A Defining Moment

Wonderful family event. Wonderful family celebration.  Wonderful food. Wonderful times in life. However, these wonderful moments are major challenges for people who are emotional over eaters like me. There was stress and emotion involved with the preparation phase of this family event which also added to the mix of eating temptations.
I did not blow my new style of eating out of the water one time during this momentous occasion, but there were a few extra bites here and there that compromised my dieting standards somewhat. A few bites of cake and wonderful homemade Brazilian candy. Oh, it was delicious.
The good news is that I know I can keep my diet reasonably intact during good times, those special moments. As life goes back to normal after this, in many ways, defining occasion, I have more confidence in my ability to not completely lose control, to stay the course, and to keep on winning by losing.

25 Pounds! 25 Pounds! I’ve Lost 25 Pounds!

Yep! Another milestone reached! I’m so excited! It’s been just over a month since I reached my 20 pound loss, 36 days to be exact. About 1 pound/week. That’s ok with me  Because I am now in the senior citizen category, I don’t need this weight loss to be quick.  I want my body to have time to adjust to the changes as my weight goes down.  My blood pressure is improving already. In a few days I’ll have regular blood work done and I’ll let you know if my numbers (cholesterol, triglycerides, A1C, etc) are better.

For today, I’m going to bask in the glory of another milestone reached, and go shopping for clothes. In a smaller size, of course! I love winning when I have lost!

The Challenges and Rewards Continue.....

My husband and I went out to eat last night. We don't eat out often, so this was a real treat for us.  We went to an Italian restaurant; a place we had never been.  The food was delicious. I ordered veal toscana, which is veal with vegetables smothered in an unbelievably delicious sauce over angel hair spaghetti. The portion size was quite large.  Our meal also came with yummy, yummy, yummy garlic yeast rolls.  Oh my.  What's a girl to do? So much wonderful food. So little room in my tummy. 

I decided to eat slowly, enjoying every bite. It didn't take long. I began to feel full after having eaten only about a quarter of my meal.  Everything within me wanted to keep eating, and truthfully, I did take four or five bites too much, before I was able to 'wrestle' my desires to eat anyway to the ground and ask for a carry out container.

I had to make myself think about the fact that this succulent meal will taste just a good for lunch today as it did last night.  In fact, it will taste better because I won't be full while I'm eating it.  There is enough food left from me to have about 3 more meals. Yum!!!!

Mental gymnastics.  That's it.  It's all about how I allow things food related to be framed in my mind.  I think this is one of the major components to food control in our lives. Anyway I made it through another challenging moment and have delicious leftovers today as a reward!

Beware the Cloaked Torpedo

Today my son and I were texting. He mentioned something about losing weight then not rewarding yourself by eating a hamburger or a pizza.  Your reward, he said, is the number on the scales and how you feel.

Rewarding ourselves with “cheater” foods is nothing more than a cloaked torpedo that will destroy our momentum and best intentions within minutes and bites. Whatever good we have done for ourselves is doomed to sink to the bottom of the ocean of best intentions we sail on daily. Beware the cloaked torpedo.