Sharpen the Weight Loss Edge Once Again

It has been a while since I posted to this blog. My last post was about my eating experience during my husband's health crisis.  I was able to walk through that difficult time without the stress induced overeating that has been characteristic of my life.  I am so thankful that I was able to emerge from that challenging experience maintaining my conscious eating dietary style.

Since that time, however, I lost some of my edge.  I have not gained weight, but I haven't lost any either.  I've stalled out at a certain weight and been there for about three months. 

I've been thinking about why this may be and decided on one main reason.

Instead of 'eating only till I was full', I began putting on my plate the amount of food I thought I would need to eat.  Then I would continue to eat till it was gone, letting that be my signal for ending my meal rather than the 'full feeling' signal that has been my guide for several months.

I lost sight of the main reason for my success with losing weight thus far.  I took my eyes off the key requirement to conscious eating - paying attention to the full feeling that comes when I eat and letting that be my cue, my signal for ending my meal. 

So I have resolved once again to 'sharpen my edge', and get back into the weight loss battle. One snack, one meal, one day at a time.

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!

One and Two

As I mentioned in my last post, in my opinion there are two essential parts to being successful with conscious eating, or 'eating the way slender people eat'.  Those of us who are trying to eat consciously must consciously be aware of both parts at every meal and every snack.  Here goes:

1. Eating consciously means eating only until you are full.  I have had friends say to me, "But I don't always know when I'm full."  I understand that statement and most of my life have lived by the "I'm eating till my plate is empty" model, because I don't recognize this full feeling. 
     The truth is that our bodies will give us a signal for when enough food has been eaten during a meal.  In order to eat only until we are full, we must learn to recognize and acknowledge that signal no matter how much delicious food is still on our plate.  We must be willing to admit that it's there, even when we want to ignore the signal. 

2. Again, eating consciously requires that once you feel the signal for fullness that your body gives you, eating must stop.  In my opinion this is the hardest part, because sometimes we just don't want to stop.  Oh, man. There's still baked potato with all the trimmings on my plate. There's only half a slice of garlic toast left; surely I can eat that. That won't be much. In order to do this with integrity, you must stop eating once you feel that full signal.  If the food left on your plate can't be saved for whatever reason, it goes in the trash.  That's hard if you were raised with the starving children in China, as I was.  However, no matter what, conscious eating is not conscious eating, and you will never be slender, unless you are willing to throw good food in the trash.  It is a difficult, but critical lesson to learn.

Yes. This is hard.  But you know, so is living with knee problems, diabetes, back issues, heart problems, and a myriad of other health issues that are caused by being overweight.  Those of us who live our lives with too much girth can give you a list of ways that said girth has affected the way we live.  We choose our challenges. We choose our rewards.  Let's choose wisely. 

Oh, Yea. One More Challenge

There is another challenge I have had to face since making the decision to change my eating style. I almost forgot about it because, well, truthfully it’s not much of a problem right now.  I will never say that I have conquered this or any other challenge, because thinking I have victory when it comes to food, is for me the moment when defeat becomes a reality. 

4. In previous days, I would nibble and “graze” while cooking meals. Then I would eat the meal, and then nibble and “graze” again while cleaning up afterwards. It was almost like I was eating three meals instead of one. That is an eating problem.

      During approximately the last 8 weeks, I have gained more and more control over this nibbling, grazing challenge. I know that if I eat anything just before a meal, then I will actually be eating less during the meal, because I will get full faster.  I don’t want that to happen, so I “save room” for my meal by not eating anything beforehand. This alone has made a huge difference is my weight.  

Darn That Facebook

They look soooooo good. Eye candy. You know what I mean. I'm referring to those delicious looking recipes that uninvitedly appear on our Facebook feeds. Many are loaded with cheese, sugar, heavy cream, etc. There are also many nutritious recipes also. However, the ones that quickly catch my eye are recipes such as 'Red Velvet Cheesecake'. Oh yea. Delicious.

I love to cook for family and friends. I love to cook foods that are rich and sweet. The problem is that it is vertually impossible for me to cook those types of dishes and not partake in their rich goodness, which can completely blow my diet and make my diabetes worse.

Therefore in order to keep my diet headed the right direction, I must find satisfaction in cooking dishes that are not going to be a diet buster for my. Perhaps it's time for me to put myself first in this aspect of my life.

One more, Lord. Just Help Me Lose One More Pound

It has been 12 days since I began using the weight loss app, iTrackBites. I have been able to stay within my point goals each day with only a few extra points needed. So far I have lost almost 5 pounds.

Yes. That's feathers compared to what I must lose to reach my goal. However, marathons are completed by running one yard at a time, and this weight loss journey is definitely a marathon, not a sprint.

My husband and I have been on a little trip this week. There have been several moments of serious temptation to overeat.  Yes. You know. Just one little bite. Just a taste. That won't hurt anything. How many calories/points could be in one little bite. All these things ran through my mind, but one by one, I said no to each temptation and was stronger for it. 

Each time I say no to something I know I should not eat, I am a little closer to reaching my goal and enjoying all those things I have won by losing weight. Yea!!!!!!!

We Give Power to What We Focus On

I was talking with a friend yesterday about Lent. She said she chose not to give up anything for Lent, but instead chose to use this Lent season to become a better person. She is getting up earlier every morning and spending time reading scripture, meditating and praying.
My immediate response was, "Oh, yes, you are giving up something for Lent. Sleep!". She agreed, but said that she didn't think of it that way. She just knew that she was benefitting from the extra time spent with God and the Bible.
What a wonderful perspective! By focusing on what she was getting rather than what she was giving up, she gave power to the positive aspects, becoming a better person, rather than the negative, giving up sleep, to her choice for Lent.
We can use this way of choosing our focus to help us with our weight loss challenges. By focusing on how wonderful we are going to feel and look when the downsizing is completed, rather than the 'poor me. That cake looks delicious, but I can't even have a bite. sigh", we give power to the positive feelings rather than the negative ones. WoooooHooooo!!! We become a happier person. Our outlook on life is better and we get more done when we choose to focus on the positive outcomes rather than the negative sacrifices.

Here are a couple of useful websites I have found:
http://www.cspinet.org/nah/10foods_bad.html
http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php