Wrong kind of foods

Today I went to church with my husband, and found out they were holding a second Sunday potluck lunch, which was free, with a ceremony afterwards.  We went to it, and I did not overeat, but I did eat too much of the wrong kind of foods - lots of sugar and white flour products, like cookies, a brownie, part of a pie of pumpkin pie (which didn't taste very good, so I left most of it), white spaghetti, etc.

Afterwards, I felt terribly, terribly tired, and had to go to sleep when I got home.  I figure it was all that white flour and sugar that did it.  We very rarely go to these kind of functions, and I think I will avoid them in the future.  When I came home and added my daily calorie total on Fitday.com, I found I had consumed around 2,800 calories for today!  I'll be going back to 1,600 to 1,800 calories by tomorrow, so any excess weight gained will come off, I'm sure, in a couple of days.

Just because I have the food obsession removed, doesn't mean I can't get into any trouble with food anymore, if I choose what to eat unwisely.  After feeliing so terribly tired afterwards, I'll avoid potluck lunches there in the future.  I don't want to make myself sick and fat anymore!

Denise Phares/highpow

One trick I do so I can still associate with friends/family at such events is to eat before I go and I carry a pre-mixed protein shake or protein bar with me.  That way I am not hungry when I get there.  I pick on any veggies and fruit they have....if they have none (which is very rare cause there is always a salad), I would eat the protein bar I took with me.  Another thing...having the protein bar usually helps keep me away from the baked goods/desserts or at least help me to limit myself to one small piece of something yummy.  Gotta be able to enjoy some goodies once in a while.... 

Ruth

It's true, Denise--goodies have their place, but you made a wise choice to not eat the rest of the pie when you found it wasn't as good as you thought! Kudos!

It's the little choices, the small behaviors, that shape our health and wellness journey, I think. Years ago, I would have eaten the pie even if it was just so-so, just because it was on my plate. You are choosing health every time you decide on the little things--eating one cookie instead of 3, putting 1 tablespoon of sour cream on your baked potato instead of half a cup (my personal weakness), or parking the furthest from the mall entrance so you have to walk a bit to get there. It all adds up, and the good things you do boost the belief in yourself that is essential to weight loss.

Hallowe'en is a difficult time of year for me, but in order to dodge the bullet of overeating on Hallowe'en candy, I have decided to allow myself a treat here and there. This year I am allowing myself 1 candy apple, a handful of candy corn, and no more than 5 mini-candy bars--spread out over the entire month. I have never tried this before, but it seems reasonable to me, and if it works, I will try it on other holidays!

Thanks for your input!  I know what I will do the next time they have a second Sunday potluck lunch.  I will concentrate on the veggies and healthy stuff, and completely avoid the junk (including desserts).  I just started a vegan diet yesterday, and already, my husband doesn't like it (he doesn't believe in any kind of vegetarianism, because he says we evolved as omnivores - able to eat everything).  My argument is that yes, we did, but back further in time, we got to eat meat very seldom, and it was never meant to be a daily thing in our lives, like it is in Western society today, particularly, in the United States.

I only want to eat a cookie or two on special occasions, like Thanksgiving, or Christmas.  And only after a regular meal.  I will only eat meat, eggs, or cow's milk at one meal on the weekends, either with fast food or eating at a restaurant.  I promised my husband he could get meat then, too.  He asked me to buy him skim cow's milk, because he couldn't stand soy milk, so I got him a gallon to last the week.  I don't feel it's as bad for him as animal meat is, and he only has it at breakfast, over his cereal, during the week, and on weekends, with breakfast, also.

I told him I would try this for a year, and if there were no improvements by then, like weight loss, subsiding of his diabetes, lowering of his blood pressure, feeling more energy and needing to sleep less, etc., then I would go back to eating animal meat.  I really believe this is the healthiest way to eat for us both.  Over time, he will probably get used to this way of eating, but I'm going to give him lots and lots of time.

I don't want to carry food to the church functions, since they already have enough healthy food there.

Denise Phares/highpow

I think you did very good by not eating all of the piece of pie this shows you are controlling what you eat and not just eating it becuase it's there, I think this is a very good thing.  I personally can't cut out sweets or I know I'd end up failing on my weight loss journey. I just try to have everything in moderation, this has really helped me to stay on track and not fall ove the wagon so to speak too often, I also seem to stay within my calories good this way, I know for me if I'm craving something sweet and I decide to try not to have it I will have a ton of calories just eating tons of other things trying to find something to satisfy me when 1 cookie would have done it.  So I try to always remember moderation is the key for me.



Johnita