well, now that i am actually paying attention, i have found out something interesting about my eating habits:

there is the food i eat because i am really hungry. and then there is the food i eat mostly for "entertainment." i am finding out that if i don't eat unless i am genuinely hungry, i don't eat very much at all!

and if further, when i am genuinely hungry, if i only make healthy choices, i feel a lot better both physically and mentally. especially if i pay attention to when i've had enough to eat, by eating slowly.

thanks for the tips on fruit and fruit juice. i'm cutting my fruit juice now with sparkling water, basically pouring just a shot of fruit juice into a full glass of sparkling water. and swearing off dried fruit entirely for now. and keeping the exercise level the same (already was doing something six days a week).

hubster didn't argue with me when i said i'm going to lose ten lbs. it really helps that i'm housesitting during the week and not with him. he brings all kinds of junk into the house (chips, chocolate, candied ginger)that tempts me. i'm going to ask him to hide it from now on.

My favorite drink is about a half cup of unsweetened grapefruit juice, and a bunch of soda water. Satisfies my craving for cold fizzy without a ton of calories. I can't do artificial sweeteners any more - they give me headaches.

Jodi

Jodi - you can't take Splenda either? Too bad. I think a lot of Arizona Diet Ginseng Green Tea. Didn't gain any over TD, but didn't lose any either. I am happy with that. My knee hurts, so no treadmill tonight.

Pique - what you said about only eating when you are truly hungry is very observant. I think we all have those habits. Today at school someone put a bag of those Rice Cracker/nuts/m&m treats on the table in the staff room. Amazing how many times I found my hand in that bag taking just a *little bit*! Salty/crunchy is very tempting for me. Right up there with smooth and creamy.

I've been slipping. Started with some Joyva halvah I nibbled on twice (that's two actual packages over time).

I won't weigh for a while, as is my wont. Just be depressing. Today I'm writing to ask for a pat on the back for a small triumph.

This evening in the supermarket (rarely shop. having so much around here to use up, especially in the freezer). Wandered by the candy aisle. Hmm, no - we are too out of the loop, to have those giant M&Ms I've heard so much about on line (HERE).

Ooh, Hershey kisses deeply discounted! OK. I'll get the large bag, just to be festive. Besides, what if we get snowed in and need calories? (that IS rich, isn't it?? THought acually crossed mind.) Likewise, three Cadbury bars plopped in cart. More emergency provisions. Besides, this IS after all, the only store in town that carries Cadbury and here I am.

Then my guardian angle (or an extraterrestrial force for good), physically took control of my body in the check out line after all my stuff was on the conveyer. It forced me to remove all the chocolate and return them to the aisle from whence they came. I watched this happen in a state of dissociation.

OK, so I DID nibble on a dozen or so of the chocolate gold doubloons my bank gives out in bowls all over the place (nagging suspicion it's a main reason for banking there). With all the exercise unwrapping the foil, it couldn't amount to that many net calories. I figure.

However, I'm requesting pat on the back for returning the stuff near check out. Or at least a pat for my guardan angel's doing so. Whew! Feel much better now than I would otherwise, I am sure. Come to think of it, I also deserve a pat for dumping a pound of overly sweet granola down the garbaga disposal. An experiment from the new health food supermarket where I went for food supplements and such.

Well, maybe only half a pat sutracting for the granola I had already eaten without gusto, so as not to "waste it" (before I had the good impulse about the garbage disposal. It's rescued me before) .

(Oddly, I was quite good on Thanksgiving itself, when my sons I went to a small but delicious buffet, and had a great time. I guess the foody atmosphere of the season finally hit me. That plus all the great recipes others have posted)

Well, congratulations Amanda, I am impressed! Mostly becaused you touched on a couple of my most irrational food behaviors. Deeply discounted chocolate kisses? I have often purchased unhealthy treats because they are on sale. Eating the granola so as not to waste it? A great deal of my extra weight came from eating food the kids were going to throw away.

Even today, I am faced with free donuts in the office. Free! Good ones! Think of how much money I will save by eating them!

Completely irrational. People will spend many thousands of dollars on anything that would guarantee weight loss. But I can't throw out $1.50 worth of the macaroni and cheese the kids didn't eat?

So, congratulations on your at least temporary rational behavior towards the chocolate and the granola!

O.K., but I am not the only irrational one. The women who work on the same floor as me (and it is mostly women) are horrified and aghast at the free donuts, bagels and cream cheese every Wednesday. They are all on diets. They will give speeches about the evils of donuts. They will not take one.

But. If someone takes the donuts and cuts them into four or five pieces each, they start disappearing. The wimminfolk stroll through the kitchen six or seven times each eating little pieces. All the donuts will be eaten (and I don't actually eat any).

So, apparently, there is a "how many calories can be in a fifth of a donut", then "what can one more hurt" thing going on here. Or maybe "there are fewer calories in the broken ones".

We are all nuts.

We are all nuts, aren't we? After weighing in at 160 (oops, I mean 94) the other day, I was so depressed, and then yesterday next morning, I weighed 157 again. So what did I do? Ate a bunch of Trader Joe's dark chocolate with almonds. *sigh*

Pats on the back to Amanda for putting the chocolate back.

Jodi

quote:

Originally posted by jodi:
Trader Joe's dark chocolate with almonds. *

Mmmmmmmm. That's good stuff. And you say I will lose three pounds? Worth a try . . .

Hallowe'en is the worst for the cut-donut crowd (including me). I'd never, ever buy and eat a full-sized candy bar. I honestly can't remember the last time I did.

But those little bite-sized Hallowe'en guys? Why, they're so small! I'll just have one, or two. OK, maybe a few more after lunch. One before dinner.

Shoot, I probably eat 2 full-sized bars' worth a day when they're around. That's why I was so proud of myself for not opening our gigantic Costco bag until 4pm on Hallowe'en.

quote:

Then my guardian angle (or an extraterrestrial force for good), physically took control of my body in the check out line after all my stuff was on the conveyer. It forced me to remove all the chocolate and return them to the aisle from whence they came. I watched this happen in a state of dissociation.

for some reason i found this hysterically funny. must be further degrumping going on.

that's great, amanda! you go!

for me, the best strategy is to simply not allow any of that stuff in the house. i will say though that i am no longer tempted by unhealthful candy bars. take a vacation from all forms of sugar for a week or two and it really changes your palate. that stuff tastes like poison to me now, and i used to be a sugarholic.

Shopping. I went SHOPPING today. Just for me. And I fit my behind into 10's. TENS, I tell you. Ok, so they're not the same as the old 10's I wore in college , but still. I was in a 14 not too long ago. I was so excited, and they were so cool looking, that I even bought a pair that weren't on sale (shhhhhhh, don't tell) At the Gap. They are one of the few stores that has stylish jeans that come in longs.

Jodi 91#, on her way to 80 sometime next year.

Jodi, you *rock*!

I just bought new pants last week, too, and they weren't on sale, either. But they fit! And they were a lot smaller than the ones I couldn't wear for two years because they had "shrunk" in the washer. Which are now swimmingly big.

Me too, me too! Buying new skinny jeans is fun! I even bought hip-huggers. Way to go, Jodi and Michelle. I've been kind of *stuck* for awhile, but I'm okay with that because I know I will get there eventually.

#76

So, I'm on a freakin' diet.

I'm trying to loose 25 lbs. Weight was never an issue with me, but for the last six/eight months I went out to lunch EVERYDAY. Either for business ('da boys) or with the wife.

Now I eat (since Thanksgiving,) salads and lots of citrus (juice orange, navel orange, clemintines, tangerines, tangelos, grapefruit of a couple different variety, and a couple of different kinds of lemon trees on the property--juice oranges are especially good after all of the hurricanes.) I lost 5 lbs.

I hate this fat thing. Or maybe it's this getting old thing. (Hmmm....could be a too much beer thing...nah!) But, whatever it is: I DON'T LIKE IT.

tomk, fatman (i'm gonna do some photoshopping)