I can not believe that it is Saturday and Christmas is almost here! This past week has been chaos, stressful and a battle with poor choices. Last week I posted about why cheat meals don't work for me and the past few days have proved that cheat days just make things worse for me in more ways then I realized.
I believe that bad food addictions are much like alcoholic addictions, here's why... In July my dad passed away from heart and liver issues that came from being an alcoholic for the last 30+ years. About 2 years ago he was faced with the news this his liver was beginning to fail and told if he stuck to a certain diet and stopped drinking then he would be able to sustain and live longer. He would do great for a few months eating well, not drinking, happy, healthy, alert and get to spend great time with the kids and I and then stress or overwhelming emotions would come and cause him to take a drink, thinking that just one drink would be okay. But the problem with alcoholics, much like food addicts (or any other addictions for that matter) is one never is just one and often that one cheat sends you into a downward spiral and it often takes a week or sometimes a few weeks or a month to regain control and realize that you are killing yourself and straighten up.
It's so simple yet some days so hard. Good food choices make me feel great about myself and great healthwise. Bad food choices make me feel awful about myself and make me physically sick and in pain. Stick to the plan and be well, cheat (even once) and be sick. Seems like a simple choice and I can not tell you how many times I thought the same about my dad. How could he drink knowing it will kill him? Why can't he just see that he wants to live, to see his grandkids etc and that be enough to keep him clean?
But it't the exact same for me? I know sticking to it equals weight loss and health, 8 days of sticking to the plan equaled 8 lbs lost and no cronhs pain then 5 days of not sticking to it equals no loss and feeling sick.
There are days as a stay at home mommy of a 4, 3 & 2 year old that are just plain stressful. After 5 days of being trapped inside by 6ish inches of snow on top of 2 inches of ice, topped with pms and every other emotion that life throws at you, one simple cheat turns in to 4-5 days of cheat after cheat after cheat. But all are lessons learned.
Planning for success in all different situations is the key to success for me. I have been working on healthy replacements but need to continue to create all kinds of replacements for all kinds of different situations. The problem areas for me right now are stress eating, eating on the go, snacks and weighing daily. Weighing daily causes to many emotions! If I lose some of course its exciting, but if I don't lose or somehow gain it can be so discouraging.
For this coming week my goals are to stay with no soda (I'm up to 13 days with no soda!), get back on no sugar, no dairy & no gluten and stick to it NO MATTER WHAT. Keep up with 5 days a week Burst Fit (review coming soon), only weigh on Mondays, plan out all meals, even snacks & find some simple lil quick work outs I can have to do when I get stressed. Nothing major just some quick calorie burners to give me some happy endorphins!!! After all in the words of the great Elle Woods....
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Wow 13 days no soda is amazing!!! That is my biggest downfall and I know that in order to lose some weight I need to kick that habit.
ReplyDeleteI agree, food can be one serious addiction. In some ways- as silly as this sounds- it's the worst kind of addiction. The effects aren't as severe as drugs or alcohol, but the problem with food is you can't just quit eating. You HAVE to eat to live. While traditional addicts can have cravings or urges, food addicts never get to fully "kick" their habit. The trick is obviously to learn to eat the proper foods for the proper reasons. I myself have yet to learn these valuable lessons, despite having all of the actual knowledge. It is one frustrating battle.
ReplyDeleteI struggle with the same thing. My addiction to pastries is seriously just as bad as any alcoholic!
ReplyDeleteGreat job giving up soda!! I don't like soda myself, but I know I couldn't go that long without a danish... :(