This time, alas, I am starting out in a bad place - weight has shot up this last month. A girls' trip away - great fun, but filled with over-indulgence. Then my son's birthday party, then Halloween....
Result: I'm up to 152. Normal is 148-ish. Not a lot, but it needs to stop NOW. And we're heading into the holiday season, which is always the most challenging for me.
After the "girls' trip," I realized that a BIG part of my normal strategy is keeping junk food out of the house, or at least hidden. When it's just sitting out on the table, I fall into the worst of my addictive patterns.
- * Eat it all NOW, because you can't later. (I turn into a human vacuum-cleaner, inhaling everything in sight... past the point of enjoyment.)
* My tummy is uncomfortable... that must mean I'm hungry. (No, it means you've eaten too much already. But I have to pay attention to circumvent this automatic response.)
* And the all-too-familiar..."blown it anyway!"
Also, I can usually take my couple of N-day exceptions whenever I want, because in normal life, there aren't many - book club, an occasional party. But this time of year, they're almost every day! And I am realizing that strings of exceptions weaken the habit - I need to be more picky about which days I choose.
So. Back to basics. The goals are:
- *Stick to N-day basics. (I've got those, I believe. But check to be sure.)
*Count exception days. Make sure they're worth it.
*On S-days and exception days, I can eat what I want, but I need to make sure I really truly want it and am not just falling into mindless eating. Because that does not make me happy in the long run. And I know this.
* To avoid mindless eating, use Vsurmbat's method (located in my 2014 thread) of "Serve, Observe, Savor." Choose what I will serve myself. Observe how I feel about the serving. Once I have decided I will eat it, savor each bite.
And of course, attend to exercise and meditation.
Will start reporting with today - stay tuned!