I have completely wandered from the healthy diet path. It was only supposed to be a slight detour, but one thing led to another and I'm lost. I had a few stressors that emerged after my small "planned" cheat and turned it into a full food fest. I'm dealing with a bit of the Autumn Blues, I'm very concerned about my health, and I desperately miss my niece who now lives thousands of miles away. At the very least, I have all the right excuses.
I'm not here to whine, though. I'm here to admit something so I can get back on track. If I don't, I'll continue to do it. Then, I'll feel terribly guilty. Then, I'll do it again. So, here's my little secret: I eat chips while reading this forum.
That's right, folks. For the past few days, I wake up in the morning and check the updates on this forum with a bag of chips on my lap. I think I even once munched on cheesecake. The chips are gone, now. (Yes. I ate them all. *hangs head*) The cheesecake is gone, too. I won't be buying any more. (I will be making my own on plan cheesecake, though.) I also can't pretend that I'm not a chip sneaking wretch. So, hopefully that will help me.
Has anyone else done this? Read all the great diet advice while noshing on all the wrong foods? I'm sure I can't be the only one . . . Can I?
Winter I know what you are feeling. There have been times in the past few weeks where I would read the site and all the wonderful stories of sucess and weight loss, and then proceed to inhale a bag of chips, chocolate, whatever I have on hand at the moment. I have deviated quite badly from my weight loss plan over the past few weeks and I have been struggling back towards it. Actually there have been several threads where the discussion has occurred where everyone has been struggling lately. The part where you need to pat yourself on the back for is that you realized that you are struggling and have not given up, even if it means maintaining for awhile before you get back into the groove.
I have munched away at food while reading through the forums so you're not alone. Pick you up some carrot or celery sticks to naw on. They have the crisp of the chips at least.
As for getting back on track, make sure your next meal is a healthy one. After you get that one out of the way plan to eat a healthy snack/next meal and go from there.
This whole weight loss thing is a learning experience. You have to learn what you are doing wrong and what you are doing right. Sometimes it takes having a binge on chips to make you realize that at this stage, chips might not be a good thing to have in the house for you right now.
This whole weight loss thing is a learning experience. You have to learn what you are doing wrong and what you are doing right. Sometimes it takes having a binge on chips to make you realize that at this stage, chips might not be a good thing to have in the house for you right now. You can do this.
Yep. My experience is that habit can be a good thing as well as a bad thing. Once I developed a habit of eating a banana as my 10am snack, then a V8 and apple as my 2pm snack (or equiv), then grabbing something else didn't figure into the plan. Plus I had to keep certain foods out of the house. So, my experience has been replacing habits.
Sometimes it's a matter of identifying what habits you feel like you need to work on most then tackling them one by by (Sarah mentioned that for a poster that needed help on what she should do next).
I think some people can get overwhelmed (and I count myself in that group!) when they think of it as AN ENTIRE PROGRAM they need to be doing. Perfect eating and exercise. I believe it's a continuum to be worked on. You will never hear me say I'm perfect at this or even close to it, believe me
Yup, and sometimes it takes a novel approach. The impulse most people would have would be already mentioned: First, keep the chips outta the house, and second, replace the chips with something healthy. I heartily endorse those ideas, and I know that as a compulsive overeater I certainly can't keep trigger or binge foods in the house.
When I was starting my program, though, I tried to go one step further -- breaking the assocations between events and food. We build these habits about eating when we are doing certain things, and they sometimes become so ingrained as to become compulsions. So, for example, if you think you HAVE to have popcorn at the movies, you can think about how to have a very small serving or bring your own air-popped from home. That's certainly a reasonable solution. However, I chose to get used to the idea of going to the movie without eating any snacks at all. I'm there for the movie, after all. That's not to say I never ever have a snack at the theater, but when I do it's much much more of a choice than a feeling of being deprived if I DON'T. To break my impulse to eat while watching TV I (a) reduced the amount of time I watched TV (good for me anyway) and (b) made sure I had lots of other things to do while the TV is on so my hands and mind stayed busy, especially during commercials.
So, if you have this urge to eat because you are at the computer, gently remind yourself as often as necessary that food and the computer are not inextricably linked. The urge may be powerful for a while, but it will fade, I promise.
I think some people can get overwhelmed (and I count myself in that group!) when they think of it as AN ENTIRE PROGRAM they need to be doing. Perfect eating and exercise. I believe it's a continuum to be worked on.
I totally agree.
I also confess to munching on a handful of candy corn while reading the forums for a few days last week. Keep it out of the house is my new plan. If I shouldn't eat it, I don't buy it. Even if I plan to have just one, or just one serving of whatever bad thing it is... Doesn't matter. If you have some left over, you're pretty much going to eat it. When I do have my next small planned cheat, I will only buy one serving of whatever I'm having. Yes, that means no huge bag of candy corn from WalMart.
You are definitely not alone in that one as you can tell. All the advice on the forum about small steps, next meal being healthy, etc have really helped me. I just checked out fitday and it is really concrete. Sure shows what you're doing to gain/lose. Good luck Winter! Hang in there.
As usual, I found myself nodding when I read funniegrrl's response. (She's so smart, that funniegrrl. ) Compulsive behavior is so often a behavioral associative thing -- like freshly quit ex-smokers, who struggle after dinner because they associate that time with cigarettes.
Forums and Food
) Compulsive behavior is so often a behavioral associative thing -- like freshly quit ex-smokers, who struggle after dinner because they associate that time with cigarettes. 
