Yea....one more week left in this month. Normally I wouldn't care but March is going to be sooooooo busy. I can feel my thesis coming down hard on me but so be it. It needs to get done and hopefully it's all written by the end of March. I once again wasted a lot of time in February. I could be a lot further with my work but I'm so complacent about graduating. Maybe I'll start feeling the urgency in March.
I'm not happy about my food choices today despite the fun I had with my family in Cedar falls. We had a delicious Blooming Onion thing for an appetizer and it was very good but I didn't need to pick at it so much. I should have ate more of my salad. I also got a Double Mocha to drink on the way home because I wanted something to keep me awake. It occurred to me that I got fancy hot chocolate and didn't get coffee when I walked out. Yea, chocolate has caffeine in it but I needed more of a pick me up. I also got a candy bar to eat. I wasn't even hungry and I got a treat to eat in the car. Is it okay for me to scrutinize and criticize my eating so often? I feel like I'm so critical lately and I hate feeling guilty because of food. But maybe I should criticize or reflect often so I stop bad habits like unconscious eating and emotional eating. I just don't want to judge myself each time I have a treat or indulge in "bad food".
I still haven't written my life story as requested by Love Hunger. You'll see it posted randomly one of these days.
I'm now in the Modifying Behaviors Part II section of the book. The main focus is minimizing your contact with food. Reading that sentence makes me think that the topic is silly. You are always going to have food in your life. It's like the book's suggestion to never have food in sight in your home. It's not helping you develop a healthy relationship with food. Anyway....the book suggests that you prep your meals the night before so when you get home from work you can just put your casserole or whatever right in the oven and not torture yourself by searching the fridge or cupboards. I can understand this since a person's will power to eat healthy seems to diminish when we are famished or tired after a long day of work. They also suggest putting snacks in one specific place so you don't scavenge and come across things that you shouldn't eat on a regular basis. I try to keep all my snacks in the cupboard by my fridge so I don't see Tuna Helper and want to make that when I'm hungry. I miss Tuna Helper LOL.
They also ask you to think about when you do most of your impuse eating. I've already shared that I do mine at night usually. I'll wander into the kitchen when I'm watching tv at 10pm and think I need a sandwich or some left over pasta. I've done better with this during the past week though. I also make impulse decisions when I'm running errands while hungry and I'll want to visit Taco John's or some other high calorie establishment.
Many of these tips or suggestions can relate directly to Nicole's past blog entry. Prepping a meal the night before or not driving down the main road in your town to avoid fast food reminders may take up more time but they help you in the long run so you can override bad habits.
I know this blog is long already but there are only a couple more points left in my notes so I'll crank them out now. The chapter also talks about taking second or third helpings when having a meal. The book flat out states that you should not serve meals in a family style. You shouldn't bring the pot of food or casserole dish to the table. food should stay on the stove or it should be put into left over containers as soon as everyone has their helpings. Supposedly families are more likely to take additional helpings when the food is just sitting out in front of them at the table. Gavin and I aren't using our kitchen table yet but it's an upcoming goal. I always thought it was more family-oriented if you brought the food to the table but I can see the author's point. I just need to stick with my orignial plan and put away the left overs before I even eat so I'm not likely to over eat. Another valid point is that you shouldn't be afraid to throw food away. Sometimes it is just for the best.
Don't accept food you don't truly want! When does this happen? Do you always eat treats when someone brings them to work? Do you always reach into the candy jar when you're in the secretary's office? Do you always snack and overeat at your Grandma's? When else do you eat when you truly aren't hunger or interested in the food? As I hinted, I always seem to grab candy in the secretary's office at work. And when I visit my Grandma Stika, I always snack and I'm not always hungry.
Ok, this is plenty long enough. Until next time.....
1 comment:
Hehe...I liked the information in this entry of yours Jenny and I think it's funny that the exact same information is in the later chapters of Weigh Down...I kinda miss Gwen some times! I agree with you, serving food family style is nice (as its probably what most people are used to) but especially when we're alone it's probably good to put away the left overs before we eat. I know that I have a tendency to snack when putting the remainders of a meal away. I think I would feel awkward doing this if I had company...if my company wants 2nds and 3rds who am I to say no :) Along the same lines of getting temptation away, getting a take-out box when you're at a restaurant at the start of the meal is a good idea too. Very few places serve normal portions and that's an easy way keep yourself from over eating. Let's face it, how many times have you asked for a to-go box and while you waited the 5-10 minutes for the waitress to bring it back you kept picking? I know I have many times.
Last thing, I too have been feeling guilty about our choices but I think we could get ourselves in trouble with all of the guilt talk. I think instead of guilt over indulgences should be noted and corrected. If we start feeling guilty it just creates bad feelings about ourselves and then we lose motivation because we think we can't do it. I've had some serious guilt this week and I need to learn to not let it get out of control...just a thought, what do you think?
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