Stress and Over Eating

I have a friend who is one of those naturally thin people. She is in great shape and always looks wonderful. When she is under stress, eating is the last thing she wants to think about, much less do. When she is under pressure for some reason, her appetite leaves.

No so, for us who fight the downsizing war. We tend to want to eat whenever we feel stress. Our eating patterns may be very well controlled, but then something will happen and then we want to eat whatever we can find. Right?

This falls under the category of emotional eating and Paul McKenna's Techinques for conquering it is at the very least helpful and at the most a way of overcoming this critical eating urge.

Stress happens. Just as sure as the sun rises every morning, stress is going to happen. We must be prepared for it if we are going to be overcomers and victorious in our battles.

By the way, this week I wore a blouse that I had not worn in at least 5 years! The winning and losing continues!

My Eyes Are Still Bigger Than My Stomach

One of the challenges I am having is very much tied to the 'feeding the hungry children in China' challenge. I am still trying to judge how much food it takes to 'fill me up'. When getting a bowl of chili, for example, one ladle full of chili just doesn't look like enough. So when I add another ladle full then I get full before my bowl is empty and then I am faced with the 'feeding the hungry children' challenge---leaving uneaten food, which is still very hard for me to do.
Today I put only one ladle full of chili in my bowl and ate it. I felt satisfied when I finished. Yea!!!
This is all a process. I am working on two different things at the same time. (1) making my eyes accept the fact that a small serving of anything is enough. (2) leaving uneaten food on my plate when I am full.
I know I can do it. When I have completely conquered these challenges then I will be well on my way to permanent weight loss!!

Are you Still Trying to Feed the Hungry Children in China? I Am

Pop, my beloved grandfather, always reminded us to never put on our plates more than we can eat and to always eat everything we did put on our plates, because, as you know, there are children starving in China who would be thrilled to have what we throw away. So we did. The second part. We ate everything we put on our plate. And our waistlines grew. So did our ability to eat large amounts of food as did our inability to leave food uneaten. And, oh my, waste food by throwing it away? We could never do that!
No, I am not blaming my dear grandfather for my eating challenges. After all he was a young man during the depression. He valued everything and wasted nothing. By the way, he did not overeat. He followed the first part of his instructions to us. He didn't put on his plate more than he could eat.
Hmmmm. Things are still going well with Paul McKenna's eating plan. I do, however, have a challenge, a hurdle that I must overcome if I am ever to really reach the weight I would like to be at and have the ability to maintain it.
The problem? Often when I am eating, and by the way, I do now put small amounts of food on my plate, I begin to feel full and I still have food left on my plate!!! Sometimes it is just a few bites, sometimes it is a lot. And oh, it is so hard to stop eating! I realize that I can take my leftovers, put them in the fridge and eat them later, but for some reason making myself stop eating is just hard.
This hurdle will be a dream snatcher if I allow it to be. This realization brings into focus the necessity of conquering it completely now, not later. I am contemplating this dilemma and will write more about it in the coming days.

Food and Family Reunions

You know it's going to be there. You know you will have to face it, and you will win or lose. You will be in a 'slippery place' with 'slippery people' and there is no getting around it. Food will also be there. Family reunions are wonderful. They are precious moments in time when you have the opportunity to be with those you love, but don't often see. The downside for those of us who are trying to downsize our size is that there will lots of wonderful food, especially desserts. Oh, the temptation!

I went to a family reunion today, after spending the night with my precious grandmother who, by the way, is now 97. At this family reunion were aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins of all ages. Our short time together is always wonderful, especially since my parents both passed away. I guess in my parents absence, the rest of the family just seems more precious to me.

Anyway, as always, we have a fabulous meal together. In recent years these meals have been catered by local restaurants, with all of us supplying desserts. This year we had chicken fried steak and grilled chicken, baked potatoes, green beans salad, and garlic bread, and an abundance of homemade pies, cakes, cookies, and cobblers. Oh, my, what was a girl to do?

It was very interesting. Since I have incorporated some of Paul McKenna's techniques into my lifestyle, I realyl didn't have a problem. I didn't deny myself anything, but I knew that I was not going to overeat. I would eat until I was satisfied and then quit.

I asked for and received the smallest chicken fried steak they had, topped with some cream gravy. I got half a baked potato, a serving of green beans, and half a slice of bread. I made sure that I ate slowly, putting down my fork and knife in between bites. I enjoyed visiting with my family and did not rush my meal. I ate almost everything on my place then went to the dessert table. I got a tiny sliver of cheese cake. Yes, it was tiny, just over 1/2 inch in width. I thoroughly enjoyed every tiny bite of the tiny serving. I ate a very small chocolate chip cookie, and then later in the afternoon, I indulged in about 1/3 cup of "Death by Chocolate" pudding. I was then very satisfied and did not feel guilty about anything.

Victory!!! Oh, yes, I am down another half pound!!! 31 1/2 pounds lost!!! Thank you, Paul McKenna!

What Do YOU See When You Look In the Mirror?

Do you see a person that is beautiful, capable, and self confident with a healthy self esteem? Or do you look at yourself and see just the opposite? What do you say to the person you see in the mirror? Do you say things that you would never say to someone else? Why are you so willing to hurt your own feelings and fiercely tear yourself down?

I don't have an answer for you any more than I have one for me. One thing I do know, however. we will never be able to be all we could be, or encourage those in our circle of influence to be all they can be, as long as we insist on being our own most negative influence.

Paul McKenna's video training titled, "Your Perfect Body", on his website, www.mckenna.com, addresses this issue in a powerful way. We don't have to wait till we are thin to begin to love who we are. For me this is wonderful training. I encourage you to watch this video with an open mind, and if it addresses a need in your life, then be willing to seriously give it a try.

What do YOU see when you look in the mirror?