School starting back is KILLING ME!!! I already knew I was an emotional eater with stress being my main trigger... So nursing school is SO stressful! Our first week back we have multiple exams-- if you fail, you're removed from the program. I've gotten As and am not really in danger ever of being dismissed, but I'm naturally high strung... So I can stress myself out over anything... Made it through week one with no "events" (binges) even though I SO wanted to. But today... It's gonna be one of those days. I'm irritable and snappy. And I'm half trying to convince myself that other people have cheat days on their diet so maybe I could have one. Because the junk would make me feel better. ...wow. I totally do sound like an addict. Haha. "I'll just do it this once... Just to get me through today..." God, that's disturbing. And yet I'm still trying to rationalize it. Ugh
BamaGirl -- stress eating is comforting for like 5 minutes, then it actually ADDS to the stress you're having. Hang in there! You've got alot going on.
One strategy I've used when the urge to just EAT ANYTHING is overwhelming: Make a HUGE salad, one that will take forever to eat -- I've made salads so big that my jaw was hurting from chewing by the end of it. A giant salad is filling, it takes time to eat with lots of hand to mouth, and it is healthy & nutritious and you are probably truly hungry and under all this stress you can use good, supportive nutrition!
BamaGal, Can you squeeze in an online OA mtg for some extra support? I remember nursing school with those make-or-break rules/exams, which imho did not produce a better cohort of graduates, just stressed out ones! Sounds like you are very very busy. Impt to plan ahead so you have plenty of safe food.
Love the salad idea, Mrs Snark. Do you make a full on salad with protein and added veggies, oil, etc, or simply lettuce & non-caloric adds?
Luckymommy Sounds like you are making a lot of progress. Maybe it looks different than expected, but in hindsight, I always find the unanticipated learning is the most powerful. I'm glad you are working it out for yourself and taking only what you need. Thanks for posting--I'm reticent about the sponsor relationship, though still open to it down the road. I hope it wasn't too difficult to move away from it.
I attended my 2nd mtg and they had a newcomer part. I really like the people, and it was in yet another jaw-droppingly beautiful setting. The welcomers were great and answered my concerns about HP and in general that it cam be customized to fit the individual (so I wouldn't necessarily need to cease my whey shakes with 3g sugar). I think i'll keep going, but I do find it exhausting to process everything in a meeting. There does not seem to be pressure to get a sponsor asap, though it's encouraged. I'll just keep attending meetings until the timing is right.
BamaGalRN, how's it going? I hope you're doing well...same to everyone here, of course. Weekends can be a challenge. The medication is making me nauseated. A normal person might lose their appetite. Not me. I want to have mountains of carbs, but so far so good.
I survived the day! I did have a peanut butter cup and some milk for a snack about 20 minutes ago, but other than that, I kept in my calories, kept myself busy, and managed.
Thanks for the support. Today was emotionally exhausting, though, to truly SEE myself as a junkie. Ugh. So, I'm beat. I'll get caught up with everyone tomorrow!
Mars -- I'm glad the meetings are going well! Regarding the salads: I like my salads to have everything: beans, avocado, walnuts, dressing etc. They are definitely full meals and probably pretty well rounded. Heavy on the vegetable and salad stuff and beans, lighter on the rest of the goodies!
Bama - glad you made it through the day! I found that for me, I had alot of white knuckle days when I first started changing my habits. Nothing to do for it but gut it out. It definitely got easier though once the habits became second nature and the routine was established. So hang in there!
Luckymommy - I'm so sorry about the nausea, that's awful, hopefully it will subside SOON!
Mrs Snark, the nausea isn't so bad anymore, but thanks so much. I think I'm adjusting to this medication. I just can't wait for it to actually work!
Bama, it's great to hear that you're hanging in there! Mrs Snark's input is right on.
mars, I'm actually a bit lighter this morning. My weight was fluctuating by 1 or 1.5 lbs. and now, I'm actually at 160 lbs. this morning. I had about 1500 calories yesterday and 21 grams of carbs. Thanks for all the info you gave me about low carb. I really look forward to reaching my goal and being able to incorporate some more carbs....spoken like an addict.
Btw, I only lost about 2 pounds in August so far. I was losing about 7 pounds a month before. I'm hoping that's not a new trend.
Last edited by luckymommy; 08-25-2014 at 01:17 PM.
Reason: btw
Bama -- I think both can work great, it all depends on your lifestyle and how you want to eat and live. If I were you I'd create a style of eating that you can live with forever and settle in for the long haul!
Bama, I agree with Mrs Snark. There have been times when IF was a great tool for me and there have been times when it just didn't feel right. Right now, what works best for me is having 3 meals and one snack per day. I have been doing low carb and this morning I was down another pound, but it's just not great on my body. I don't have much energy. What I'm planning to do is to get back to my usual calorie counting while being mindful of carbs. Instead of oatmeal for breakfast, I'll still have my eggs but instead of avoiding fruit, I'll have some berries with it. I'm going to keep it reasonable and just do what works for me and my body. The point is it's hard to know what will be the right way to go until you give it a try.
I'm super sad to report that one of our kittens (rotten little beasties) has chewed through my computer cord. So I'm relegated to my iPhone until my new cable gets here-- hopefully this afternoon.
I've decided that I'm gonna do a combo of low carb and IF-- and btw I had a little whoosh this morning of 2 pounds. Super happy!
Luckymommy - it sounds like you are very in tune with how your body feels as you tweak your eating and so you can make adjustments as necessary. I think your plan sounds smart.
Thanks Mrs Snark! I'm starting to get into a groove with my eating. It has taken me a long, long time to feel that way. I still get cravings, but they're not as intense. What has helped (along with low carb and set meals/1snack) has been adding healthy fat into my diet. I kept thinking I'll wait until I hit goal because I was so afraid of the calories, but I've been having nuts and avocado as well as salad dressing, and you know what? I haven't put on weight from it. I feel more satisfied and less obsessive.
I'd like to mention cheese. I didn't know this, but I read somewhere that cheese can spike the insulin just as much as white flour foods. I was really shocked. I'm limiting myself to no more than 4 oz. a day but most days I don't even have it anymore. I feel this has helped me too. I also only have one little coffee in the morning because I read that it can spike the insulin as well. I noticed that when I was having a second cup (which was always decaf), I had a lot more cravings. I think addiction is party psychological and part physiological and getting a handle on the physiological part really helps me because it makes the addiction part more manageable. I'm still an addict. I still want MORE of everything. A handful of nuts isn't enough. I'd like to eat the entire bin that I got from Costco, but I know that I can't. I just have that handful. There might come a time when I won't be able to handle the nuts and if I can't, then I will stop them forever.
I hope everyone has a wonderful, pain-free, binge-free day!
Hi All Luckymommy Still sounds like we're twins I'm doing basically the same thing as you with 3 meals, 1 snack, adding healthy fats. I'm still clinging to my 2nd cup of coffee, and instead of nuts, I put Kalamata olives on my salad along with the avocado. Costco Wild Alaskan salmon burger 2x/week. I feel better than I have felt in a long time re mood, alertness, and energy (& cautiously optimistic it will eventually solve the dry eye problem). Like Mrs Snark says, it takes tweaking as we go.
I'm trying to figure out a sustaining dinner for long work shifts. Maybe a chili or lentil stew. For carbs, I'm enjoying butternut squash. I used to cube it but it's too much work, so now just bake the whole squash and scoop it out after. I eat most of my carbs for dinner/evening snack and most fats at lunch--read somewhere that timing of carbs is optimal for mood. On Ideal Protein diet I was told that keeping carbs and fat more or less separate is supposed to keep insulin from storing fat (no idea if this is validated by research). Your comment about the physiological and psychological components of addiction are spot on.
Hope you get a chance to relax from your studies BamaGal. Wishing everyone a relaxing long weekend, incl. those who are working.
