I can only be good for so long. I can only resist DQ treats and various other treats for so long. Then the dam opens and I cram it all in in one day.....or in a very short few hours.
The trough at work was overflowing with welcome-back cookies, cake, fudge brownies, peanuts, chips, you name it. I managed to resist until after lunch at which point my stressful day caught up with me. Then it was excuse after excuse: "I deserve this brownie; my day was stressful". Or the "I've been so good, I owe it to myself" excuse. All is fine and dandy until one brownie turns into two brownies turns into 4 brownies turns into a handful of sugar coated cashews. Ugh.
Somewhere in there, I thought I would not record it in myfitnesspal, but for some reason made myself do just that. Had I stopped at just one brownie, I would have been just fine as they weren't that high is calories and totally doable, but before I entered it, I had convinced myself that I was going to sabotage my day. Had I been a little more "mindful" and entered that first brownie, I would have stopped at that one and not go back for numbers 2, 3, or 4. Oh yeah, I forgot the peanut M&M raid at my mom's house. Yes, it was a day of excuses, a day of temptations, and a day of indulging.
However, all is not lost. I recorded all that food and as it stand right here and now, I am NOT over my calories for today (I haven't had dinner yet). Not sure if I will have dinner, but even if I DO have dinner, I will have a light dinner. I will likely go over my calories, but not by much considering the lack of self control I exhibited today.
All that rich food did not sit well in my tummy. I walked the dogs after work, and nearly had to drop a dookie in the forest! I was either going to ralph up or squirt out, and I wasn't sure which one it would be or how it would happen. Thankfully, I was able to keep all fluids inside and now have a horrendous bellyache (which is why I may or may not eat dinner)----a not-so-gentle reminder of why it is not good to over indulge.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Delaying Gratification
An amazing phenomenon happened today. Something that has never happened before and is unlikely to happen again. I went to the DQ with a friend today. In and of itself, that is no big feat. However, I DID NOT GET ANYTHING. I sat and watched her eat a mediocre looking hot fudge sundae. It was hard, yes, but I assessed the situation, weighed my pros and cons, and decided to forgo what would have been my second DQ of the week.
It would be so much easier to resist such things if the gratification for RESISTING was immediate. Like if I stepped on a scale and saw that I had lost a pound or something. Instead, you get that immediate gratification for indulging.
But here is how shit went down today:
Friend called and invited me on a hike.
Friend suggested we go to the DQ afterwards.
My thought process kicked in as such:
A). I just had a DQ
B). Is it REALLY worth the 700 plus calories (yes, my DQ treat was 724 calories or some ungodly number)?
C). I began searching for a "smarter" option and found that a small chocolate dipped cone was doable with around 180 calories. So, I had that in the back of my head to order; only when the time came, I weighed the pros and cons of getting that cone then and there. I really wanted ice cream I had in my freezer which was around the same calorie content but much more pleasing for my taste buds. I don't particularly care for chocolate dip cones. If I couldn't get what I wanted, I wasn't going to get anything at all. So I didn't.
So I declined and waited to be "gratified" after my dinner with my own ice cream. Glad I did. Whew, this is hard work!
It would be so much easier to resist such things if the gratification for RESISTING was immediate. Like if I stepped on a scale and saw that I had lost a pound or something. Instead, you get that immediate gratification for indulging.
But here is how shit went down today:
Friend called and invited me on a hike.
Friend suggested we go to the DQ afterwards.
My thought process kicked in as such:
A). I just had a DQ
B). Is it REALLY worth the 700 plus calories (yes, my DQ treat was 724 calories or some ungodly number)?
C). I began searching for a "smarter" option and found that a small chocolate dipped cone was doable with around 180 calories. So, I had that in the back of my head to order; only when the time came, I weighed the pros and cons of getting that cone then and there. I really wanted ice cream I had in my freezer which was around the same calorie content but much more pleasing for my taste buds. I don't particularly care for chocolate dip cones. If I couldn't get what I wanted, I wasn't going to get anything at all. So I didn't.
So I declined and waited to be "gratified" after my dinner with my own ice cream. Glad I did. Whew, this is hard work!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Avoiding the Trough
Seems like those days that I have to work, I struggle a bit more to remain under my calorie goal because I don't get nearly the exercise in AND work is a constant trough of FOOD!
Immediately upon entering the unit at work, I was faced with a homemade bundt cake, homemade chocolate chip cookies, and homemade bread with homemade jam. UGH!!! All so YUMMY, but oh so BAD.
However, I did great!
I had only ONE cookie and one piece of bread, both of which I recorded on myfitnesspal. Temptation is everywhere and its so hard to resist. Especially when overly stressed or overly bored. To have the most delicious food ever staring me in the face at work is about the most difficult temptations to resist. Its accessible, its always present, and quite convenient. Not to mention delicious!
For some reason, I was able to resist yesterday and today I had a small pay off. Finally, the scale budged. Ever so slightly, but it moved. And it moved in the right direction!
Immediately upon entering the unit at work, I was faced with a homemade bundt cake, homemade chocolate chip cookies, and homemade bread with homemade jam. UGH!!! All so YUMMY, but oh so BAD.
However, I did great!
I had only ONE cookie and one piece of bread, both of which I recorded on myfitnesspal. Temptation is everywhere and its so hard to resist. Especially when overly stressed or overly bored. To have the most delicious food ever staring me in the face at work is about the most difficult temptations to resist. Its accessible, its always present, and quite convenient. Not to mention delicious!
For some reason, I was able to resist yesterday and today I had a small pay off. Finally, the scale budged. Ever so slightly, but it moved. And it moved in the right direction!
Friday, March 9, 2012
Working for Nothing
Its been a while since I last posted, but don't take that to mean defeat. In fact, quite the opposite has happened. I have once again got on the healthy eating bandwagon in large part due to the myfitnesspal app that has now infected almost the entire unit at work. Because other people were attempting this most challenging feat, I thought I had better not give up now. Plus its good for me.
So I have been doing pretty darn good. Getting in lots of exercise, allowing treats of ice cream or what not when I have calories to spare, and trying to make the healthier options.
Yes, I have been doing well, but my weight hasn't really paid attention to that and has just remained stagnant.
Its OK. Really it is. It just seems like an awful lot of work for no gain.....or rather for no loss.
I do need to give myself props for yesterday's choices though. I didn't bring my lunch to work and chose instead to be at the mercy of the cafeteria. Always a tricky endeavor. It was a real challenge to not get into that "day off" mentality where I just eat whatever I want because I "can't" eat healthy one time during the day.
But I didn't.
Instead, I made a decent choice for lunch (BLT with kettle chips...chose milk instead of pop. I even had the glass in my hand at line at the soda fountain, put it back, and opted for milk). Then, because I "cheated" at lunch, I gave myself permission to "cheat" even more and got a large cookie for dessert. Normally, I would have ignored the day and not recorded my food; however, I decided to record my food on my phone app yesterday to find out that I had enough calories for a light dinner. So, I just made whatever for dinner, and recorded that. Only to have my calories equal "0" for the day meaning I ate every single calorie allowed to me. No more. No less.
But then, but then, I went for a fabulous ski. It was a push because weather was cold, blustery, and a bit snowy. Once I got out there, it was wonderful and I skied solidly for over an hour. That put my calorie count into a surplus. Oh, I seriously considered coming home and eating ice cream, but didn't.
What was sure to be a failure day turned out to be a huge success.
Still, this seems like a whole lot of work for no tangible reinforcement.
So I have been doing pretty darn good. Getting in lots of exercise, allowing treats of ice cream or what not when I have calories to spare, and trying to make the healthier options.
Yes, I have been doing well, but my weight hasn't really paid attention to that and has just remained stagnant.
Its OK. Really it is. It just seems like an awful lot of work for no gain.....or rather for no loss.
I do need to give myself props for yesterday's choices though. I didn't bring my lunch to work and chose instead to be at the mercy of the cafeteria. Always a tricky endeavor. It was a real challenge to not get into that "day off" mentality where I just eat whatever I want because I "can't" eat healthy one time during the day.
But I didn't.
Instead, I made a decent choice for lunch (BLT with kettle chips...chose milk instead of pop. I even had the glass in my hand at line at the soda fountain, put it back, and opted for milk). Then, because I "cheated" at lunch, I gave myself permission to "cheat" even more and got a large cookie for dessert. Normally, I would have ignored the day and not recorded my food; however, I decided to record my food on my phone app yesterday to find out that I had enough calories for a light dinner. So, I just made whatever for dinner, and recorded that. Only to have my calories equal "0" for the day meaning I ate every single calorie allowed to me. No more. No less.
But then, but then, I went for a fabulous ski. It was a push because weather was cold, blustery, and a bit snowy. Once I got out there, it was wonderful and I skied solidly for over an hour. That put my calorie count into a surplus. Oh, I seriously considered coming home and eating ice cream, but didn't.
What was sure to be a failure day turned out to be a huge success.
Still, this seems like a whole lot of work for no tangible reinforcement.
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