Planning, being prepared: Mindful Eating
Happy Friday Mindful Eaters. This one is good and I connected. I never go to the grocery store hungry. I remember those days shopping, my eating out of control, buying 6 candybars to eat on the way home. No more and for me I do have to stay away from cookies, they are my trigger food.
Do something special just for you today! Hugs Debbie
Adding a couple more women to that lone walker -- now you have a group of women walking home in the dark. Takes a little bit more planning but the increased safety makes the plan a little more sound.
Going to the grocery store hungry, buying a box of cookies (along with the ingredients for tonight's dinner), making sure the cookies are bagged at the top and opening them in the parking lot on your way home -- not such a great plan if you're trying to cultivate mindfulness -- the very situation you're eating in requires you not be mindful of the cookies.
Making sure you have a snack before you go to the grocery store (or waiting to eat the cookies until you get home, can put them on a plate, and sit down to eat them) requires more planning. The upside is you are creating a situation that lessens the likelihood of showing up at home with nothing but the crumbs on the drivers seat and no recollection of how you emptied the entire box.
Is it fair that you need to take these extra steps? Again, moot point. It is what needs to be done for you to successfully be able to create more mindfulness in your life. Which in turn will allow you to never worry about your weight or the fit of your clothes or if you "shouldn't" eat something.
Worthwhile trade off?? I think so.
Do something special just for you today! Hugs Debbie
Posted: 08 Apr 2011 03:04 AM PDT
A woman walking home alone in the dark probably isn't a very good plan. Sure people do it but that doesn't make it any smarter. Yes...you can go off on the tangent that it isn't fair that it isn't safe for us to walk home alone -- but that it a moot point. It is the way it is. We have to deal with it.Adding a couple more women to that lone walker -- now you have a group of women walking home in the dark. Takes a little bit more planning but the increased safety makes the plan a little more sound.
Going to the grocery store hungry, buying a box of cookies (along with the ingredients for tonight's dinner), making sure the cookies are bagged at the top and opening them in the parking lot on your way home -- not such a great plan if you're trying to cultivate mindfulness -- the very situation you're eating in requires you not be mindful of the cookies.
Making sure you have a snack before you go to the grocery store (or waiting to eat the cookies until you get home, can put them on a plate, and sit down to eat them) requires more planning. The upside is you are creating a situation that lessens the likelihood of showing up at home with nothing but the crumbs on the drivers seat and no recollection of how you emptied the entire box.
Is it fair that you need to take these extra steps? Again, moot point. It is what needs to be done for you to successfully be able to create more mindfulness in your life. Which in turn will allow you to never worry about your weight or the fit of your clothes or if you "shouldn't" eat something.
Worthwhile trade off?? I think so.
Debbiejean,
I could soooo identify with this. And it's true--I may not like the fact of it, but that's moot. It exists and I would do better to deal with it. As the serenity prayer says, " ...grant me the courage to accept the things I cannot change." I hate it that some people can eat what they want and I can't. Then again, my nails grow long and strong and I seldom accept this as a gift, yet know so many women who complain about how their nails are thin and break a lot. My kid never needed braces, so we were spared that expense. We are all given some gifts, we just don't always want the ones we have or value them.
Just for today i am grateful that my surgery took me out of type 2 diabetes and back into a much better state of health. I will try to keep an attitude of gratitude. i will have a snack before going to the grocery store, because, yes I am that person with a seat full of crumbs and an empty package who wonders where all the cookies went!
Thanks so much for a great post. Have a good weekend[like you I have no computer at home, so I will not be here again until Monday].
Judy G from Waltham, MA (aka Shelto1946)
I could soooo identify with this. And it's true--I may not like the fact of it, but that's moot. It exists and I would do better to deal with it. As the serenity prayer says, " ...grant me the courage to accept the things I cannot change." I hate it that some people can eat what they want and I can't. Then again, my nails grow long and strong and I seldom accept this as a gift, yet know so many women who complain about how their nails are thin and break a lot. My kid never needed braces, so we were spared that expense. We are all given some gifts, we just don't always want the ones we have or value them.
Just for today i am grateful that my surgery took me out of type 2 diabetes and back into a much better state of health. I will try to keep an attitude of gratitude. i will have a snack before going to the grocery store, because, yes I am that person with a seat full of crumbs and an empty package who wonders where all the cookies went!
Thanks so much for a great post. Have a good weekend[like you I have no computer at home, so I will not be here again until Monday].
Judy G from Waltham, MA (aka Shelto1946)
Darn cookies...I fight with them all the time. Most of the time I beat the crap out of em' and I win...sometimes those darn cookies crop out of no where with me unprepared and I reach for them...open my mouth and ask myself "Do I really want this"? Sometimes it's yep, now not so much.
The ladies at church are taking my lead and bringing fresh fruit in their purses too. Now we can all munch together and I love honey crisp apples! I don't feel deprived with a honey crisp! LOL
Hugs to you Connie, have a great weekend.
The ladies at church are taking my lead and bringing fresh fruit in their purses too. Now we can all munch together and I love honey crisp apples! I don't feel deprived with a honey crisp! LOL
Hugs to you Connie, have a great weekend.
Debbie, This was a good post! I know I'm a newbie and not to the Mindful Eating stage yet, but boy, did I identify with the cookie crumbs! I always, always bought myself a snack to eat on the way home from the grocery store! Cookies, snack cakes, candy bars . . . Then I would devise ways to hide the empty packaging so that my family wouldn't realize what I had done! Strange how we are able to turn a blind eye to our foibles, isn't it?
I don't mean to sound sanctimonious or anything like that, but the question in my mind right now is: why buy the cookies at all? Aren't we supposed to avoid sugar?
I already know if I ever let sugar back into my life, I will be a goner. I just can't handle it. There is no "moderation" for me. It's all or nothing. Don't forget, I've already been down this road once before. I had that gastric banding done in 1993. Lost 140 pounds, but then had an extremely stressful couple of years around 1999 and let sugar and soda back into my life. It was all "up" hill from there in terms of weight gain! I never could vanquish sugar again.
I feel so fortunate to have a second chance with my RNY. Hubby (who is diabetic) and I have both agreed that sugar will never again have a place in our diets. At this point, I don't feel deprived. I feel liberated! I have no cravings and I have NO desire to start them up again. Let sleeping monsters sleep, I say!
Once again, I'm not being critical or holier-than-thou. I just don't understand why cookies would even play a role in our lives anymore. Am I missing something here?
Vickie
I don't mean to sound sanctimonious or anything like that, but the question in my mind right now is: why buy the cookies at all? Aren't we supposed to avoid sugar?
I already know if I ever let sugar back into my life, I will be a goner. I just can't handle it. There is no "moderation" for me. It's all or nothing. Don't forget, I've already been down this road once before. I had that gastric banding done in 1993. Lost 140 pounds, but then had an extremely stressful couple of years around 1999 and let sugar and soda back into my life. It was all "up" hill from there in terms of weight gain! I never could vanquish sugar again.
I feel so fortunate to have a second chance with my RNY. Hubby (who is diabetic) and I have both agreed that sugar will never again have a place in our diets. At this point, I don't feel deprived. I feel liberated! I have no cravings and I have NO desire to start them up again. Let sleeping monsters sleep, I say!
Once again, I'm not being critical or holier-than-thou. I just don't understand why cookies would even play a role in our lives anymore. Am I missing something here?
Vickie
Vickie
Hugs Vickie and I too had my first WLS in 1980. I had a Gastroplasty (stomach stapled)
Okay yep you are missing something....but you are a head of the game...Why? Because you are asking and keeping an open mind.
I too felt having a 2nd WLS to RNY I had the sugar thing whipped. Boy was I wrong! I remember saying to Dr. Verseman at my 6 month checkup that I don't crave sweets...Hummm...that came back around 8 or 12 months post op. I didn't go hog wild on sugar, just that I did have sugar treats.
I gained weight on a cruise. I hadn't had any bread rolls, desserts and pecan rolls for breakfast. On the cruise it was there. I ate a small pecan roll every morning on my cruise and I was having a small dessert at dinner. I gained some on that cruise, then the holidays came. Oops...more desserts...The pattern had been set and I've been detoxing my body every once in awhile.
YES...your sweet tooth will pop up in the future but you again are a head of the game.
You read Mindful Eating postings. You are in your honeymoon period and that's a safe wonderful place to be because you aren't challenged to even be tempted by breads and sugar...yet.
I think detoxing our bodies when we need it is just fine to do for around 3 to 4 days. It "resets my pouch and my cravings". But I'm just being honest with you Vickie and don't mean to scare you and nope I don't believe your being holier-than-thou either. I had those same feelings too.
Just keep going to Bariatric Support groups and come here for support.
I love newbies and I'm honest always. Have a great weekend and I totally get you Vickie!
Okay yep you are missing something....but you are a head of the game...Why? Because you are asking and keeping an open mind.
I too felt having a 2nd WLS to RNY I had the sugar thing whipped. Boy was I wrong! I remember saying to Dr. Verseman at my 6 month checkup that I don't crave sweets...Hummm...that came back around 8 or 12 months post op. I didn't go hog wild on sugar, just that I did have sugar treats.
I gained weight on a cruise. I hadn't had any bread rolls, desserts and pecan rolls for breakfast. On the cruise it was there. I ate a small pecan roll every morning on my cruise and I was having a small dessert at dinner. I gained some on that cruise, then the holidays came. Oops...more desserts...The pattern had been set and I've been detoxing my body every once in awhile.
YES...your sweet tooth will pop up in the future but you again are a head of the game.
You read Mindful Eating postings. You are in your honeymoon period and that's a safe wonderful place to be because you aren't challenged to even be tempted by breads and sugar...yet.
I think detoxing our bodies when we need it is just fine to do for around 3 to 4 days. It "resets my pouch and my cravings". But I'm just being honest with you Vickie and don't mean to scare you and nope I don't believe your being holier-than-thou either. I had those same feelings too.
Just keep going to Bariatric Support groups and come here for support.
I love newbies and I'm honest always. Have a great weekend and I totally get you Vickie!
Okay, it's a little scary to think that the cravings will come back. I hope I can be strong enough to "just say no", but we will see what happens. God knows, I'm no saint. If a mistake can be made, I will make it!
Having been on 3 cruises, I'm amazed that you held it at one pecan roll and one dessert a day! Those cruises are all about hedonistic pleasures--alcohol, food, sweets, etc. Fun, yes, but not realistic. I don't know that I would ever be brave enough to try one again!
I really enjoy reading your posts. Knowledge is power, right? It's gonna take a lot of power to overcome my demons, that's for sure.
Thanks for the honesty and the advice. I really appreciate you!
Vickie
Having been on 3 cruises, I'm amazed that you held it at one pecan roll and one dessert a day! Those cruises are all about hedonistic pleasures--alcohol, food, sweets, etc. Fun, yes, but not realistic. I don't know that I would ever be brave enough to try one again!
I really enjoy reading your posts. Knowledge is power, right? It's gonna take a lot of power to overcome my demons, that's for sure.
Thanks for the honesty and the advice. I really appreciate you!
Vickie
Vickie
Hey Vickie, don't ever be afraid of food. People that do have "transfer addictions", some don't eat right or are afraid to start eating. They are called Surgically Anorexic. Not good at all.
If you embrace Mindful Eating, journal and exercise it all falls together but we do come up to some road blocks in life I call them.
I believe we will always comfort or stress it. Getting a handle on it is the trick.
Look at thin people, they too have "fat clothes" in their closets. What is their secret to eating?
Some are naturally thin, some are thin due to their food choices. I have the fat genes. Even though I'm a size 12 now and at my lowest I was a size 4/6 and mostly a solid 6 but I had some size 4 jeans....Will I ever get back to 6's...I'm being honest probably not and that's okay with me but I would like to be a size 8. Slowly I will get back there with Mindful Eating!
If you embrace Mindful Eating, journal and exercise it all falls together but we do come up to some road blocks in life I call them.
I believe we will always comfort or stress it. Getting a handle on it is the trick.
Look at thin people, they too have "fat clothes" in their closets. What is their secret to eating?
Some are naturally thin, some are thin due to their food choices. I have the fat genes. Even though I'm a size 12 now and at my lowest I was a size 4/6 and mostly a solid 6 but I had some size 4 jeans....Will I ever get back to 6's...I'm being honest probably not and that's okay with me but I would like to be a size 8. Slowly I will get back there with Mindful Eating!
Yeah, I hear ya! I was never naturally thin! I've got the fat genes, too! I'm quite tall and at my thinnest (as an adult, not a teen), I weighed about 135. I used to try and maintain between 140 and 145. I was a size 10/12 then. Of course, I was single and I exercised and just generally didn't eat much back then. I would have a V8 juice and some oyster crackers and call that lunch! Or just skip lunch. I saved all my calories for happy hours back then!
Now, don't get me wrong. I would love to be a size 10/12 again. But I don't much think it's going to happen. I would be very happy just to be a size Large again. As the saying goes, I'm a big-boned gal! I come from big tall people! So I'm not looking to turn into Twiggy again. Size 12/14 or maybe 14/16. It doesn't matter too much to me as long as I'm healthy again.
I think it's fantastic that you're a size 12!!! And I'm rooting for you to be a size 8! You are such an inspiration to me! Thanks for all the good advice today!
Vickie
Vickie
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