Idling/Boredom

[Shirl]

I just blogged about this but thought I post here for some advice and words of wisdom.
~.~

Okay gang, just keeping it real.

As I am waiting to hear from new job prospects, idling and boredom are getting the best of me!

I had a cup of coffee and found an old bag of mini biscotti in the pantry; I told myself I could have three and next thing I know I was reaching for the last one. There were only six, but still! Self-control was out to lunch.

I am not beating myself about the biscotti, but then about an hour or two later I ate two beef sticks even though I felt a little sick to my stomach. I just had this desperate need to chew/eat something; that is what is scaring me right now.

I know I have been letting my guard down, and I have made enough excuses, but the truth is that I need to get back on the wagon. I need to clean house! There are too many variables that are making me vulnerable to boredom eating, and I cannot allow that to take over. I have an appointment with my therapist in two weeks, and I am going to call to see if she can see me sooner. It seems like my autopilot is still not set on "make healthy choices" yet.

Please keep me in your prayers

[Sandra3]

Hi Shirl!

When you feel that way, just look at what you achieved! you already lost 3/4 of your goal!! that's huge! You are doing great!!

There's many reasons why sometimes we need sweets: could be because you're bored, could be because you're tired, it's TOM, you need iron...who knows...our bodies are complexes machines.

If it's just a one time thing just turn the page and don't think about it any more!
Life is made of ups and downs, it's ok to have cookies of biscottis once in a while ...as far as it's not everyday you are ok!

I don't think anyone can live on low carbs all the time. I know I can't. I do try my best to stay low during the week, I have a little more during the week end. So far it did work fine until a few weeks ago, I'm in the longest stall and haven reach my goal yet. But there's still time to lose, my surgeon was telling me in October it's possible to lose until at least 18 months out. So I'm looking at my next six months with high hopes
You have lots of time too. Biscottis are just some dry bread with sugar. It's not a mountain, it does crumble ;-)

Oh and I'm reading an excellent book : "The Secret Life of Fat: The Science Behind the Body's Least Understood Organ and What It Means for You by Sylvia Tara". It's not all in our heads....I already knew that but it's still feels good to read about it.

Take care my friend!

[Ann2]

Shirl,

I've been post-op for nearly 2.5 years. And so far as I can tell, there is no point at which I've yet been able to set my eating control permanently to PERFECT.

In other words, I predict I'll "fall off the wagon" for the rest of my life. But that's not the point. My "secret" is has been learning how to get back on the wagon as soon as possible, which I do by these behaviors.

* Getting trigger foods out of my house. I grew up in a huge family. There were no leftovers after a meal. And we did not waste food. Therefore, it's sometimes tough for me to throw away "perfectly good food." So throwing away food has become one of those things I've had to learn to do.

* After overeating, I hydrate well and eat clean at the next meal / the next day, which reduces my cravings faster. The longer I eat trigger foods, the harder it is to stop eating them.

* I weigh EVERY morning, no matter what I ate the day or night before. I refuse to be an ostrich anymore. I was an ostrich about my weight for years, even whole decades of my life. I am now accountable to myself, not anyone else, and I can't do that if I refuse to "look."

* I've learned by experience how long it takes me to recover from over-eating (one day of overeating takes several days of eating clean to recover; a weekend of overeating = a week of eating clean to recover; a week of overeating takes several weeks or even a month to recover). After going through this enough times I'm very motivated to get back on the wagon as fast as possible!

* I started out exercising mostly by walking. During the last year I've also joined some exercise classes (yoga, aquarobics, etc.). The accountability I feel as part of a group gets me out of the house and out of my head and back into the "healthy life" almost every day of the week.

* Positive self-talk helps. For instance, I started telling my husband that I'm a "senior athlete" (it was a self-deprecating joke), and now he repeats it to me (teasing, but also as a compliment). Sounds goofy, but that phrase has become an affirmation for me.

I sure didn't learn all this during Year One. Only by making "mistakes," observing what helps, and changing things up have I learned what works best for me. I can't imagine I can ever stop observing and refining what I do to stay healthy. And, as always, others' mileage may vary.

Finally, I don't think we need to be perfect to be successful long-term. The only requirement is not quitting.