing where your triggers are. I'm right there with you!

I believe that exercise helps a lot with my stress level, but I csnt claim to have a full handle on it all. I just recently started on medication for depression and will explore some therapy later this summer.

I am also trying to be more conscious about my daily living, rather than simply letting the days roll by with "whatever." at various points in life I have been better at this than I am right now.

But really, I think that part of the mental work post op, we need to FEEL the stress or whatever emotion faces us.....and somehow meet it head on and cope with it without the crackers or ice cream.

I also think that creative hobbies can help. I am picking up my freelance writing again this summer, and (now this is a laugh!) have made 4 large afghans as gifts in the past year. On the less creative side, I am watching a lot of tv these days (chalk it up to just getting the OWN channel....) and don't feel my energy as high as I would like overall some days.