A few things I have learned on my journey
1. If I go to bed just a bit hungry, not starving, just the feeling that I could eat a little bit, I will loose weight. Over a couple of days, the effort shows up on the scale.
2. I am a mom. I prefer, and do cook most meals at home, but there are times, where fast food just happens. There are only a few places I can stand to go to and not leave full of guilt. One of which is In N Out. It's a basic menu, they use basic ingredients, some of them even fresh not frozen. How can you not love that!?! If Panera Bread had a drive through, I would be all over that. I have learned that you can not only eat somewhat healthy if you choose right, you can even keep from gaining from the experience. I find that if I can just eat 1 serving of one thing I can enjoy the experience without stressing out. I use to figure and count and figure again to see what I could order, what would be the lightest, what wouldn't do any "damage". I find that by going infrequently when we do somewhere like In N Out, if I choose a burger, without cheese and with a few fries, I can enjoy the meal, not feel guilty and still stay within my goals. I think the key is to eat just enough to kill the hunger but not stuffed. Even allow yourself to be a little bit hungry at the end.
3. Remember that fat is important. We hear about good fats and bad fats. We know that too much fat is just as bad as not enough fat. Fat is what makes you feel full!! Ever notice you can just pack in the low fat carbs and never really feel full even though you have consumed a ton of calories? It's all about balance! One of my most favorite snacks in nuts. If you are feeling a little bit hungry, grab a handful of nuts and a glass of water. I have found that this kills the hunger and holds me until meal time.
4. I have heard that if you can purge yourself of sugar you no longer crave it. I always thought that hard to believe, probably because I was still getting sugar somewhere since it's a hard habit to break! While I was pregnant with my last baby, I didn't eat sugar for a space of time (I tend to loose my appetite with pregnancy because the baby pushes on the tummy and messes with that whole system) I realized that I wasn't craving sugar and therefore didn't miss it. I thought I would test this theory after the delivery. As soon as I would eat something with sugar, I found myself having cravings, strong ones! But as soon as I stopped eating the sugar for a few days, my control against it got stronger. My favorite thing to do in the evening (when my cravings can be all consuming) is to drink an herbal tea. Some herbal teas can have a sweeter flavor simply from the herbs themselves. I enjoy an added shot of milk which makes the drink get creamy. It's a wonderful evening treat. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I found that if I chill the tea first, it's just as good. Some nights, especially after eating sugar the day before or that day (life happens) I find myself drinking a few mugs of tea. For me, it's a great substitute for eating in the evening.
5. It is all about the water. We see it everywhere, we know we need to, but some days, I just forget to drink it!! Especially if it's not warm outside. But it's a must, must, MUST! A lot of times when we are craving food, it actually means we are thirsty!! Sometimes, if the tea just isn't working for me, if I chug a big glass of water, I can curb a difficult craving. Think of it as drowning your enemy!!
I do not have this perfected yet, I am still learning, but I am finding that this is working for me right now.
2. I am a mom. I prefer, and do cook most meals at home, but there are times, where fast food just happens. There are only a few places I can stand to go to and not leave full of guilt. One of which is In N Out. It's a basic menu, they use basic ingredients, some of them even fresh not frozen. How can you not love that!?! If Panera Bread had a drive through, I would be all over that. I have learned that you can not only eat somewhat healthy if you choose right, you can even keep from gaining from the experience. I find that if I can just eat 1 serving of one thing I can enjoy the experience without stressing out. I use to figure and count and figure again to see what I could order, what would be the lightest, what wouldn't do any "damage". I find that by going infrequently when we do somewhere like In N Out, if I choose a burger, without cheese and with a few fries, I can enjoy the meal, not feel guilty and still stay within my goals. I think the key is to eat just enough to kill the hunger but not stuffed. Even allow yourself to be a little bit hungry at the end.
3. Remember that fat is important. We hear about good fats and bad fats. We know that too much fat is just as bad as not enough fat. Fat is what makes you feel full!! Ever notice you can just pack in the low fat carbs and never really feel full even though you have consumed a ton of calories? It's all about balance! One of my most favorite snacks in nuts. If you are feeling a little bit hungry, grab a handful of nuts and a glass of water. I have found that this kills the hunger and holds me until meal time.
4. I have heard that if you can purge yourself of sugar you no longer crave it. I always thought that hard to believe, probably because I was still getting sugar somewhere since it's a hard habit to break! While I was pregnant with my last baby, I didn't eat sugar for a space of time (I tend to loose my appetite with pregnancy because the baby pushes on the tummy and messes with that whole system) I realized that I wasn't craving sugar and therefore didn't miss it. I thought I would test this theory after the delivery. As soon as I would eat something with sugar, I found myself having cravings, strong ones! But as soon as I stopped eating the sugar for a few days, my control against it got stronger. My favorite thing to do in the evening (when my cravings can be all consuming) is to drink an herbal tea. Some herbal teas can have a sweeter flavor simply from the herbs themselves. I enjoy an added shot of milk which makes the drink get creamy. It's a wonderful evening treat. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I found that if I chill the tea first, it's just as good. Some nights, especially after eating sugar the day before or that day (life happens) I find myself drinking a few mugs of tea. For me, it's a great substitute for eating in the evening.
5. It is all about the water. We see it everywhere, we know we need to, but some days, I just forget to drink it!! Especially if it's not warm outside. But it's a must, must, MUST! A lot of times when we are craving food, it actually means we are thirsty!! Sometimes, if the tea just isn't working for me, if I chug a big glass of water, I can curb a difficult craving. Think of it as drowning your enemy!!
I do not have this perfected yet, I am still learning, but I am finding that this is working for me right now.
I appreciated this list of your discoveries, Karen. The sugar cravings is something they've recently been talking a lot about - and this is two years AFTER you posted this. See how smart you are?! I haven't cut the sugar out yet, but it's at the back of my mind, lol. Right now, I'm just working on baby step #! - exercising every day.
ReplyDeleteYou also reminded me of a weightloss technique that my aunt taught me twenty years ago. She is a therapist who specializes in treating people with eating disorders - especially OVEReating. She councelled me to rate my hunger and fullness on a scale of 1-10.
1 = holy cow starving. Like you're gonna DIE kind of starving.
10 = holy cow stuffed. Like, you need to puke to make some room in your gut kind of stuffed.
She said you should only eat when you're between 4 and 6. Never eat when you're starving, never eat when you're full. And ONLY eat to a 7 or so ... leaving yourself just barely satiated. JUST LIKE YOU SAID!!
See how smart you are?
I lost twenty pounds just using that technique alone. I loved it because I could eat my Big Mac (which, shoot me, I love), but when I paid attention to my body, I'd only eat about half of it. So I still enjoyed everything I loved, I just ate LESS of it.
Now, things aren't as easy anymore. I've messed up my whole body and now I seriously don't even KNOW when I'm for real hungry or not. I need my brain to do the thinking because my body tells me lies. But I can definitely work on going to bed just a little hungry--not stopping to have that slice of peanut butter toast which I usually have right before bed, lol.
You are brilliant Karen. thanks for posting!