Have a Healthy Respect (Fear) for Food

Wait, I didn't type the title correct.  Right?  Yes, it is correct.  Respect the power that habits have and the possible consequences of not changing at all or releapsing.

Odds are that most of you reading this have had an unhealthy relationship with food at one time or another.  I've been there.  It doesn't seem like a big deal.  Everyone eats what I eat or how much I eat or when I eat or why I eat?

Research has shown how food has addictive properties.  Sugar, for instance, has shown the same reaction on the brain as hard drugs like cocaine.  It may seem like a silly thing to compare, but would you do a line of coke because your sad or bored.  Hopefully not, but we should have the same thought process about food.

Not only should we not cope with stress using food, we should not eat high sugar, high salt or high fat foods period.  We are asking for trouble.  Especially if we are trying to stop the habit carousel.  I didn't have the best weekend eating.  A bad meal on Friday and one on Saturday.  But that turned into craving more on Sunday.  Maybe it was a coincidence, but I respect food not to fool myself with self-talk like "Just one more time" or "I'll start tomorrow".  That day might never come!

216.2

The Ups and Downs of Calorie Consumption

As we lose mass, we don't need as many calories to get us through the day.  Kind of a bummer.  I work hard to lose weight and my reward is that I have to eat less!

Yes, but that is the wrong mentality.  Food is a fuel.  We don't need as much fuel when we don't have as much mass.  If we only eat for enjoyment or comfort, then fewer calories become an issue.  Since Christmas, I have lost exactly 25 pounds as of this morning.  That has also equated to a little over one hundred calories less I need a day.  It is really only two bites of a Snickers, but I kinda want those bites.

Just remember that long term when we are not trying to lose weight the caloric bounty can increase.  For me, I am trying to limit my caloric intake to 1000 calories less than my daily allotment.  So when I am done losing and am just maintaining, I get to eat +1000 but -100 or 900 more calories a day of bliss, I mean fuel!

Weight Loss Priorities part 2

When timing is right and you are ready to master your habits, food habits are much more important than activity habits.

Both should be done, of course.  But ingesting, or inhaling, food and calories can be done much quicker than eliminating calories.  It is much easier to overconsume than to overexert.

Try focusing on one area of your diet and not try to eat perfectly.
- lower fat
- more whole grains
- more fruits and veggies
- less calories
- less liquid calories from sodas or alcohol
- less snacking
- less eating out
- better balancing of your diet.

Use a logging tool to help yourself document.  It is very important to evaluate.  That is difficult if you don't understand the details of what you are doing.

Try www.loseit.com and friend me or comment here that you would like to be friends and we can encourage each other.

Weight Loss Priorities

The first thing to discuss with any habit change is whether or not the change is a true priority.  Many times the change is uncomfortable or difficult and procrastination becomes very easy.

Think about past failures.  If you consider a previous attempt that did not find success, did you routinely make excuses about why it was ok to eat this or not do some activity that you had promised yourself you would do. 

I have always believed that there are seasons in life for different things.  It may be that you simply are not ready to change.  Wanting to change can fall dramatically short of executing change for your own benefit.  When you have your priorities set for your habit management, then excuses won't exist.  You will simply do what you set out to accomplish.

If you are reading this shaking your head and saying to yourself that I don't know what you are going through right now.  Your right.  But I am right about your priorities not being focused on the success of your goals.  Doesn't make you a bad person, but you cannot stop trying.  Schedules improve, health gets betters, family isn't so crazy forever.  And then maybe the time will be right.

Or maybe you can reprioritize now.  Success is a funny thing.  We all are eluded by it until we really TRY to find it.  It is not found by accident.  You can do it!  216.2

What are you Giving Up?

Today is Ash Wedensday or maybe better known as the "day after Mardi Gras when I really don't feel like going to work becasue and ate and drank too much crap"!

Either way, religious or not, this Lent season is a good reminder about our opportunity to challenge ourselves to give something up.  In a religious setting, the reminder includes strengthening your relationship with God and remembering to rely on Him to help us through tough, even self imposed, challenges.

It is the perfect time to change a habit while increasing communication with your your diety of choice and make food not your idol.

217.2

Snowball is Rolling

Think longterm but act short term.  It is great to have longterm goals.  I hope to be at 185 by the end of the year. However, if my actions are constructed with the date in mind, there is a good chance that I will neglect healthy choices now and procrastinate.  Therefore, my actions are daily to get me to that goal.

I plan my eating and my activity.  If I neglect these things, I will not have success.  I don't know too many people that accidently lose a lot of weight.  There must be intent.

Once you create some new habits, it is not the same daily grind to get you through the day without your favorite fast food.  I am able to control my habits with much more ease that previously.  Don't give up or give in.  It will all come together.  As long as you keep trying to improve, you will find that success will be in your way!

216.6 today!  23.4 pounds down since Christmas.  About time for a new belt!

Plan your Eating Times Backwards

The toughest thing for me to do right now is to not eat late at night.  I get off from a second job at 10:00.  If I eat dinner too early, then I end up starving before bedtime.  Most of the time I can think of it as a challenge, to fall asleep without eating.  Other times, I give in,  and it usually is not the most wholesome of choices that I fill my belly with.

What options do I have then?

Well, if I am going to go to bed at 11:00 or 11:30, I should eat dinner about 3 hours before.  Then I schedule my snacks and meals in 3 hour segments.  My day ends up looking like B - 8:00, S - 11, L - 2:00, S - 5:00, D - 8:00.  This is my blueprint.  If the span will be longer, I try to eat more calories or drink water to supress appetite.  A 2,000 calorie diet might be divided as such: B - 500 cal, S - 200, L - 550, S - 200, D - 550 (again, a guideline).

See if planning will help your appetite.  218.6