Thanksgiving Challenge

Okay, the holidays are seriously upon us, bringing their serious challenges! As any veteran dieter knows, the end-of-the-year holidays can be responsible for blowing the most dedicated diet reformer's best laid plans.

I was definitely challenged this past Thanksgiving week, but I think I did pretty well, considering. I tried to confine myself to just one day of slightly overindulging--Thanksgiving--instead of my usual pattern of beginning my binge a week before Halloween and ending after Valentine's Day. I didn't quite make my one-day goal (I ate Thanksgiving leftovers on Friday), but I did get quickly back to normal on Saturday, and I feel like I can stay away from temptation until Christmas, at least. 

There are a few days of luncheons and holiday parties coming up the first two weeks of December, though.  So I'm going to have to be careful about choosing well, remembering that a meal ordered off the menu is one I can control.

Sometimes I feel nostalgic for the old days when I didn't care what I ate. I miss that spectacular self-indulgence, especially at this time of year. But it's just something that can't be sustained; the behavior becomes addictive and the effects accumulate. Besides, there are many compensations. I'm enjoying being able to fit into smaller clothes and smaller spaces. I'm happy when I see left over space beside me on my bus seat because it means fellow passengers won't mind sitting with me now since I'm not taking up a seat and a half. I like having more energy, more vertical movement that doesn't hurt. I'm looking forward to the day when I can run again (if my knees hold out, that is), and shop at a regular clothing store instead of one for plus sizes.

People without eating disorders don't appreciate what it takes for a former fatty to stay slim.  But what people with eating disorders need to appreciate is that they can do this--it's hard, but possible.  You don't need a magic diet elixir or an expensive diet program complete with bad tasting diet food.  You just need a good plan, and this is a really good plan.  All you have to do is follow it.  Simple? Yes.  Easy? No.  But possible.

There's nothing special about me.  I'm a food addict who's been through the diet mill over and over, just like many other people.  If I can do it, anyone can do it.  As Anthony Hopkins' character says in the movie The Edge, "What one man can do, another man can do."  He is talking about killing a grizzly bear with no weapons other than what he can devise from his surroundings. We're only talking about controlling eating habits.  Anthony Hopkins succeeds in his quest--he kills the grizzly--with a good plan and the help of Alec Baldwin (who later tries to kill him--but that's another story). 

Though the task sometimes seems as tough as killing a grizzly, we too can succeed.  We can control our eating behavior with the help of a good plan and the support of other people. I have both with Learn to Be Thin and my husband John.

Remember: what one person can do, another person can do. 

See you next week.

Looking at Pros and Cons

I skipped last week's update; I guess I didn't have much to say.

This week, things are going along about the same, although I'm trying to step up my exercise minutes a bit. I know that unless I do, I'll get diminishing returns on weight loss because as I lose weight, I'm using fewer calories.

I think I'm going to abandon the technique of writing food down before I eat it (step 8). It doesn't seem to have a use that I can discern; plus I keep forgetting to do it. But I'm still writing things down, still measuring and weighing, despite its being somewhat tedious sometimes.

I've been eating a lot of the same foods every day, which is fine, I guess. It's convenient and quick to make the same lunch every day because I don't have to think much about it. And it's satisfying to eat; it fills me up and I know I'll be okay (not hungry) for a couple of hours.  When I change foods, sometimes they don't work as well to stave off hunger.  Then I'm kind of stuck because I don't know what to eat. I'm not bored with the same lunches or even the same breakfasts every day, though I do like a little variety for dinner. It's good that I'm not bored because it means that I'm looking at food as nourishment rather than entertainment. Whatever works is what I'll eat. I think sometimes that's how thin people feel about food.

I guess I can gradually introduce new foods into my diet that prove to be effective at fending off blood sugar woes.

I continue to make decisions about high-fat and high-sugar foods. This past week my coworker offered chocolate at her cubicle--those Hershey's miniatures, which I love.  I was going to have one until I looked up the calories at the Hershey's website: Hershey's Chocolate.  There's 43 calories in each little bite-size bar. Half is fat.  So if I wanted to call it fat, I guess I could eat one, but otherwise, as an "Extra" (<50 cal), it's not worth it, since it would be the only one I ate that day.   As for calling it a fat, since I'm allowed only three fats per day, I can't waste one on a little piece of chocolate that's gone in a few seconds.

This is the kind of lesson I'm learning from following Shirley.  To make conscious choices is the goal in an eating plan like this.  Weighing and measuring and checking calories all give me information I need to make rational decisions about what to eat, instead of giving in to impulse or pressure from peers or the con of clever subterfuges.

So I'll continue on, doing what I'm doing, as long as it keeps working to teach me how to be thin!

See you next time.

Learning to Be Thin: Tricks and Treats

I'm still losing, which is good, and still learning, which is better!

This week was a short work week, so I spent part of it eating at home--always easier because I can eat things that I can't bring to work, like fried eggs and toast, one of my favorites. 

But it was also Halloween week.  John and I avoided the Halloween candy challenge altogether this year by not buying any candy and lying low in the house with the lights off upstairs until the whole trick-or-treat thing was over. I was going to try to buy only candy we didn't like, but John requested the moratorium, so I went along with it.  At first, I didn't think it would work because kids might ring our doorbell anyway and it would be kind of annoying.  But that didn't happen, so we spent a peaceful evening and afterward didn't have Halloween candy left over and lurking.   Of course, people at work had some on offer, but since I didn't go to work until November 2nd, I avoided most of it and didn't eat any of what was still left by Wednesday.

I did go out to lunch once this week for a celebration, and succeeded in choosing food that was mostly allowed on my meal plan, taking half of it back to work afterward.  So that worked out too.  It wasn't easy, but instead of focusing on food (something I would've done not long ago), I focused on conversing with my coworkers while secretly observing their eating behavior.  For instance, I noticed my thin colleagues didn't finish all the food on their plates, while one of my obese colleagues ate everything on his plate and then took offered leftovers from a thin colleague. Poor man--he was a victim of the "I hate to see good food go to waste" subterfuge. I would've fallen for that one myself not long ago, but this time I didn't bite (ha!).

I took a few longing glances at my boss's uneaten french fries, though, telling myself that they looked kind of pale and cold and not worth eating.  I doubt if he had ever intended to eat them; they just came with the sandwich and he simply ignored them.  Need I mention he's Fred-Astaire-thin?

I find this kind of "research" very helpful.  It solidifies my ideas about what kinds of behavior keep people fat (or thin) and reinforces my desire to change those behaviors.  Change is easier, I think, when we are aware of the path we are on and clearly see the path we want to follow in the future.  (Notice I didn't say "going forward"--how I detest that phrase!!)

So, the week coming up will be another short one, filled with the usual challenges and opportunities to learn and grow.  I'm looking forward to it. 

See you next time!