Good Morning. Will we always need negative reinforcement?

You'd think staying on the straight and narrow would get easier the further out we get (maintenance) or be easy while we are in the honeymoon phase and we have great restriction. But, noooo, we have to be stubborn and willful and weak. {sigh}  If you have tricks to staying true to your plan, what are they?

--gina

Main trick I have is to not even have my triggers in the house if at all possible. Plus if I have to actually cook something to eat it and not just grab it, it makes me stop and think.

Conner has an upset tummy...and since we know he hasn't anything to cause it. They don't get table food, just the kibble they have been eating for many, many months now. We are watching him...so far, he's otherwise normal.

Liz

 My trick is to pick my garden before cooking and " use up " the fresh-picked prime produce immediately .  So I roast my red peppers in the oven , slice into soup,  and then eat the rest as  "today's " snax.  I can do the same with broccoli ( dip in  "chicken bake coating " and then bake ...yum! ) or a baby squash tomorrow ... 

The thing I avoid buying and keeping in the house are so called " snack foods " .  I'd much rather make up a  huge mug of fresh fat free cream soup out of  half of a Polish soupmix  and  some powdered milk mixed with cold water added at the end ... or a decaf coffee protein latte ...


I do  make sure I  pre-toasted popcorn kernels though to be able to air pop a bowlful of nutty crunchy goodness if I am really  starving though or just in need of warming,low cal comfort food .

I hardly ever have the timeor inclination to bake now  too which is GREAT  

Social scientists have found that the best reinforcement is a combination of negative and positive that is intermittent.

So, to answer the question: Yes, we will always need (some) negative reinforcement as that's how humans work.

But I actually reject the idea that just because we eat less than optimally sometimes that we are stubborn, willful and/or weak. I think that this is putting too much power on the food and making it too important and making what we eat all about how strong our moral fiber is and I don't think it is.

October is "No Fat Talk" month and I think Fat Talk includes beating ourselves up constantly for our food choices, particularly when they don't lead to negative outcomes. Therefore, this is a good month to reject it and to work on improving our relationship with food.

Besides social scientists also have found that women who have better self-esteem do better at managing their weight. I think we've been conditioned to think that we have to self-flagulate ourselves in order to keep from slipping into the abyss. But, in fact, talking nicely to ourselves and treating ourselves well works better.

 I am learning the tricks! One thing is to pre make my meals and try my best to only eat what's in plan. I get in trouble when I get home from work. 😣So u try to keep busy and out of the fridge , until Atleast 6!

Although I am dreading my DD and family  moving out  next week I'm definitely looking forward to controlling what comes into my house.  No more sugary cereals, no candy, and no chips!   I don't even think of sweet snacks until I walk in the house and it's laying around or DGS is fussing for cereal and I grab some out of the box.

I've found that I do a lot better packing my lunch when I have things in the freezer to grab like my Pizza Chips and flourless PB cookies. I pack individual servings in baggies so I can just grab and pack.  After they move I will also  have a lot more room in my freezer so I plan to make some meatballs, chicken strips, soup, etc.

REMIND ME OF THIS NEXT WEEK WHEN I'M CRYING BECAUSE THE HOUSE IS EMPTY AND I'M COMPLAINING OF LONELINESS!!!!

I wish I knew the answer! Geesh!

I don't know if it is a trick or not, but the protein drinks really help me with getting my fluids in and not snacking - I'm always drinking something!!

Linda