Hello Lori, Jan and Sally.....nice to read your posts.
Jan.... I have today off and although I am going out to hike this AM I will not stop anywhere for coffee or other things, like to a store. I will make today a safe haven day and work at sorting things in the apt. I do have healthy McD food to eat, so no excuse. Tomorrow I am at the Deli, but won't be alone. You're right about the junk never going away, so dealing with it is the only answer." Just deal with it" sound like a great saying on a shirt.
Sally.....
Maybe it calls for every strategy in the book. Like Frozenveg's "not food"...all that junk is no longer food, no more than the shelf it's sitting on or the box it comes in. Like having a good Dr. McD book with you to dive into when the junk starts calling your name. Like getting quotes you like from others here on the board and putting them all on a card you whip out and read in tough moments. Maybe texting someone who's in this with you. Like making something you really like and having it at the Deli. Like visualizing your ticker when tempted, maybe imagining yourself a year from now seeing the ticker all the way down to goal. If there's no one around and you're all by yourself, maybe talking out loud to that junk, having a conversation to end the relationship. All these things and more to drown out that siren call until it no longer has power over you...
I will use all these suggestions. There truly are a lot of strategies, I just need to apply them. Plan, Plan, Plan, this is the only way around it.
Lori....When you wrote about "If you don't eat that candy bar you feel like your going to die" I so related. My mind keeps telling me to do it and gives me all kinds of excuses of why it's OK, or who cares if it's not OK, just eat the dang thing. It's learning how to quiet the voice and flicking the
off my shoulder.