Looking at it Differently

One of the biggest things I have to stop and think about is how if you splurge for a meal it doesn't mean you should continue that on the next.  I have always looked at is as it doesn't matter since I've already blown it.  The extent that you splurge each and every day does matter.  I need to stop thinking this way.  They say cut out soda and within a year or so you'll lose like 10 lbs. just from making that one change.  Weigh****chers views it as daily points and so many extra points for the whole week.   I am better than I used to be about this, but I still haven't completely changed this mindset.  A lifetime of habits definitely takes time and practice to change.   I want to hit my 50 lb. mark.  I am handling my eating better though than normal considering all the stress I've been under.  I guess I should be thankful for that.   Have a great weekend everyone. Brenda

"I have always looked at is as it doesn't matter since I've already blown it." I am embarrassed how long THAT took for my thick head to let sink in!  That type of thinking is what I mean when I say we say that we are "all or nothing" types. NO, we do not HAVE TO STAY that way. We CAN choose differently. We can be moderate about our food.  ALL food plans work if you do them to the letter of the parameters.  Without qualification - they will work. The real test is how long can you go. How real is that way of eating. Yes, we have to shift things, that's not hard once we establish differenet habits. Low-nutrient/hi caloric foods will get most people fat and keep them there. To say I will NEVER eat those...yeah right...we will at some point. This is why I plan to fall down once in a while, and my Get Back Up plan is to blow it off as a one time thing and move on.  Good post beofre the weekend when many of us are confronted with more challenging foods!

Good post.   First I want to say is that I think this is where a lot of us heavier people lose control and keep gaining.  We never find that "average" weight that one sticks at through out the year.   This is exactly what I've been doing the past few weeks.  "Why bother, just stuff myself with another meal".  "If I'm going to blow it, I might as well blow it big".  Little do we all realize is that one day leads to another, which turns into decades of bad eating!  It's a never ending cycle it seems. Sometimes I really wonder if all of us didn't learn something that others learned.  Or is it some kind of imbalance that others don't have.  It's like we just don't know when to say enough is enough!  It's really stupid and pathetic, but oh so true! I'm just starting back on plan today, not sure if I'm going to be posting much yet or not.  But good post, plus I wanted to say hi. Hi Brenda!  

I just faced this Wednesday. I ate a breakfast from a local FF restaurant and kicked myself all morning for it. What did I do it? Who knows  I used to eat this breakfast everyday!  Now I keep an online food journal at fitday.com. This journal has truly helped me to be responisble for what I put in my mouth. I have to be honest with myself and having to enter the almost 1000 calories for that one breakfast which  included a large OJ made me angery. But rather than going back to that stinking thinking "I already blew it anyway" I made sure to make better choices the remainder of the day. I also find that avoiding my trigger foods helps too. Personally I am a carboholic.  If I eat White Flour Carbs I tend to crave them all day and sometimes for two or three days and I end up bindging. We have all been there. So my goal has been to remove them from my house which I did and now that I got them out of the house not to bring them back in!  As a bonified food addict everyday is a challenge for me not to over eat. But with lots of prayer and support from all of you here at OH I am working torwards my goal. I have lost 12.5 lbs in the past 5 weeks. Today is the day I weighed myself I was sure I had gained because of that Breakfast but I didn't gain but I also didn't lose. That is the price I had to pay. Today I am just greatful I didn't gain and hope that I do better in the up coming week.  Tedi

Boy, Brenda, you certainly are talking about me too!!  That has been my problem all my life.  One little slip and I figure I "blew it" so will eat whatever I want the rest of the day.  Then that night I figure...tomorrow I'll start again so might as well eat everything I'm not gonna be able to have again and have a binge that usually leads to several more days and by the time I get back on the wagon again I have gained back what I had lost and more.  I have done this forever. I too have gotten better about this...particularly in the last year doing WW.  I think I do best when I'm not restricted on things that I "can't have".  WW has allowed me to have those tastes and bites of the "forbidden" stuff and still be okay with it.  It surely is a learning process and a growth curve.   Got back from vacation and had put on a few pounds.....followed my plan the first 5 days and didn't do so well the last 5.  But even when I wasn't "on plan", I didn't go overboard like I normally would have....no pig outs.  I enjoyed a slice of key lime pie or other dessert more than I should have, but didn't have potatoes or bread/rolls when eating out...chose the veggies and salads.  Weigh in tomorrow morning at WW and will see how much damage was done. This definitely is a learning process.

You are right.  One splurge doesn't matter that much.  It's life.  Knowing that you now need to get back on track, that's the key I found worked for me.

Glad you're handling your eating better, good luck with the 50lbs.

Em

Oh Brenda

This is still my biggest problem. I have considered many days and even weeks 'ruined' and just ate away everything in sight because I had blown it.

I am trying to learn to cut up the day in parts at least. If I blow up the morning, I have to 'start over' by midday etc
At least not the whole day.
But it is still very difficult

"I have always looked at it as it doesn't matter since I've already blown it".  Yea.. I completely feel ya here.  I used to do the same thing.  Now I know that if I blow it on THIS day with an extra.. whatever.. 500 calories, that doesn't mean I've gained even an ounce.. it only means it'll take me 500 calories longer to lose something which could be made up in very short order.. The thing which concerns me about "splurging" is the cravings one will have for hours or even a day or two after.. and this is where I feel the trouble begins with those once in a while indiscretions.  Recently I've been nipping on a sweet (Italian pastry or cheese cake) here and there.. not much.. a bite.. but enough for me to feel the rush of sweet and want MORE.  In our weak hours.. when we're tired, resisting the urge to splurge can be very difficult. Remember... when ya do splurge.. no.. you haven't BLOWN it... just delayed the loss by however many calories you normally wouldn't have taken in.  Think about it.. even if it was an extra 1000 calories in one single day, all that means is that you won't see a 1 lb loss on the same day you normally would (considering your usual loss rate).   Great post.. really helped me to deal with my own indiscretions over the past few weeks.  :) God bless! Lori