Making this post very quick today as I don't have much time for writing (story of my life, it seems) what with juggling a variety of things. And the laundry situation at our house is getting pretty dire; down to the "emergency" underwear.
It seems the past several days I have not felt very well focused on WW and the program. Some of that I can attribute to the family Sunday lunch. Some of it is a result of the juggling of my time, and just not having (or making) the time to plan my meals so I'm making it up as I go along. That may not be the best way to approach this particular program, which obviously is going to work best when you can plan meals, shop in advance to have the good foods on hand, and so on.
But we are in the final days before the end of school (which is next Thursday in France) and getting my young step-son all squared away with various before-vacation appointments (orthodontist, eye doc) because after the end of school, the kids, the parents and the doctors all take off and nothing gets done until September. Fortunately we have a few weeks yet until we have to start packing for our own vacation in the south of France but in the meantime I feel like I'm just barely treading water here.
So I guess I have to stop stress-eating and be kinder to myself when I can't be in 100% control of what I'm doing, diet-wise. Sometimes maybe all you can do is the best you can do in that moment, even if it's not good enough -- and then let it go.
Now, gotta run to the next thing on my list, something I wasn't supposed to have to do but which now needs to be done. (Don't you hate when bloggers are cryptic?)
It doesn't work for me to eat lots of things I shouldn't when I am trying to lose. If I ate three cookies in one week, I probably wouldn't lose that week. I can't be as liberal as you are being and expect to lose but I hope it works for you. Of course it has a lot to do with activity level also. I need to be strict when I am trying to lose; when the scale doesn't go down a week, it's upsetting. That's one reason why I am really srict in the beginning because it can be so motivating when you see the scale go down.
ReplyDeleteAt WW meetings they tell you not to let anyone sabotage your diet. So if you ask waiters for no dressing, don't let them intimidate you just because that supposedly isn't done there.
Now all I need to do is stop telling other people what to do and stop eating so much myself. I'm disgusted with myself.
Sheila
(Commenting under anon as my Google Crap stopped recognizing me for no reason)
It is really hard to begin a diet during vacation...Just being aware and choosing to eat less, even if it is not a "perfect" food. One scoop instead of two, or fruit instead of ice cream is a step forward. Tonight I ate a real no-no for me...pasta! But I ate half a portion and let it go at that. Like my Doctor always says...aim for 80% compliance and you're doing fine. Onward!
ReplyDeleteGood one, Rebecca.
DeleteSheila
I was actually looking for your other post that showed up in my reader but not here? So much you wrote there, and here, resonates with me. Emotional eating, the way I understand it, is all about our unwillingness to *be* with the emotion, rather than to numb it away with food or wine. Going on a diet forces you to *be* with the emotions and that works for some people. Even the sense of deprivation that we often get when dieting is a form of emotional stress response that warrants deeper digging.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, whether we are counting things or trying to be more intuitive, I think you've identified one area that seems to be key for a healthier lifestyle: PLANNING. Meals, shopping, snacks, all of that. It's where I consistently fall short and trip myself up. And now that I think about it PLANNING has a lot to do with one of my main focus areas for making healthy changes: ATTENTION. Perhaps that's where the real key lies. To plan means to pay attention, and to give priority to what's important. I love this quote by Karen Maezen Miller:
"Attention is the most concrete expression of love. What you pay attention to thrives. What you do not pay attention to withers and dies."
That's what we need to learn: to pay attention to ourselves as an expression of love. It's food for thought :)
That post was a work-in-progress and I accidentally hit "publish" before I was ready. It's there now though. :)
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