Cheating again! Friday, Feb. 17 Menu

I sneaked a couple pieces of bread at my clients while she wasn't looking, and I ate a package of cheese & crackers while waiting at a gas station. I'm letting this cheating get back into my routine, and I need to stop it if I'm going to succeed in changing my lifestyle and eating for good. I know I need to deal with my childhood issues, which is why I went back to OA. It's my therapy, and it's free! Breakfast 1 cup corn flakes 1 cup skim milk 1/4 cup scrambled egg substitute 1 small tangerine Coffee 2 cups water AM Snack (oy!) 1 Slimfast Muffin Bar 2 slices Italian bread (sneaked behind client's back!) 1 package cheese & crackers (cheating again!) 2 cups water Lunch Barbecue beef Baked beans Starch (can't remember what) Fruit (can't remember what) 2 sugar free Jello cups 8 oz. fat free yogurt with fruit 4 graham crackers 2 cups water Dinner Chicken breast with white sauce 1 cup mashed potatoes with margarine 1 cup grapes 1 can beef vegetable soup 1 cup skim milk Evening Snack 1 sugar free blueberry muffin 1 sugar free, low fat ice cream sandwich (Slim-A-Bear) 2 cups water Starting Monday, I will again cut out eating my client's food, and start once more sticking to my food plan. And no pizza, no matter how much I don't feel like cooking! Denise Phares

Hi Denise, It sure is a battle, isn't it!!? Everyday I wake up determined to stick to my plan and by dinner I'm overeating yet again. But the key is we keep trying Good Luck! Ann 306/214/130 Non-op

Denise, I know that you've spoken about the issues behind your eating. My heart truly goes out to you, I know all too well the demons that plague us and make us eat. I used to be a very sneaky eater and would bring food to places to eat it. The basement was one of those places, under the guise of doing laundry. About 1 1/2 years ago I finally started being honest about my eating. I remember buying bags of cookies, candy, boxes of icecream, etc. I remember on day buying a 2 pound container of sugar wafers for my boyfriend, one in chocolate and one in vanilla. When he was at work I polished off both containers, in two nights. When he asked where his cookies were I turned to him and said "I ate them, all, every last bit!!!!" Then I laughed. He looked shocked. To me that was a HUGE admissions. It meant that for some reason I had gotten to the point where I didn't have to sneak food. The journey for me started then. Food became less of a shameful thing to me, something I didn't have to hide. I enjoyed it, obviously too much!!! But confronting that obsessive eating pattern was huge for me. My boyfriend and I still laugh about that, but it was a big turning point for me. Keep involved, aware and going to your meetings. You are truly on the right track. For me today I went shopping!!!! When I go shopping I forget to eat, so I stocked the car with portable foods. So here goes: Breakfast - weight control oatmeal w/ground flax seed, oat bran whole grain toas****ablespoon of low carb crunchy pb, sugar free strawberry preserves (350 calories) Lunch - South Beach meal replacement bar, apple (260 calories) Snack - peanut butter nut ball -- something I found in the gluten free aisle of the supermarket. Has 19 grams of sugar, but 15 of those are protein. It's basically like a big hard gob of peanut butter rolled in nuts. I don't have them often at all but they are a good dense filler for me. (190 calories) Dinner - will be turkey chili w/low fat cheddar cheese and light sour cream. (295 calories) Snack - will be sugar/fat free chocolate pudding, light whipped cream (100 calories) 100 ounces of water, multivitamin, calcium, lysine total for the day = 1195 I have been aiming for 1200 a day. I truly did notice that when I kicked up the calorie intake, the scale starting moving again. Have a beautiful day everyone. Donna

Denise, I'm glad your still trying to get help through OA. Keep hanging in there and working at it. For me, it was a matter of finally loving myself enough to take care of me. I wanted to have good eating and exercise habits so that I could look forward to a healthy future. Breakfast: LA smoothie with pineapple, 1 oz lowfat cheese, 3 lowfat Triscuits, hard boiled egg, chocolate crunch LA Lite Bar Snack: peanut butter LA Lite Bar Lunch: LA chocolate protein meal replacement, strawberries, orange, LA cheese curls, Dannon lowcarb yogurt Supper: Taco Salad- ground turkey seasoned with taco seasoning, lettuce, pepper, tomato, salsa Lynette

Denise, one thing that helps me is for me to think "it's not mine, it's not for me. Then I hear in my memory, my mom saying if it's not yours...don't touch it!!! She never said that about food to us 5 kids but it works for me. We have donuts every Wednesday (3 dozen bakery, assorted, filled and iced and you get the idea) just sitting in the break room. I have to go through that little exercise every week. There are many times when no one else is around and I'll even turn toward the door to make sure no one is coming and then all of a sudden I'll hear my mom...if it's not yours - don't touch it. It works. Feel free to try it. Also, it only tastes good from the neck up. Sometimes a good deep smell will work for me. Good luck. Mary