This past week I had intended to start the next step in the Learn to Be Thin program, Clue Finding, but didn't fare too well with that. All of my "slips" were consciously made, and so didn't feel like slips to me. That's a dilemma I have with this eating plan--in trying to eat more like a "normal" person, I eat things that are not on the eating plan. How do I count those? Should I count them as slips, as unauthorized deviations from the diet plan, or as what Shirley calls "controlled cheats"--planned additions accounted for with subtractions elsewhere?
But the controlled cheats are very restricted on the plan--I suppose that's for a good reason. Most food addicts would go hog-wild if left to their own devices, especially early in the process. I understand the necessity for restrictions, but at this stage, I believe venturing out into "normal" territory is important to learning to be thin and that I need to make those forays when the opportunities present themselves (not every day, of course).
So for instance, when John and I went to the company holiday party this past week, I ate a piece of chocolate cake, a decision I made on the spur of the moment. It was small, but very good. I tried to eat it slowly and enjoy it. The meal was good also, though not exceptional (a bit greasy, actually), but I ate that slowly too. I don't consider these decisions slips, though they probably do slow down my weight loss progress. They are occasions for exercising control, for asking myself if I really want or need to eat that particular food at that moment and then answering honestly.
Maybe those are the incidents I can be investigating. Not the slips, but the choices to eat as a normal, non-food-addicted person would eat. Perhaps I'll try that this week--really interrogate my "normal" eating choices. Are they as free as I think they are?
Stay tuned next week for the answer.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Week 42: Step 9 - The Clue Finding Technique
I had a pretty good week this week, even lost a tiny bit of weight, though there were some challenges. I was sick for a few days and found myself wanting to turn to food for comfort. I had forgotten about the Sickly Subterfuge--it's been so long since I've been sick. I successfully resisted the urge to give myself hot chocolate with whipped cream and instead settled for a nice hot cabbage-beet soup. Yum! It was pretty good, actually, and did the trick of providing comfort.
I was also challenged by the High Tea party we had at work this week. I was asked to make banana bread and did so, but then I was faced with the decision to have some or not. I decided to have a piece, just to see if it was edible (excuse?). Then at the tea party I had another piece. The excuse for that piece was that the fare at the tea party fell a little short of adequate sustenance--there were too many carbs and not enough protein. I'm not sure how the banana bread helped with that, though . . .
Fortunately, the tea partiers ate about half the loaf; I gave the rest to my coworkers who didn't attend the tea party. I saved one piece for John, who later gave me a bite when he ate it. I think that may be the first time I've baked since I started on this diet, so I guess I did alright, even with those small indulgences.
Turning back to Learn to Be Thin, I see that I've reached the next phase in the behavior modification plan: "Extra Help Techniques" (156). The first technique, which is also Step 9, is the Clue-Finding Technique. In this step I must scrutinize all the times I did not stick to the diet plan and find clues for why I veered from the path. And then I need to write down the information I obtained from my analysis. For instance, I sometimes eat a spippet of this or that after supper, when I'm cleaning up or before supper when I'm cooking. Doesn't seem like much, but it is a behavior that is unconscious and likely to lead to more serious behavior later. So, I should ask myself what brought it on? Doing the 5 W's, as I did when I first compiled my Eating Problems list, will help me find the clues to keep myself from continuing the behavior.
So for instance, last night when I was cleaning up the steak grilling pan after dinner, I saw a bit of steak and popped it into my mouth. Five Ws: Who? Me and John, who's waiting for the dirty dishes to wash. What? Eating bit of steak. When? While cleaning up. Where? In the kitchen. Why? Because it was there and looked tasty (especially because it was greasy, I think). The point is I didn't think about it; I just responded automatically to the stimulus of seeing a bit of tasty food unclaimed and about to be thrown away (the "waste not, want not" subterfuge).
This kind of technique helps because if I see this behavior happening frequently, there's probably a pattern to it, one that I can disrupt somehow. I need to do something to get between the stimulus and the response and prevent the behavior. And once again, that's the ultimate goal--to stop automatic, compulsive eating that leads to overweight.
So, this week I will begin this new technique, leaving room in my recordkeeping for the notetaking about what Shirley calls "slips," whether large or small.
I'll let you know how I fare next week.
I was also challenged by the High Tea party we had at work this week. I was asked to make banana bread and did so, but then I was faced with the decision to have some or not. I decided to have a piece, just to see if it was edible (excuse?). Then at the tea party I had another piece. The excuse for that piece was that the fare at the tea party fell a little short of adequate sustenance--there were too many carbs and not enough protein. I'm not sure how the banana bread helped with that, though . . .
Fortunately, the tea partiers ate about half the loaf; I gave the rest to my coworkers who didn't attend the tea party. I saved one piece for John, who later gave me a bite when he ate it. I think that may be the first time I've baked since I started on this diet, so I guess I did alright, even with those small indulgences.
Turning back to Learn to Be Thin, I see that I've reached the next phase in the behavior modification plan: "Extra Help Techniques" (156). The first technique, which is also Step 9, is the Clue-Finding Technique. In this step I must scrutinize all the times I did not stick to the diet plan and find clues for why I veered from the path. And then I need to write down the information I obtained from my analysis. For instance, I sometimes eat a spippet of this or that after supper, when I'm cleaning up or before supper when I'm cooking. Doesn't seem like much, but it is a behavior that is unconscious and likely to lead to more serious behavior later. So, I should ask myself what brought it on? Doing the 5 W's, as I did when I first compiled my Eating Problems list, will help me find the clues to keep myself from continuing the behavior.
So for instance, last night when I was cleaning up the steak grilling pan after dinner, I saw a bit of steak and popped it into my mouth. Five Ws: Who? Me and John, who's waiting for the dirty dishes to wash. What? Eating bit of steak. When? While cleaning up. Where? In the kitchen. Why? Because it was there and looked tasty (especially because it was greasy, I think). The point is I didn't think about it; I just responded automatically to the stimulus of seeing a bit of tasty food unclaimed and about to be thrown away (the "waste not, want not" subterfuge).
This kind of technique helps because if I see this behavior happening frequently, there's probably a pattern to it, one that I can disrupt somehow. I need to do something to get between the stimulus and the response and prevent the behavior. And once again, that's the ultimate goal--to stop automatic, compulsive eating that leads to overweight.
So, this week I will begin this new technique, leaving room in my recordkeeping for the notetaking about what Shirley calls "slips," whether large or small.
I'll let you know how I fare next week.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Decision Point
I had a good week this past week, despite a couple of "special occasion" challenges. I still managed to lose 1.8 lbs, which is better than I do most weeks. Now I may end up not losing anything next week, but that's okay. What's important, as ever, is what I learned this past week.
One thing I am trying to do is exercise every day. I do a bit of dancing every morning such that I miss it if I don't do it. That may be helping some. All of these things contribute toward weight loss--permanent weight loss.
The key to this whole program, I believe, is making better decisions. That is what I and everyone else on this kind of a behavior modification plan is learning--how to make better decisions. Of course, first we have to recognize that we've made ineffective decisions in the past; then we must understand that we can make different, more effective decisions in the present. Notice I didn't say "future"; decisions about eating behavior can only be made in the present. Many a diet program has been waylayed by the "I'll start tomorrow" promise that's never fulfilled. What can we do now to help ourselves to a healthier body? Those are the decisions we can learn to make.
So, for instance, yesterday I celebrated my anniversary with a nice rib-eye steak and some asparagus. I had decided to save a little food from earlier meals that day to use at dinner time. I worried that I might be too hungry, but it ended up being okay. I was hungry, but I was able to wait (with the help of a snack). That meant I could eat a larger piece of steak than I was allowed at suppertime without feeling guilty. Because I consciously made that exchange, I succeeded in having a special meal. And what's better is I controlled my eating rather than letting it control me.
I made similar decisions at a luncheon celebration at work the other day. I got a buffet meal, but didn't use it as an excuse to eat everything in sight (something I would've done in the past). I ate lots of vegetables and some nice pieces of meat, but didn't indulge in extra bread or butter. And I didn't eat any of the pumpkin pie or cookies or brownies that were on offer. Interestingly, once I'd finished my meal I decided something sweet would be nice. I looked at what they had for fruit and decided a single piece of pineapple and a chunk of watermelon would do the trick, so that's what I brought back to my table. No one said a word about my choices (I was a little worried someone might tease me); moreover, I was right--that was just enough sweetness and I didn't overindulge in dessert.
I really think that people who devise diets and sell them in highly hyped books or videos are missing the point. They can put together intricate menu plans and food lists and discuss physiology and metabolism and the complex chemistry of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals in magazines, books, on TV shows and internet sites, but none of that is going to do a bit of good if the person following the "amazing" diet plan continues to make the same bad decisions she's been making for years.
The diet is only part of the plan; the rest has to be behavior change.
It's that simple--it's just not that easy. But it is absolutely essential to success.
See you next week.
One thing I am trying to do is exercise every day. I do a bit of dancing every morning such that I miss it if I don't do it. That may be helping some. All of these things contribute toward weight loss--permanent weight loss.
The key to this whole program, I believe, is making better decisions. That is what I and everyone else on this kind of a behavior modification plan is learning--how to make better decisions. Of course, first we have to recognize that we've made ineffective decisions in the past; then we must understand that we can make different, more effective decisions in the present. Notice I didn't say "future"; decisions about eating behavior can only be made in the present. Many a diet program has been waylayed by the "I'll start tomorrow" promise that's never fulfilled. What can we do now to help ourselves to a healthier body? Those are the decisions we can learn to make.
So, for instance, yesterday I celebrated my anniversary with a nice rib-eye steak and some asparagus. I had decided to save a little food from earlier meals that day to use at dinner time. I worried that I might be too hungry, but it ended up being okay. I was hungry, but I was able to wait (with the help of a snack). That meant I could eat a larger piece of steak than I was allowed at suppertime without feeling guilty. Because I consciously made that exchange, I succeeded in having a special meal. And what's better is I controlled my eating rather than letting it control me.
I made similar decisions at a luncheon celebration at work the other day. I got a buffet meal, but didn't use it as an excuse to eat everything in sight (something I would've done in the past). I ate lots of vegetables and some nice pieces of meat, but didn't indulge in extra bread or butter. And I didn't eat any of the pumpkin pie or cookies or brownies that were on offer. Interestingly, once I'd finished my meal I decided something sweet would be nice. I looked at what they had for fruit and decided a single piece of pineapple and a chunk of watermelon would do the trick, so that's what I brought back to my table. No one said a word about my choices (I was a little worried someone might tease me); moreover, I was right--that was just enough sweetness and I didn't overindulge in dessert.
I really think that people who devise diets and sell them in highly hyped books or videos are missing the point. They can put together intricate menu plans and food lists and discuss physiology and metabolism and the complex chemistry of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals in magazines, books, on TV shows and internet sites, but none of that is going to do a bit of good if the person following the "amazing" diet plan continues to make the same bad decisions she's been making for years.
The diet is only part of the plan; the rest has to be behavior change.
It's that simple--it's just not that easy. But it is absolutely essential to success.
See you next week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)