I was noticing yesterday that if you look at my label list off to the left, I have *ONE* entry for "Diet". hahaha (Well...there should be 2 now after I post this.) Shows how important that's been in my life, huh? I really do need to get going on this though. I'm starting to become really uncomfortable with myself. My knee is doing a lot better and there's no reason why I can't start doing some reasonable exercise. I also really need to cut the sweets. What was the point of quitting smoking if I'm just going to kill myself some other way?
This is not going to be any fun. And I think in some ways it's WORSE than quitting smoking. People have to eat. It's not like you can just remove food from your life like you can with cigarettes. I can't go around and throw away all my plates and forks like I did with the ashtrays and lighters. This is especially hard with kids. Why should they be deprived of fun snacks, just because I have control issues? Also, I think the diet results are wwwwaaaaayyyyyy slllooowwweerrr to see. When I quit smoking, I noticed that lack of smoke-stink right away. I noticed the ability to sing long and loud right away. But I gave up pop 2 months ago and have GAINED four pounds. Grrrr. To lose a 1/2 pound or even a pound a week just doesn't seem like much to celebrate. Because there's allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll those pounds left to go. *bleh*
I'm not the world's most patient person...in case this wasn't painfully obvious. I want things to happen yesterday, if not sooner. I can tell myself that it took 10+ years to get to this weight so that it's going to take time to take off. I understand that. But I don't GET it....if you know what I mean. It's frustrating and seems like such a huge hill to climb. *bleh again* I'm veering off into whiny territory.
Anyway, I'm going to set a new goal. I have given up the pop and that was VERY hard for me. I'm unsure how to tackle some of the other food problems. I'm afraid that if I *ban* something completely, I'll never stick to it and give up. On the other hand, if I say I'm only going to have one dish of ice cream a week, either the "dish" will be my giant stock pot or I'll sneak some every night. Maybe I need to padlock everything and give the code to Jeff. Or maybe Dylan....he'd probably get a kick out of forbidding ME from something for a change. I think the thing to do is fill myself up on good food and only then have a snack if I'm still hungry. Like if I'm eyeing the ice cream, I have to first eat a giant salad....or something. Or maybe no eating after a certain time. I don't know.
Any other reasonable suggestions out there?
3.04.2008
Weighing in
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11 comments:
When I found out I was pregnant, I gave up cigarettes, and then turned to food. Now that I've done the cigarette thing, I have to agree that food is much harder to quit that smoking. I find that if I try to exclude things (i.e. chocolate, bread, pasta,...all things carb related), I'll just want it more. So I think the only way I will ever diet with sanity is with portion control. If I want a pizza, I should be able to eat it, but just not the whole thing....that's my biggest struggle.
Alert: Unsolicited advice mode activated!! To avoid contact with said advice, please press the escape key, or simply refrain from reading any more of this comment.
(Don't know if you want advice, but I'm going to give some anyway, and let you disregard it at will.) I have found that the best thing to do is just to start getting some regular movement into your life. Exercise is more important than diet limitations (although refined sugar really is more likely to become fat than most other foods. Refined sugar triggers insulin--whose JOB is to turn sugar to energy stores, a.k.a. fat.) Strengthening/building your muscles is a good thing. Muscle weighs more than fat does, so you might end up with a higher number on the scale than you would prefer, but it also burns more calories all day long than inert tissue, and tones things up rather nicely as well. Anyway, all this to come to the point that you don't have to start by killing yourself. Just go for a 1/2 hour walk at night after dinner, or at your lunch break, or something. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, dance around the living room to your favorite 80's music, etc. I find the best way to get myself into an exercise regimen is to start slow, making sure I don't make myself miserable and sore, so that I hate it and it's always a battle of the will to get myself to get off my backside. I know you don't like the patience thing, and the "don't make yourself miserable" approach will definitely take longer than having your stomach surgically removed, but if you start with a few helpful things that are easier on the discipline scale, you can gradually build to healthier habits all around, without bailing on the whole process because you've made it too hard on yourself--and the change is more likely to be permanent, too.
The added benefit to just adding even a walk in your day is that you have a whole lot more energy (which seems completely counter-intuitive, doesn't it?), so, like quitting smoking, there's more than one positive to the sacrifice.
You've already proven you have the gumption to change long ingrained habits, so I'm positive you can do this! Your own example can give you some encouragement. :-)
Unsolicited advice mode terminated.
Oh, wait. I just noticed you actually asked for reasonable suggestions, so ignore the unsolicited advice alert. You asked for it! :-)
Sandy...I think I'd be the same way...if I can't EVER have a treat/carb/whatever, I won't stick with it. Although I have stuck with the no-pop thing.
Kat...oh I get it...you're blogging **here** now!! ;)
I actually think that's probably at least 1/2 my problem. I'm sedentary. I like to read, watch movies, and do this. (Preferrably with a large cookie or other yummy.) I'm also a little scared about my knee...although I might just be using that as an excuse. I'm not sure.
Thanks for the tips/words of encouragement both of you.
Sorry about the cat. Or as my mom would say damncat. She is not all that fond of cats since her neighbor's started using mom's birthbath. Okay. That is just wrong and icky and my mind is going much faster than my fingers...birdbath as a hunting ground...
Birthbath is why my blog is named what it is. Women in my family tend to talk too fast and think to fast and say things like birthbath.
I decided I was going to lose some belly before Italy, so I immediately got bigger around the waist. I am horribly stressed right now -- trying to get the house ready to sell (never going to be ready.) and ready for my mom's visit in 7 days (insert minor freak out here), Zach's graduating and going off to college (insert slightly bigger freak here), getting ready for Italy, my kids' grades and school work (Thor is having a hard time adjusting to high school), Abe's damned leg, Mark being in Alaska...you get the idea. I am definitely a stress eater. I loathe with my entire being those women who stop eating when things get tough. LOATHE. ENTIRE BEING.
So I got no advice, just some sympathy. I could have written your post, except I am slightly more graceful, as I have not trashed any part of my body other than my large intestine yet, and there is no possible way to use that as an excuse for not exercising. Actually Crohn's disease comes with the lovely side effect of osteoporosis, so I should be doing weight bearing exercises to toughen up my bones. What the hell was I talking about and how did I get here? I am the Queen of Tangents. Truly. Oh yeah, back to you are me and I am you and we are all together. So you cut out carbs and fats and you know, food in general, and maybe I will get to lose the weight. It's that weird blog synchronicity thing happening again...
Apparently I am blogging *here* now too.
I hear you. I've gained 20 pounds, and I walk 1 or 2 miles every weekday. I also eat larger portions. I'm trying not to do that. I've always been one of those hateable skinny people, so the concept of excluding any one food or any one group of foods really just doesn't even seem like anything other than completely foreign to me. I'm the last person to give advice since I went to Taco Bell for lunch yesterday. And Jack in the Crack the other night. That said, for me, cutting those excursions down to really rare so that *I* am preparing my meals and can make even something "bad" a tad bit healthier, adding more fresh veggies and generally aiming for smaller portions is my plan. Tom and I were starting to do OK, then fell off with the whole... (well, you know all that's going on in our lives) ...so now I'm trying to get myself into the groove. I struggle. I will not get this perfect. That's OK for me for now. Little by little, I'm hoping to add another healthier habit, maybe on a weekly basis or something - things like substituting yummy olive oil for something less OK, baking things like chimichangas instead of frying them (I posted the recipe somewhere on my blog recently if you search), using less salt in general (heart thing), etc. So far the past couple nights haven't been all that terrible. The key for me is to still eat things I really like a lot so that I'm not feeling deprived, while also allowing myself to go apeshit about once a week or so.
I say all this, but I'm 20 pounds heavier post-quit, so take me with a grain of salt, but you asked, and that's my common sense.
Also, the pop thing? Excellent! I'm glad I've never really been a fan, even as a kid, because I know that it's really, really tough to break that one. Thankfully, I *love* water.
Oh, and since Julie was commenting at the same time, where she said "I decided I was going to lose some belly before Italy, so I immediately got bigger around the waist" - that kind of thing has been my exact experience. Paying too much attention or trying too hard (vs. making small changes) seems to cause the opposite result for me.
Julie - I'm a stress eater too. And a boredom eater. And a hey it's Tuesday eater. *sigh*
Maggie - I want to be sensible about things. I think that's the real key. "Diets" aren't supposed to really work long term. So they say. I hate they.
I recommend developing asitia
Make sure you eat something in the morning when you wake up to jump start your metabolism. I have found the key to loosing weight is to always eat less of whatever you are eating and to get at least a little exercise daily (2x a day is best).
I found when I quit smoking that I also had food triggers (when I ate certain foods I wanted to smoke) so when I cut out those triggers, I actually lost weight when I quit.
I also believe in the Law of Attraction - the more you think about something, the more you want it, think about it, eat it, etc.
Stop worrying about your weight or loosing it. Make changes in your daily life and don't focus on the term diet but rather life changes and watch the weight come off.
Oh, I hear you. I really do. Two years ago, I lost 60 pounds. And I just regained half of it. I'm heartsick over this, but I know I just need to quit my crying and get my ass in gear. It is really hard. Yes it is.
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