I am a couple of days past my "Aha" moment and I have started to make a few changes. That instant was enough to get the ball rolling. Now I just need to find my own momentum to keep it going. Here are several things I am doing to follow up.
Last week I ordered a book entitled "50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food". While I never really considered myself an "emotional eater", I did recognize many of the behavioral patterns that I was utilizing. I am not sure this book is the magic ticket to solve my issues, but what it does do is help me focus on my situation and offer me alterative activities to eating when all I really have is the munchies. It's not so much that I found this particular book, but rather that I am reading something, something that will encourage me. I know from past successes that "focus" is one of my three big pillars to support a successful weight loss effort.
Another way to keep myself focused is to track what I eat. I always do this mentally and I have written a log down in the past, but it is so easy to get out of that habit, especially when you are out of control. Thanks to my dear SIL (you know who you are), I was directed to a website entitled My Fitness Pal. There are a lot of websites like this one out there, but this one struck me as easy and fun to use. I decided this was where I would track my food intake and exercise activity. It is a fun tool that helps to motivate me and keep me on track. They also have a weight loss ticker where I could upload my own photo to track my progress. Talk about custom! I decided to start it at this year's weight rather than my all-time high from last year. If I did that it would show an 11 pound loss, but I think I want to start fresh now. You can see it at the top of my blog.
I am currently on track for a very slow and gradual weight loss. This pace is just as hard if not harder, than a diet of extreme caloric restriction. In an extreme diet, I can say no to just about everything. This way, I will have to make difficult choices and avert temptation regularly. I will have to moderate my behavior. No more all or nothing. It doesn't do much for my impatience, but I know this is a healthier way to go. I may just have to wait for a year before anyone even notices a difference, but that's not what this process is about. This way takes a lot more self-control and is consistent with long-term maintenance. That is why I hope to keep the pace more moderate.
And on a final note, I am still trying to keep to two meals per day. Some days that just doesn't work, so I am hoping these new tools will help me adjust accordingly. One really cool feature that I used today on My Fitness Pal was I plugged in my dinner for today even though it is still morning. That's because this night of the week, Chloe and I always go to Panda Express after her gymnastics class. By entering my dinner meal ahead of time, it gave me the information I needed to plan out my lunch and avoid going over my daily goal.
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