Originally Posted by Glory87:
This might sound silly, but I had two "mantras" I use (and sometimes still use) to defuse binge scenarios.

The first is "dripping water can eat through stone" - just to remind myself of the hundreds of little things I do every day to stay thin (stopping at the store to buy berries, even if I don't feel like it, taking the stairs at work, not the elevator etc). The second one is "my hand, my mouth" just to remind myself that eating/being overweight is not something that happens TO ME but it is something that I control. Even recently, it has stopped me from eating foods I didn't want to eat by just whispering "my hand, my mouth" a few times until I was able to throw it away (I'm sure anyone that heard me would have thought I was a kook!)

If home is the problem, I have a few suggestions.

1) Get rid of everything that might sabotage you. Fill the frig with healthy foods (baby carrots, chopped up vegetables in pretty tuppereware), put fruit in pretty bowls on the counter. I made weight loss ATTRACTIVE by making all my tools pretty - I have lovely stackable measuring cups in pretty colors, for example.

2) Menu plan for at least one week. Sit down TODAY and plan 3 meals, 3 healthy snacks for every day (it's okay to eat a lot of the same things if it doesn't bother you, makes shopping easier). Go to the store. Buy only the foods on your list. When you get home, do as much in advance as possible. Make a huge pot of soup, baggie up veggie snacks to be ready to go, chop fruit.

3) Think of a system of rewards :) I shamelessly bribed myself - pretty sandals, fancy haircut, pedicure, massage, new clothes. Nowadays, I would probably let myself buy an iTunes song everyday that I ate onplan and worked out!


4) Take before pictures and before measurements. Chart your weight loss. As you start to lose weight, it's so nice to see the chart start to go down. It's so nice to compare measurements (I weighed every week and measured once a month). I really wish I had some candid before pictures as a comparison, I was terrified of cameras - it's very sad, I would guess that less than 20 pictures of me exist for the 5 years I was really heavy (and I'm including work IDs and driver's license!) Now that I'm maintaining, I LOVE to look at my weight loss chart, my measurements chart and my old pictures - it's fascinating. I also kept a big pair of jeans that I like to try on and watch them fall off me still buttoned, hugely motivating and satisfying.

5) Figure out strategies for fighting nighttime overeating (a LOT of people have this problem - personally, I'm an afternoon snacker, which I trace back to long boring afternoons as a latchkey kid, not allowed to go outside, nothing to do but watch TV and eat). Some tips I have used/heard other people suggest:

A. Plan a healthy snack after dinner that is really yummy, you look forward to and is easy to portion control. Like, a baked apple with a few walnuts. Takes a while to make so you can't immediately eat another one!
B. Declare the kitchen "closed" after dinner. Do NOT go in the kitchen if you can help it.
C. Brush your teeth, rinse and floss. I don't like to eat things when my mouth is all minty.
D. This one might be tougher since you have a 3 month old, but try to leave the house.
E. Pick up a hobby that keeps your hands busy - if you're a control freak like me, wow, counting crossstitch is appealing! Oh, you have a new baby - make them a cute felt Christmas stocking - you know the ones, with lots of little pieces to cut out and lots of sequins. When you get done with his, make one for you and one for your man!
F. Keep a food journal. This may sound silly but it WORKED for me, I was able to figure out when/why I usually overate (afternoons because I was bored). Record everything you eat and what you were feeling when you ate it.
G. Lots of herbal tea. Lifting the hand to the mouth can be soothing. I like Stash blueberry!

Fantastic advice, Kudos! Thanks Glory87, you are bang on.

i know how you feel, i have excuses too. i too am with a heavy guy and i am in college, so not a lot of time to devote to health.
but i made the decision to start. and now? i don't want to stop. nothing beats that feeling of seeing the scale go down, even a little. the more you do it, the more you will want to do it. you just need to take those first few steps and get into your groove.

I was able to avoid some junk food since reading Glory87's post and used the "my hand, my mouth" mantra adding "my choice". It didn't work every time, but it worked several times....

Are you nursing the baby? If so, there is a forum for nursing mothers. A new baby means lots of changes in your life and considerable stress if s/he doesn't sleep when you need to sleep. I think you said you work full-time, so you may be worn out. I would add to all the really good suggestions posted already that you need to be good to yourself. Simplify your life, eat well because you will feel better. Don't do anything that you absolutely don't have to do. Don't set unrealistic goals - go with the water wears away stone idea...don't even think about any "loose five pounds in five minutes" plans! :lol: You can do it!

Tom
 

Thanks guys for all the replies I really appreciate it. I had a really bad week this week, its been that TOM though and hormones are all out of whack I guess cause I've been craving chocolate and I usually don't eat it all that much. I'm going to try not to stress about what I did yesterday and I'm not going to worry about the 70lbs I need to lose. I'm going to start taking it just day by day, moment by moment. Dripping water!!!! I'm going to start repeating this to myself. Here's to a better week coming up.
Weigh in is Sunday we'll see what the damage is then.