So, Tuesday #3 didn't go very well either. I started the day with a bit more carbs than usual (my brown rice toast instead of eggs), ate consistently during the day, had a decent supper (well, it should have been decent) and about 9 pm, had the onset of rampant munchies and cravings.
So I've blown through a fair amount of flex points and am still experimenting trying to figure out how to work around this.
One problem - supper did not stick very well and I was probably excessively hungry by 9 pm. Too bad I didn't figure that out until later.
Next week - an hour after supper, whether I feel full or not - have two pieces of toast with a small amount of jam plus a small glass of skim milk. If I'm still craving, have a candy bar that has a definite amount of calories and points instead of pulling whatever to eat. I don't care how nutritious my choices are, it's causing me to eat too much in one day. And then I still want something sugary anyhow. Let's just cut right to the sugar on Tuesday night.
Next week is another opportunity to see if I can do better.
Today was the weigh-in for our challenge. . . and I was only down .2 lbs from last week. I did have two pieces of cheese pizza yesterday so I'm sure there was some water retention from all the salt. I'm not sure I was disappointed though - two pounds in two week and I'm not miserable doing it. That is a huge accomplishment for me. The changes over the summer have helped a lot.
So here are some things for me to remember going forward:
Tuesday are a problem. Plan appropriately to eat a little extra carbs and not blow my diet.
Have my snacks on time. Being so hungry last night caused me a blip in the diet. I probably would have eaten the same things, but far less had I not been so hungry.
I can get mad at the hubby all I want for bringing the junk food into the house, but in the end, I am the one making the choices to eat it. Don't blame him for being so hungry and not wanting my chicken and veggies.
I really need to stick to the lower carb and eat minimal wheat or other grains. I have much better energy and clearer thinking.
Two points of M&M's are not enough. Either plan ahead to have more or DON'T HAVE THEM. The Hershey nuggets are a better choice - I can stop at one or two of them.
SAY NO. Continue to say no - no to going out to eat, no to goodies at work, no to those extra treats that sing such sweet little songs. In the end, it doesn't taste all that good and it is derailing my goals for losing weight.
And losing weight is not the only issue here. I'm feeling good and that is worth even more to me.
I didn't do terrible today, but I would have done better if I hadn't gotten so hungry before supper. Our lunch was small and I was too busy for an afternoon snack. I need to be more careful about this and make my choices before rampant hunger makes them for me.
I am so proud of myself. Today is our anniversary (33 years!) and we went out for a very nice supper. I only went a few over my points for the day and even with that, still have plenty of flex points leftover for the rest of the week. It wasn't hard sticking to the diet - staying lower carb and not eating wheat has helped a lot.
Actually, I wouldn't be over at all except that I split a piece of key lime pie with the hubby for dessert. It was good though and I had a good day. I'm glad I could eat out, enjoy myself, not feel deprived and still stay on my diet.
So, I've come to the conclusion that the problem is not my lack of willpower or even eating something that triggered me off, I think the problem is Tuesdays.
For years, Tuesday nights are the worst night of the week for me. I am always so tired on that night. I used to hate it when I had night school that night because I was so barely functional.
Last night was no different; I'm craving carbs and especially chocolate. I've already had a big bowl of 94% FF popcorn and it is not enough. I finally had some Hershey Nuggets (four; I counted the points up). I'm actually not doing bad, having only gone a little into my flex points. Which is a big improvement on last Tuesday when I blew through a bunch of points.
But I think now I need a different strategy for Tuesdays. Increase my carbs slightly and plan ahead to have some sort of a candy bar either late afternoon or after supper. If I'm having a physiological issue, instead of a psychological issue, I need to work harder at accommodating it without blowing my diet.
On one of the WW bulletin boards, there was a posting of how much trouble a member was having with overeating when they went out to eat. Someone wrote and asked if they couldn't just avoid going out.
So. . . the hubby calls shortly before lunch and wants me to look at something. I suggested how he might resolve it himself, which he did. He then called back to see if I still wanted to go to lunch. And I said. . . no.
I explained I was up a pound since yesterday (not catastrophic since I went down two pounds the day before) and really needed to stick to my diet today. He admitted he was up several pounds also and that would be best for both of us.
So I had my leftover salmon for lunch, with my leftover winter squash, some tomatoes and a glass of skim milk. It was yummy and filling and held me until nearly 4 pm.
As much as I love to eat out with him, I am glad that I said. . . no.
My daughter is in town this weekend. I did really good on my points for breakfast, and when we went to the tearoom for lunch, I had a little of everything (including a flourless chocolate cake!), a modest supper and I still have most of my extra weekly points for a little treat tonight.
My daughter and her Dad decided that after grilled chicken for supper with tomatoes and squash, they were still hungry. So far they've had ice cream, chips & salsa, and finally ordered chinese carry-out. I had 3 points of chips, salsa, and in a few minutes, an apple and some peanut butter.
I'm not overly hungry, which is helping. I've been staying low carb which has helped tremendously (note: not no carb, just low carb, using fruit & dairy for my carbs but very little grains or baked goods). I don't feel deprived either. Of course, getting on the scale this morning and having lost two pounds is helping too.
And I'm glad I passed on the chinese food. My husband said yes, it was good! And there's our daughter behind him shaking her head and making yukky faces. Glad I didn't spend any points on it.
I'm doing good. Better than I expected and I am grateful for it.
A guy at work got off the elevator before me this morning carrying his breakfast of orange juice and two cookies. I was pretty surprised that with all the media coverage on diet and nutrition that someone would do that to themselves.
On the other hand, it's been a long slow road educating my husband why I need to eat the way I do. He's gone from a white-bread-and-bologna guy to eating fresh food. He loves vegetables and fruit. And he is my biggest supporter in eating healthier and exercising.
He's not the only one right now either. At work, five of us "girls" have an 8-week challenge to lose weight. Today, I brought in yogurt parfaits (3 pounds for a good amount of yummy food) for all of us. We took out 15 minutes in a conference room to make and eat them. We laughed, told stories, and swapped information. It was so fun and so relaxing to take a few minutes and enjoy each others company.
It's great having the encouragement of friends at work and it was fun too having a nice treat, especially since we all stayed away from the other treats at work this week.
I was so bored yesterday. Bored, bored, bored with the plain food we've been eating lately simply because we haven't had time to cook anything better. I was happy the hubby made hamburgers for supper until I was so miserably starved a short while later. It just crashed me out.
By the time I went to bed, I ate myself well into my extra points for the week. In hindsight, I think the hamburgers had too much rice in them. I should have had two burgers and no other carbs. And once I was so hungry, a glass of milk and two pieces of toast with peanut butter would have been a lot less damage. The hubby was starved too, so clearly something was wrong with supper.
Dizwif reminded me this morning that it was a new day. Time to get back up on that horse and start riding again. Cowgirl up as Benni Harper would say (character in a book).
The temptation is everywhere for treats and goodies. Yesterday had homemade hershey kiss cookies; today was a cake in the break room. I had one - 1! - cookie and still did okay with my points. I was really tempted for the cake, but someone was in the break room eating it and said it was very dry.
I did have a treat with lunch today - Tostito chips and salsa. The chips were enough (4 points) and quite frankly, I had no pot of rice or anything else made up for my carb at lunch. But it was fun piling on the salsa and chewing away at it.
I have to remember though - the treats may look good, but not necessarily worth my points. I know if I'd started eating that piece of cake, I would have finished the piece even if it wasn't that good.
Congratulations to dizwif for getting our her warm & comfy bed to exercise before coming in to work.
