building a new habit
 

Hi girls,
I'm not having much luck with the weight loss. i've lost about 5lbs, and i have made some good changes, don't get me wrong, but i feel like i keep sabotaging myself with my poor choices when it comes to my diet.

that one bad habit, the one routine that i wish i could reshape in my life has to do with my eating.
i start off good, i even make plans and have the best of intentions, but i tend to make a bad choice normally after work, that involves eating more than what i should. and it gets me caught in a cycle.

I know if i could mold myself a new routine, a new normal my wieght loss journey would go into full speed. There would be no stopping me!

i'm discouraged, but i don't want to give up.


any advise on this bad habit in itself, or breaking a bad habit in general? i'm sure we all have something.

how to stay focused...

My only advice is to take your time and make changes slowly. You don't have to fix every bad habit at the same time. Work on them one at a time as you have the strength to do it. It is hard to condition yourself to accept less than perfect immediately but slow and steady will win the race.

If the after work thing is your biggest problem, then you need to change what you do immediately after work. Is going to the gym at that time an option?

I found making a goal chart a huge help. I got pictures & words and created a kind of collage & stuck to the inside door of my pantry. My bad habit has been late night snacking. Now I see my chart before the snacks!

Don't be hurry to reach you goal at the same time. It will take you some times. Keep you do more exercise and eat more vegetable instead hight fat food.http://photo-collection.co.cc/img/31...yc/biggrin.gif

Kaebae, :hug: It's really hard. I struggle daily also. My suggestion for the after work problem is to bring some healthy snacks with you to work and eat them before you leave work, or on the way home. That way you don't grab something junky when you get home, or on the way home.

Some suggestions to keep in the car, or at work:
apple
nuts & raisins
fiber one snack bar
water

Do you live with family? Can you get support from them to encourage/remind you to make good choices?

Oh Lauren! That is a GREAT suggestion! Eating before you LEAVE work is a really good plan. It's so easy to choose badly when you are really hungry.

I would never have thought of that great idea and yet, someone here did. Just one more reason to love this place!

yeah, that suggestion stuck out to me too. I think if i had something yummy to look forward to at the end of the work day, it would relieve some of the stress i always feel.

I don't know why i turn to food so much.

Just take your time, start off slow, don't try to be perfect and it will come to you. Just change what you can for now and build on that.

thanks devsmama. I've been trying to focus on the small changes all along, it's just the diet thing that gets me. I know i'm a foodaholic. and i know that being stressed is a big part of why i slip up. On nice sunny days were i don't have to work and i get up on the right side of the bed, i 'm more than happy to eat well the whole day through and feel good about it. But the majority of my days are not like that :(

I've got this habit of eating a bunch of junk food with the intent of just starting new the next day.
And i know that while i'm making the decision to buy and eat this unhealthy food, i am just putting off another day to be healthy. my life is slipping by, i'm getting older and i'll not get this time back.
but instead of taking care of my self, i abuse myself with more food for one more day.
It gets me wondering what is missing in my life?
that eating a bunch of junk food is more appealing to me than finding something to be appreciative of and to enjoy in my life.?

i hope i can change this and get past it.

You can change it and get past it. You're not on a diet, you're on a journey of self discovery or self realization. You have to see further than you are right now and know that life is waiting on you. And even if most of your days are not that sunny and bright, make them sunny and bright. You have the power to do whatever you want. (It reminds me of that Temptations song, it starts off...I can turn a grey sky blue.) I don't know why that came up..lol...But you can do this, you really can.

:goodvibes thanks!

things went good today and i think i'm off to a good start.
I definitely need an attitude re-evaluation. i've become so cynical about my job and it affects the rest of my life. But that's were i am right now in terms of employment. Sometimes it's just easier to become cynical than to put forth the effort to better your situation. and it's hard to go up against everyone else's bad energy and skepticism. People would rather keep everyone else down than be supportive of each other. I don't understand why my department is like this, but it always has been that way.

they see me as a spineless doormat, but i don't want to become like them.

ugh, so frustrated.
i dont' know whats wrong with me.
it seems like when ever i cook a meal at home, afterwards i still have this feeling like hunger in my stomach.
it couldn't be hunger. my meal was an entire chicken breast.
all i can think is that it is due to my poor digestion. i just can't figure out why it only seems to occur when i cook for myself at home using all healthy ingredients!!!!!!

the feeling seemed to go away when i took some digestive enzymes that i got from the naturopath i was seeing.

Sooo.....i'm going to try making some soups and see if they feel better in my stomach. sometimes the cooking method can affect the digestibility of a food. i read that on a holistic web site. slow cooking methods are better.
and i only seems to get the post-eating hungry feeling when i stir fry my meals.

this is so aggrivating. Some times i think of the stories i read about people who have had fascinating lives and the struggles they've had to overcome. Like poineers and gold miners who traveled through wild alaska. A group of people who mushed a team of sled dogs up Mt. McKinley. My personal hero Jane Goodall surviving in the untamed jungle as a 23 year old lone girl---for 3 months alone, longer than any man had at the time.
Then here is my struggle: i can't figure out what food i should eat.:rolleyes:

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. It is honestly hard to do. I have to take it one day at a time. Like today when I got home from work. I opened the fridge and there sat a taco from taco bell that my family got while I was at work. Without even thinking, I took it out to eat and said, Aww, thanks for getting me a taco!" almost instantly after I took it out to eat it my mind was like "WAIT! STOP! What ARE you doing?! I had suddenly remembered that I was not allowed to eat that! It's hard and it's automatic sometimes. We just have to take one day and one meal at a time!

"From the Aristotle blog:

"Dr Maxwell Maltz wrote the bestseller Psycho-Cybernetics.
Originally a Plastic Surgeon, Maltz noticed that it took
21 days for amputees to cease feeling phantom sensations
in the amputated limb. From further observations he found
it took 21 days to create a new habit. Since then the '21
Day Habit Theory' has become an accepted part of self-help
programs.

Brain circuits take engrams (memory traces), and produce
neuroconnections and neuropathways only if they are
bombarded for 21 days in a row. This means that our brain
does not accept ?new? data for a change of habit unless
it is repeated each day for 21 days (without missing a day)."

Just a chicken breast for supper? You need to add some veggies in there girl! About 1/2 of your dinner plate should consist of vegetables, 1/4 carb, and 1/4 protein (which a serving is 3 oz... the size of a deck of cards).

Maybe you wont feel so famished if you up your portion intake at supper?