Okay, all -- I wrote in last week that I was afraid to step on the scales after a 4-month festival of food, and got tons of positive support along the way.
SO, although I USUALLY like to start diets on Monday, and gork out on Sunday with all those soon-to-be foribidden food, I have taken the initative and started TODAY.
Here's a list of exactly what I threw out from my kitchen, in order to sort out my environment. I am going to try to eliminate sugar and substitute sugars from my diet for the next 2 weeks. I know that there are natural sugars in things, so what I am talking about is actual sugar (by the tablespoon), corn syrup, fructose as added to foods, processed refined foods such as white bread, and, well, you all know the drill. Complex carbs from veggies, whole grains, and non-starchy fruit will be the new regimen.
You should know that my DH is away this weekend - so, NO DEBATING about what should stay and what should go! Here's the list of the worst:
2 boxes Skinny Cow chocolate/vanilla sundaes
1 tub of home-made chocolate fudge sauce
3 tubs Breyer's LOW-FAT double-churned vanilla ice cream (note, the emphasis on LOW-FAT, makes me feel virtuous, I suppose)
2 boxes Fruit Loops
12 boxes Kraft Dinner
1 box Kit-Kat singles (who am I kidding if I eat 4 of these at a time)
Too many tubs of hot chocolate mix (at least 5)
Microwave popcorn
2 bags Doritos (the BIG bags, not the small ones)
3 bags Smartfood Cheddar Popcorn (HUGE bags...sigh)
1 large bag of jelly beans
4 6-pack containers of Jello pudding
2 huge bars of President's Choice Chocolate with Almonds (1 lb bars for "baking", as if I could cook brownies in my mouth...)
I could go on, but does anyone else think I have a sugar and fat addiction?
Do any of you have sugar/fat addictions? How do you manage?
I DID step on the scales -- do you think I should update my ticker? Or leave it as is for "inspiration"? Or is not changing it a sign of denial??? I'm so confused...
I think I'll be climbing the walls...
Wow. It sounds like you really had lots to get rid of. Good for you for taking the plunge. It really is the only way. It's so necessary to set yourself up for success. It's hard enough to succeed at weightloss, but living in a junk zone like you were, it's downright IMPOSSIBLE.
Now that you've gotten rid of all that junk, make sure to ADD in healthy foods and snacks. Baby carrots, celery, cucumbers, strawberries, grapes and other fruits and veggies. low fat cottage cheese, fat free yogurt. Canned tuna. Eggs. High fiber cereal. Fish. Chicken breast. Liots of spices. Sugar free ice pops. Chewing gum. Etc. Whatever you think will help you to stay on plan and SUCCEED.
Me, personally, I'd change my ticker, unless it's a pound or 2. Owning up to it, acknowledging it, is the first step to rectifying it. You simply can't change what you don't acknowledge.
As far as getting off the sugar, within 2 weeks time, probably less you will be feeling soooo much better. You will be amazed and wonder why the heck you didn't do it earlier. IMO, cold turkey is the only way to go and the only thing that "works".
Good luck to you. You CAN do this. I know it for sure!!! Keep us updated. We're all pulling for you.
I am a carb/fat addict, that is, Doritos have my name and address... So the only way I could cope initially was to do exactly what you did--OUT with them! All of them! And none can come back in. All I can tell you is the longer you go without them, the less hold they have over you.
you know, I have plenty of candies and chocolates in my storage pantry. I don;t intend to throw them out, as it would be a waste of money. But its not like I binge on them ever. Once in a blue moon when I feel like really treating myself, I'd hate to go back and say "gosh I wish it wasn't tossed". But if you feel that you would have no control over yourself if you kept them in your pantry, then by all means, toss them out to make it easier on yourself!
Edit: I should add that I had a sugar addiction before, but after realizing that the 10th bite never tasted as good as the first 2, I stopped after one serving.
Last edited by veggielover; 08-26-2007 at 02:08 PM.
Hi all!
Well, almost through day 1 ... hope this resolve lasts! I admire those of you who can have goodies in the house without binging on them -- wish I could be like that.
Thanks for all the support, and I'll keep everyone posted.
Maybe tomorrow I'll have the courage to update my ticker...
On a day-to-day basis, my tendencies lean toward meat/starch. When I'm on a diet where starches/sugar/refined carbs are a no-no, I have binge tendencies. And when I binge, it's on carbs/sugar--and I'm SO MUCH MORE likely to do that if the junk's in the house to tempt me.
When I'm at school, I keep only On-Plan friendly foods in my apartment, and it keeps me on track. It's a lot easier for me there than it is when I'm home on breaks and I have to face my parents' cabinets full of junk. When the junk's around, it's easy to say "Oh, one (insert thing here) tonight won't hurt"--and that one thing turns into an entire box/bag/package of things.
I've done the hauling out the cabinets thing before.
I am not a person for whom "just one" has had much meaning...
I wanted to add: Later on, after you've been on your program for awhile, some things can come back in the house, and you can learn to eat A SERVING of them. But I can't have ice cream in the house, and may never be able to.
Eleven Doritos is a serving, and as EZMONEY knows, I have an elaborate strategy for dealing with that, which involves Ziploc bags and high shelves.
(1 lb bars for "baking", as if I could cook brownies in my mouth...)
Freiamaya, you are truly an inspiration. Your great attitude and sense of humor is wonderful, especially for someone like myself, who can definitely relate to the inability to have trigger foods in the house. The only way I can handle it is if I count every single calorie that goes into my mouth, and if I don't have a set number of calories for the day before I start, I 'lie' to myself by not counting binge foods. It's just safer not to have that stuff around at all.
Anyway, I've been on a plateau for six months and I'm just starting to get things moving again, so I can sympathize and I really enjoy your posts.
Freiamaya: Maybe you could do what I did when I came back here this spring with my ticker? I had regained some pounds, so I left my original ticker intact in my sig, but added a second one with the regained pounds, like some sort of mini-goal to reach, until I was back at my lowest previous weight again. I felt like I would still have one ticker as an inspiration, and that the second one would prevent me from hiding behind my former glory or something. Of course, once the goal was reached again, I got rid of the second ticker.
As for the rest, I hope things will go alright for you. Getting rid of all the junk indeed looks like a good tactics; if we can't have it in the house, we can't have it, period. Later on, some things can be reintroduced, but at first, if this is what it takes, then something has to giv. (I always feel like I'm a bad hostess: when people come, there's nothing for them to munch on save for fruits and almonds. Well, they're not the ones who have to live with the extra weight and cravings, are they?)
Good for you for going through and deciding what you just didn't want in your house. Is it possible to donate some of the unopened stuff to a food shelter? They won't take opened stuff, but if you've got stuff still sealed, it might be an option.
Glad you mentioned the food bank -- as guilty as I feel about moving food crap from one home to another, the non-perishables DID go to our local food bank bin at our local grocery store. The ice-cream, though, went in the garbage
I love the idea of a mini-ticker, too...I'm screwing up the courage to actually post my new weight...
I've also started a thread on Support Groups for those of us who have fallen off the wagon and are trying to get back on --we'll see if this hits a chord with anyone.
I must say, the hardest part of this was listing what I threw out -- on the surface, we all want to have others think we are in control and eat well and do everything right. To actually admit to what I had was a bit difficult!
Thanks for all your support!!!!
I'll keep everyone updated...
Detox day 1 - HELP!
