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.
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