Obesity Support Group
This community is dedicated to those of us struggling with obesity. Obesity is thought to be a significant risk factor in certain health conditions, leading to increased mortality. Find the support you need by sharing your story, asking questions, and learning from others on how they have coped.
I just joined this group and am looking for support. I am trying to get back on track with my food. I have about 80 pounds to release. Insanity for me is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Sigh....How many diets have I been on? The answer is too many to count. Therefore I am going to really try to work on my thought process in addition to eating healthy for my Type 2 Diabetes.
Based on a book I read, I am trying to treat my food, behavior etc as a bank account. Each time I eat healthy, exercise, take care of myself in a healthy way etc....I am making a "savings deposit". Each time I choose to overindulge, I am using a "spend withdrawal". If I want to release weight, I need to save more than I spend. If I want to stay the same, I want to balance my "saves" and "spends". My weight is the "debt" that I am trying to pay down.
The other thing I am working on is the the "differential" between the healthy food and what I want. For instance, is there a huge "differential" between healthy chili and greasy chili? I'm okay with healthy chili, so the "differential" is small and I can choose the healthy. However, what is the "differential" between a broiled chicken breast and cashew chicken? Well, that is huge. I need to allow myself the cashew chicken every now and then and watch my portion size when I do so.
The last part of this rule is "diminishing returns". For example; the first few bites of that cashew chicken is "awesome". You take it in your mouth and you really savor it. However, bite 10 or 15 don't have near the impact as bite 1 or 2. Therefore, the return on continuing to eat it diminishes with each bite. I can decide how much I want to "spend" as the enjoyment begins to diminish and balance it out with some veggies and some exercise.
The other thing I am working on it whether I am eating because I am hungry, craving something or desiring something and to be aware of the difference. Hunger begins in my stomach, usually accompanied by stomach growling. I can also usually identify hunger by how long it's been since I last ate. A craving begins in my mouth and then I am obsessed with it by my thoughts. My mouth will usually water and then I can almost "taste" what I am craving. My cravings are almost always sugar based because I am addicted to sugar. Sugar is my drug of choice. Usually desiring something comes after a meal in which I want something "extra".
Last week a co-worker showed me a candy bar another co-worker had given her. She then placed it in her desk drawer. I thought about that candy bar and "craved" that candy bar off and on all day much the same way an alcoholic would have craved a beer in the refrigerator. Normal "thin" people don't think that way. That candy bar "called" my name. I didn't indulge in that candy bar though because it wasn't mine to have. It was "someone else's" food. There were several times when my best friend and I were in the grocery store yesterday when I picked something up. My mouth would water which meant if I brought it home; I would eat it because of cravings. I would then tell myself..."that is someone else's food" and put it back.
Anyway, that is what I'm going to try to work on this week. I've been very lenient with my food and am really struggling. I hope I can get back on track as I don't want to have to take medicine for the diabetes I was diagnosed with a year ago. So far diet and exercise has worked. I want to be aware of when I am eating because I am hungry, craving or desiring something. At the same time; I want to be aware of how much I "save" and how much I "spend". I really want to pay down this debt of excess weight!
This also goes hand in hand with the concept of whether I am strengthening my "resistance" muscle or my "give in" muscle. Each time I resist spending and don't "give in" to the spending; it will get easier to resist those things that aren't healthy for me. I hope you all are having a great day.
Linda
Based on a book I read, I am trying to treat my food, behavior etc as a bank account. Each time I eat healthy, exercise, take care of myself in a healthy way etc....I am making a "savings deposit". Each time I choose to overindulge, I am using a "spend withdrawal". If I want to release weight, I need to save more than I spend. If I want to stay the same, I want to balance my "saves" and "spends". My weight is the "debt" that I am trying to pay down.
The other thing I am working on is the the "differential" between the healthy food and what I want. For instance, is there a huge "differential" between healthy chili and greasy chili? I'm okay with healthy chili, so the "differential" is small and I can choose the healthy. However, what is the "differential" between a broiled chicken breast and cashew chicken? Well, that is huge. I need to allow myself the cashew chicken every now and then and watch my portion size when I do so.
The last part of this rule is "diminishing returns". For example; the first few bites of that cashew chicken is "awesome". You take it in your mouth and you really savor it. However, bite 10 or 15 don't have near the impact as bite 1 or 2. Therefore, the return on continuing to eat it diminishes with each bite. I can decide how much I want to "spend" as the enjoyment begins to diminish and balance it out with some veggies and some exercise.
The other thing I am working on it whether I am eating because I am hungry, craving something or desiring something and to be aware of the difference. Hunger begins in my stomach, usually accompanied by stomach growling. I can also usually identify hunger by how long it's been since I last ate. A craving begins in my mouth and then I am obsessed with it by my thoughts. My mouth will usually water and then I can almost "taste" what I am craving. My cravings are almost always sugar based because I am addicted to sugar. Sugar is my drug of choice. Usually desiring something comes after a meal in which I want something "extra".
Last week a co-worker showed me a candy bar another co-worker had given her. She then placed it in her desk drawer. I thought about that candy bar and "craved" that candy bar off and on all day much the same way an alcoholic would have craved a beer in the refrigerator. Normal "thin" people don't think that way. That candy bar "called" my name. I didn't indulge in that candy bar though because it wasn't mine to have. It was "someone else's" food. There were several times when my best friend and I were in the grocery store yesterday when I picked something up. My mouth would water which meant if I brought it home; I would eat it because of cravings. I would then tell myself..."that is someone else's food" and put it back.
Anyway, that is what I'm going to try to work on this week. I've been very lenient with my food and am really struggling. I hope I can get back on track as I don't want to have to take medicine for the diabetes I was diagnosed with a year ago. So far diet and exercise has worked. I want to be aware of when I am eating because I am hungry, craving or desiring something. At the same time; I want to be aware of how much I "save" and how much I "spend". I really want to pay down this debt of excess weight!
This also goes hand in hand with the concept of whether I am strengthening my "resistance" muscle or my "give in" muscle. Each time I resist spending and don't "give in" to the spending; it will get easier to resist those things that aren't healthy for me. I hope you all are having a great day.
Linda
Snippy
See, you are trying g to change your way of tbinki g and that is what it takes for any diet go work I like your ideas though, good luck.
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