It sure seems that way sometimes! As soon as you decide to start to lose the weight, that's when you get coupons in the mail from Dunkin Donuts saying "Try our NEW Triple Chocolate Bakery Items and Mocha Coffee" - why couldn't I have gotten that LAST week when I wasn't trying to lose weight? LOL
So has anyone else noticed that as soon as you try to eat better, or exercise more that's when all these things pop up, deals for tempting but unhealthy foods, family members encouraging you to have a little more dessert, etc. How do you resist temptation, especially in the early days of weight loss, when it seems so easy to give in to temptation and just start over tomorrow?
Getting coupons etc is the one time when I really try to think long-term. Or longer term than "today".
If I had got that deal and consumed those calories last week when I wasn't trying to lose weight, those calories would still be affecting me today because it would be extra that I would have to lose.
Does that make sense?
So, it doesn't matter whether I took the great deal on donuts last week, this week or last year, the effect it will have on my weight and my health will still exist!
Don't regret that they weren't on offer last week. Be thankful that you managed to avoid adding extra work to your journey! And you can throw those coupons away, smiling and knowing that you're better off without it.
Yup- I join a biggest loser challenge and work and TWO days later my section has a pizza party- I didn't go because I didn't want to be around the temptation. THEN it was my good friend's bday and we went out to dinner (I did well though) and today my sister just got a new job and wants to go out to dinner to celebrate and I'm like NOO!!! Congratulations but go out and eat without me lol.
Oh honey, it never ends. It will happen a week from now, a month from now, a year from now...every holiday, birthday, party, pot luck, wedding, funeral, baptism, confirmation, anniversary, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays...You get the drift. There will ALWAYS be temptations. Throw the coupon away with all the other clutter you toss in the trash. Junk food is just clutter on your hips and arteries.
Haha, I do feel like this sometimes. I try (with varying degrees of success) to view it as a bonus challenge, and try to twist it.
On a recent business trip 2 things really made me feel like this.
First on my way to the airport, I looked up my gate. I then purposely got dropped off at a different terminal about 45 extra minutes early. It was about a mile walk from where I got dropped off to my actual gate.
Anyway I get through security and see that they have moved my gate, and by some miracle (out of 4 terminals and over a hundred gates) they moved it to a gate literally right in front of where I was now standing. Seriously???
I was ticked at the "winds of fate" so I decided to walk all the way to where the old gate was and BACK, so about twice as far as I originally anticipated. After doing that I felt like I had won
Then I get to my hotel after eating really well all day, go into my bedroom and on the pillow is not the typical small mint (which I don't like). Instead it was an entire regular size bag of M&M's. Seriously???
Fortunately I had a moment of willpower and actually tore open the bag and dumped them in the trash, before I was overcome later.
On the opposite end of the spectrum I recently had to go to a friend's b-day party at a BBQ restaurant. I spent the day pondering what I was going to order to stop from going too far off plan. We get there and it turns out it was an all-you-can-eat rib buffet with meat, bread, potato salad, and coleslaw....that's it. The "world" got me that time
I sort my mail by a paper shredder. If it's not a bill or a letter from Grammy, it goes through the shredder. Any grocery store circulars I'm interested in I can get online and the only coupons that come are for heavily-processed junk that I won't let myself eat. So, the shredder is my temptation avoider. Half the time, I don't even know the coupon exists.
You MUST ignore all that stuff. There will ALWAYS be temptation around you, people wanting you to eat this and that. Always. You have to put on blinders and ear plugs and STICK WITH YOUR PLAN - YOUR CONVICTIONS. Make this a priority. You have to decide to do this once and for all and permanently and not care one bit about anything or anyone else. Period. Decide to lose the weight, commit to lose the weight and all that temptation will no longer be AS tempting - because you've decided that nothing else matters but getting healthy. COMMIT to do this and it shall be done Start thinking about your longterm satisfaction instead of your immediate gratification. Stop settling for things that taste good just temporarily. Want things that taste good AND are good for you, long after you're done chewing. Plan out your foods IN ADVANCE, know what you're eating ahead of time for each and every meal and snack. Have the foods ready to go - makes is much easier to resist all that temptation.
If you want it badly enough you'll find a way, if not you'll find an excuse. Decide what it is you want MOST in your life and then resolve to pay the *price* to get it.
Last edited by rockinrobin; 02-06-2010 at 07:20 AM.
I think it is more your becoming more aware of it because you are trying to do something new and different.
Had you NOT started a change, this stuff being around wouldn't be "popping out" at you so much.
It's always a part of the background noise.
How I resist temptation depends on what it is.
If I know it is a trigger food, I just don't buy it. Resisting once at a store is a lot easier than having to resist a zillion times once it is home.
If it is a celebration, I try to think about how to celebrate the person rather than the party menu. There's always another party, it isn't like there's a shortage of birthday cake or something. I rather wait til it is my OWN bday and have the cake then.
no it never ends! Since I have been on my journey, I have noticed how many TV commercials are about food. And rarely good food, although the current commercials by the broccoli produces may be an exception. LOL
I am watching most of my shows these days after recording them on the PVR so I can fast forward through the commercials. THis helps a lot.
BUt truthfully, our food addictions are like any other, we have to learn to be around people who can handle their food. I have a party tonight and superbowl party tomorrow, will need a plan to survive!
If you live in America, the world IS out to sabotage your weight loss efforts. Sadly, we're a culture of instant gratification and we're steeped in a bunch of traditions surrounding food. And in my family, and I'd venture to say most families, there are NO traditions surrounding any kind of movement. No annual 5K's, no annual hikes, no annual family bike rides, no annual relay races, no annual track and field events.
Hmm...I'm feeling motivated to shake things up in my family a bit. What do you suppose are the chances of scheduling a hike with extended family this summer?
I don't deprive myself. Last night I had pizza. But I had fruit smoothie for breakfast and cottage cheese for lunch. I try to plan ahead when I know I am going to be eating something that is heavier.
But there are things that I refuse to do. My family really wanted to go to the Chinese Buffet last night. One of our old fave places. But I didn't want too. That is just too much temptation for me at this time. Not to mention the money I would spend to eat very little. I tried to get them to go without me. But in the end. They didn't want too. We chganged our plans. I know in the future this will come up again. I may be ready for it someday, but just not now. Now to convince them to just go! LOL!
Last edited by losinginillinois; 02-07-2010 at 02:39 PM.
I know what you mean! Since the beginning of this month alone my mother has invited me out to eat at two different buffets AND I got a coupon from my grocery store for a FREE pint of Ben and Jerry's! FREE!!! lol Before I started to lose weight my mom almost never invited me out to eat and I have never received a coupon for free ice cream before... Maybe I'm just more sensitive to alot of things now that I'm losing weight (like food commercials and stuff), but these events seem suspiciously like intentional sabatoge to me.
Maybe start keeping an eye out for motivations, or good temptations.
Like is there a gym or sporting goods store that you go by during the day that is just begging you to go in? Are there fresh fruits and veggies at the grocery store that are dying to hop into your cart? Are you sneakers and socks by the door just saying "put me on." Do you have friends trying to tempt you to go for a walk?
I hang all my pretty lululemon work out clothes in my closet - they tempt me to put them on and sweat in them. I get emails from all my local yoga studios about the different classes and offerings. I can't even go to work without driving by my gym! It's so unfair, how can I resist these things?!
I agree with everyone else that there is always going to be temptations out there especially when you are trying to make changes in your lifestyle and eating habits. I also think that reacting/dealing with those temptations is the only key to longterm weight loss and sustainability.
Hang in there and take it one temptation at a time. The more you say no or opt for a healthy choice, the easier it will get. I promise you that!
Does it ever seem like the world's against you?
