MmmCarb's Journal

[Mrs. Doodlepunk]

I have started messages to you several times but never posted them because I just feel like I'm not qualified to tell you anything! You have done SO much better than I have, I've been on this board from the start and am just now figuring out how to do this program right. So I shouldn't be giving advice. I think you know just what to do, and are already doing it!

Anyway, it sounds like you're on the right track. Each day without SAD it gets easier. Once you let that monster out of the cage, it takes some work to kill it off!

I think that when battling the cravings monster, it helps to just eat. Legal food, doesn't matter how much. If you think about eating a SAD thing, eat a potato or two instead. That is what I have done. Also when craving sweets, I just eat fruit. The other day I ate a whole honeyrock melon.

[MmmCarbs]

I have started messages to you several times but never posted them because I just feel like I'm not qualified to tell you anything! You have done SO much better than I have, I've been on this board from the start and am just now figuring out how to do this program right. So I shouldn't be giving advice. I think you know just what to do, and are already doing it!

Hey, I learned a lot from your old posts in the no processed food challenge, and your offsite blog

The other day I ate a whole honeyrock melon.

I love to eat a whole melon. I did this daily at work last summer. People finally ran out of comments.

[MmmCarbs]

Boy I really considered not reporting the "Oops" today. But there it is, bit of peanut butter, and vending machine Doritos.

My bag lunch was so inadequate today I am proud of myself for not ignoring it and having Subway. The Oops? The peanut butter, well it was in front of me for 8 minutes while I nuked my 2 taters at work. I kinda woke up and stopped myself after a taste.

The Doritos? Well, I had nothing left in my bag except a half-melon that smelled like it had gone overripe already. And I just wasn't wanting sweet just then. And perhaps the biggest factor-- I had promised myself to not go to work this weekend (unlike the last 4-5 weekends), which meant I had to finish some stuff I just have to do before Monday and cannot do from home. And naturally, I hit a snag with it that took me longer than I wanted to resolve. So I ended up staying at the office until 11:30. This made me feel pretty grumpy and miserable and my brain was barely even working well enough to finish my work, and I just reached the 'heck with it' point. It was vending machine, or the overripe melon. I didn't even try to pick 'best choice' from the machine.

It's a spiral with the working too many hours, then I get low on groceries, then my packed lunch gets inadequate, then 'heck with it, I'm hungry'.

So I faced inadequate groceries when I got home, too, but I at least ate real food. Just not a satisfying dinner.

Tomorrow... big grocery stock-up! And tasty food cooking!

[MmmCarbs]

Well, I made it through the weekend with minimal cheats. The DF was over and had a cheese pizza. It was really hard to not have any of that, but I managed. My veggie stew didn't turn out too great this weekend. I used squash, greens, mixed peppers, corn, cauliflower, and curry powder. Somehow the flavors just didn't mix well, so it tasted like something bland underneath something almost too spicy.

I had made a separate bowl of white cannelini beans and tomatoes, which helped. The white beans are a new purchase (canned no salt) and I really liked them. I'm not a big fan of beans and generally have to sort of hide them in stews. But these were tasty.

My fruit dessert was not too great either, it was dates/bananas/raspberries, once again the flavors just didn't go together nicely. The carmelly dates with the tart berries just didn't work. But I finished the bowl, and found myself with less craving afterward.

[MmmCarbs]

Week of August 30

== Mon ====
Wt: 121.?
B: oatmeal, cherries
L: rice, veggie/bean stew
Snacks: bananas, dates
D: hash browns
Off plan: saltines (6?)

=== Tue ===
Wt: 119.0
B: usual
L: corn, tomatoes, beans, nuked yukon gold
snacks: bananas, dates
dinner: none
Off plan: none

==== Wed ===
Wt: 118.2 (false low from not having dinner last night)
B: oatmeal, raspberries
L: Subway veggie delite wi/ avocado
Snacks: dates
D: nothing
Off-plan: diet 7Up, vending mach. cr*p (NCheezeDoritos)
Ultra late nite snack: oatmeal

=== Thurs ===
Wt: ?
B: oatmeal, cherries
L: rice, plain veggies (cauliflower, corn, pepper strips)
Snacks: 2 nuked potatoes, plain apple sauce
D: nothing
Off-plan: bag reese's pieces from machine made me nauseous

==== Fri ===
Wt: 116.8
B: usual
L: Subway veggie delite with avo
Snacks: plain applesauce
D: 2 nuked taters, corn fiesta mix
Later: Hash browns
Off-plan: tiny mozzarella toast, can of orange soda

==== Sat ===
Wt: 117.2
B: usual
L: ww pasta, veggie/bean stew
D: mashed taters, veggie/bean stew
Off-plan: cheddar mini rice cakes

=== Sun ===
Wt: 120.2?
B: usual
L: hash browns
Snacks: dates
D: restaurant meal: veggie burger, salad with oil, wine, a few french fries, a few bites creme brulee
Off: plan (besides the restaurant meal) cheddar mini rice cakes, crackers with fake cheeze spread

[MmmCarbs]

Chile's challenge made me think about a goal for September. I think it has to be about limiting cheats. I'd like to get back to some number of zero-cheat days per week. Perhaps even majority of days per week. That seems challenging yet attainable.

As one way to help myself, I need to push myself to finish all the food I take in my lunch bag every day, or carry with me in my purse. I need to remember to eat that first, before any cheats.

[f1jim]

I think factoring in cheats to your week is almost giving up on really following the plan. Many here on the journal pages truly believe following this lifestyle is impossible. You may also feel that way. The one thing I know is that you can't stop the cravings by cheating. You actually give life to the cravings by following them. You never really get free of them by giving in to them. Instead of caving to them I would urge you to try to set aside 30 or 60 days of NOT cheating and see how that goes. I bet you will find it a rewarding experience. As I have said, many people believe that life isn't worth living without their junk food. It's a more popular way of living your life than Dr. McDougalls way. We all have choices and we all have to so what we think is best for us.
Here is to good choices for you.
f1jim

[Chile]

I have to agree with Jim, despite PMing him not that long ago that I would likely never be 100% compliant.

I think continuing to allow myself little exceptions here and there is why I continue to struggle. And I don't want to struggle. I didn't struggle while doing 10 days of potatoes but it's been a little bit harder since, and every time I decide to have a little cheat, it's that much easier to justify the next time.

I'm not saying what you should do, MmmCarb, just giving you food for thought. If you don't think you can face 30 days, commit to 10 days or a week. When you get to the end of that, congratulate yourself on meeting that goal and immediately start again. (In other words, fool your brain!) And remember, you're not cheating on the diet. You're cheating yourself of the best health you can get.

(End of pep talk supposedly to you when I think it really was to myself.)

[MmmCarbs]

Hi Jim & Chile,

I'm not sure I explained my mental process too well. It's not like I'm planning for cheats. I won't be saying to myself "ok, well I got in my X number of no-cheat days this week, so for the rest of the week I get cookies every day."

I really do agree that zero cheats is the best outcome and that allowing binge-triggering foods in small amounts is self-defeating. Yet somehow I just can't get my own cooperation with a 30 day challenge or even a 10 day challenge right now. So I'm trying to define a way to move closer to zero cheats.

What I'm noticing is I have times where I don't have my own cooperation at all. I just go on autopilot and the plan goes out the window. With those times happening, a challenge just isn't do-able.

Yet I have other times where I have a temptation, but I can still talk myself out of the poor choice. So having that goal of more no-cheat days helps me with those times.

I've used a similar tactic before with other ridiculous habits where "just say no" failed. I started getting some "just not today" days in (basically 1 day challenges), and over time, the number of "not today" days increased. So that's probably why I thought of this and feel hopeful about it.

The 'finish real food before considering cheating' is just another tool to intervene in the temptation situations. I've just noticed sometimes I had food in my bag yet chose vending machine cr*p. Remembering I'm supposed to finish the real food first makes me grumble, but is do-able. I'm not planning to 'allow' the cheat after the real food. The idea is to lessen the temptation (by delay plus satisfying hunger) by finishing the real food first.

[Chile]

I hear you. "One meal at a time" strategy. Whatever works to get you through the day without cheats is good. Sometimes putting too much pressure on yourself - such as in a 30 day challenge - makes it harder. Been there, felt that!

Keep eatin' the good stuff.

[MmmCarbs]

Thanks Chile.

Well today was hard. I had to leave work for an appointment, then go back in at 9:30 (pm) and worked til 12:30. I "forgot" my "eat all food before junk" and had cr*p. The tactic worked yesterday, but today was just overwhelm mode.

Also spaced out while driving to lunch. I'd planned Chipotle, which I'm counting as "on plan" and I really like. Instead I mindlessly missed the exit, went the other way, which leads to Subway, which I count as "not quite on plan, not quite off, really just marginally acceptable" and not even that tasty.

So back at it tomorrow. I can still get some good food days in.

[MmmCarbs]

Some meandering thoughts I have that just seem to belong here.

(erased because... just too personal)

[Mrs. Doodlepunk]

Hey Carbs, I'm not exactly an expert but decided to offer my two cents.

I think that your problem is the tastes of junk food. The farther out you get from your last taste, the easier it gets.

I think that what you are doing is not letting yourself get unaddicted - for lack of a better word, I'm using "addicted", sorry if that is offensive but that's how I see it - to the fat, sugar and salt.

You really have to just load a cooler or drawer or whatever with whatever it takes to get you through the day that's legal food. Every time you want a little piece of candy, eat a potato (or whatever your chosen food is). Keep it simple and easy. Just find something that you can eat that's on-program that you can keep handy.

Congratulations on your success with the other thing.

[f1jim]

I think Mrs D is on it. It really is that simple. No one can nibble away to better compliance. It never seems to work. I know I use this analogy a lot but no one I know every reduced their addictions to cigarettes slowly down to zero. I guess there is a human somewhere that has but I haven't met them. Everyone I know that has successfully ended the addiction got to a point where they threw the cigs out and never picked them back up. Yes, it's very possible when just starting this program to will power your way to compliance but that will not last long. You can't maintain compliance on will power. I was never that strong, never will be. The reason this program works for me is because I have zero will power. The minute I start to nibble on off plan junk it's over for me. Put a bag of chips in front of me, tell me I can have two, and watch me consume the entire bag. If I resolve that food is off limits for me from now on I never have to deal with that issue. It's just not food to me.
After eating this way for around 5 years it's now like breathing. In fact, I can't imagine going back to any of the old stuff again no matter what my health situation. I do admit that having health issues in my past does provide more incentive than someone just trying to lose a few pounds.
f1jim

[MmmCarbs]

I think that your problem is the tastes of junk food. The farther out you get from your last taste, the easier it gets.

I think that what you are doing is not letting yourself get unaddicted - for lack of a better word, I'm using "addicted", sorry if that is offensive but that's how I see it - to the fat, sugar and salt.

You really have to just load a cooler or drawer or whatever with whatever it takes to get you through the day that's legal food. Every time you want a little piece of candy, eat a potato (or whatever your chosen food is). Keep it simple and easy. Just find something that you can eat that's on-program that you can keep handy.

Congratulations on your success with the other thing.

I've been taking that cooler of food every day, and exactly planning for the 'eat this instead' trick. It's a good tactic.

The addiction angle is something that makes sense to me, too. I thought I was over the hump after going 2-3 weeks without any of the fatty/sugary/salty stuff. During that period, it didn't even feel like a huge daily struggle. It was just a mild annoyance and disappointment every time I remembered "oh yeah, I don't eat that anymore".