Challenges...

I have been doing my best this week to recover from the weekend binge. I check in on a daily thread on the Weight Watchers Less to Lose board, and this Monday it seemed that many of us had a similar story - too much candy/chocolate over the last little while. Many of us set a goal for the week to not eat any candy. So far so good.

So, I've been concentrating on Staying Away From The Chocolate Stash and haven't really been thinking about other goals or things to work on. However, this morning Jasmine at ourwickedweighs threw a challenge out there to make a change for the better and try to stick to it for at least a week.

This got me to thinking (again) of the changes I have made, what has worked/not worked, what changes I (think) I can't make, and why am still stuck here, trying to lose these pounds. Periodically I do wonder: What change can I make? what can I give up? What can I do what will translate into results? So far I haven't figured it out. But I'm willing to try again, so here goes...

First off - to get it out of the way - exercise. I've noticed this seems to be a big complaint for a lot of people, but for me it is the easy part of the equation. It wasn't always that way mind you. For a long time I was an on-again/off-again exerciser, struggling to get in 3 workouts a week. But for the past 5 years I have been working out 5-6 days a week. So: Yay Me! It's a healthy habit and I know I am doing something good for myself. Unfortunately, this has not translated into weight loss (pounds or inches). I am more fit - I have definitely seen changes in what I am capable of doing, but it did not make me skinny.

So, next issue - and this is the biggie...Food! Glorious food!

I am a pretty fussy eater, long list of dislikes, particularly when it comes to veggies (unfortunately), and it is very important to me that I enjoy my meals. I have learned that if I don't enjoy my meals, I don't feel satisfied and I end up looking for something else to eat. So I do try very hard to eat healthy foods that I enjoy, but there are definitely challenges.

The easiest way to do this is probably to describe a typical day:

BF: could be cereal, could be whole wheat toast. Coffee with 10% cream.
I grew up with whole wheat bread and non-sugary cereals, so this is not a problem for me. I honestly have tried to switch to 5% cream or 2% milk in my coffee. I gave it a good 3 weeks, maybe a month. Didn't find it was making any difference as far as weight loss goes, all it did was detract from the enjoyment of my morning coffee, so I went back to 10% cream.

Snack during the day: Usually low-fat yogurt with berries (frozen berries, thawed). Lately since it's apple season have also been having a Honey Crisp Apple (love them!). If I'm really hungry will have a few (6 - 12) raw almonds.
Again, I tried fat-free, sugar free yogurt. Again, gave it 3-4 weeks, just couldn't hack it. Compromised - would rather have full fat, but went for low-fat.

Lunch: Usually bring lunch from home. Have been doing this for years now. It's usually a meatless vegetable soup with some type of bean/legume.

Supper: Varies. I try to make sure it include more veggies, and to watch portions/servings.
My darling husband will not eat brown rice or whole wheat pasta. He also thinks that an evening meal without meat is a crime.

Other than my morning coffee, I usually drink water. There may be the occaisional glass of wine or can of pop (soda, whatever), but this is a treat and does not happen often. When I do treat myself, I account for it (whether it be counting points or calories).

So that's a typical weekday. I try not to have snacks after supper if I can help it. And this is my normal way of eating whether I am "dieting" or not. Well, except if I am not in "weight loss mode" at a given time, I tend to relax the no eating after supper thing.

I think where I mostly go wrong is weekends. Weekends tend to be unstructured. Often meals are not planned. I get busy with other things and don't think about what my meals should be if I want to reach my goals. Binges happen most often on the weekends.

When I joined Weight Watchers in Sept, I deliberately made my start day Friday. And at first I was very careful about planning my weekends. And at first I was losing weight. But I've gotten a bit sloppy with the weekend planning thing.

So, I guess the first thing is to take control of my weekends again.

After that, I'm not sure. I'm not interested in giving up coffee or completely cutting out sugar - I think these things are ok in moderation and I cannot stand artificial sweeteners. I would be willing to give up meat, except that my husband has a fit every time he hears the word "vegetarian". And I don't see any good reason to give up dairy either.

It's basically all the extra treats that do me in. I'll be honest. I like junk food. Prefer junk food. Crunchy-salty things. Chocolate things. Things smothered in cheese. I do try to limit these things, and sometimes it works. But sometimes it doesn't.

So, I don't know. Maybe I'm just coming back to good old-fashioned discipline, and want it bad enough to Commit To Avoiding the Bad Stuff.