Willpower.. or lack of
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Willpower.. or lack of
| Sat, 03-24-2007 - 3:47pm |
UGH... I seem to have NO will power, EVERY morning, i wake up EXCITED to do this, to eat correctly, to stay within my weight watchers points... and by the evening.. I've killed it... EVERYDAY i fight a battle with food, and somedays I will, and somedays the food wins... and lately, its alot more of the food winning than me! HELP! any ideas!??

Angela
Go Red Sox!
The food is the hardest part for me, and it has taken me almost four years to get where I am, but this is what I did (and continue doing)
I started with exercise - three times a week, once for an hour, twice for a half hour. Then I made one food change-the first was to not have chips when I had a sandwich for lunch. I thought about how the anount of time I rode the stationary bkie (30 minutes) didn't burn as many calories as that little bag of chips (200). I practiced in my head, that when the lady at the deli said -'What kind of chips' I'd say 'None today', and I made that change. Then I decided that I'd have salad (with chicken or other meat in it) for five meals a week - after all, I have 14 meals (because at that point I didn't eat breakfast)so if I had salad for five of them, that left 9 when I could eat what I wanted.
Every month I make one more change - either increasing exercise or modifying eating. If I hate what I did the month before, I stop it - but usually I am able to keep it incorporated into my plan and it is one more healthy habit.
Every single day I keep track of something-sometimes I journal food, sometimes the times I've been to the gym, sometimes in great detail what I've done to work out. I don't track everything all the time because it would be too overwhelming for me. But because I am only focusing on a few things each month, I succeed more often than I fail. And I reward myself a lot- manicures, pedicures, flowers, clothes - constantly reminding myself of how hard I am working at this and that I am making changes.
I try to make my goals action based, and make a plan for how I'll meet them, rather than 'lose two pounds this week' which I can't really control. For example, I decided I needed to eat more fruit. So my goal was to have a piece of fruit every day at 3:00 (which is a time I don't usually have a meeting). Then each week I thought about where I would buy the fruit, what I would buy, whether I would take it to work one piece at a time or all at once...all the details. Now I have a habit and at 3:00, I think 'fruit' Sadly, the fruit has been moved to 5:00 on my current plan and my body hasn't totally caught on, but when I think 'fruit' I say 'no, protein bar'...but it's a habit that works for me.
And on a Red Sox note-for a long time, when I was trying to make myself do ab exercises more often, I did them whenever I was watching a game during the fifth inning. As soon as Jerry Remy said 'Top of the fifth', I'd hit the floor...
Hope this isn't too much information, and best wishes on your journey - see you at the World Series?
SJ
225-170-135
I think everyone encounters the daily battles. It's strongest when we're starting out and it comes and goes along the way. I think about it this way, I spent years eating badly, so why do I expect my body to give up and surrender to what I'm doing now without a big fight.
One more thing, maybe you're not eating enough in the evening? Will it help if you up your protein at dinner? Or make room for a healthy snack after dinner (don't have to eat it, just know that you have that option open if you want it). Are you depriving yourself so much that you just want junk food? Maybe if you set a small reward system for yourself you won't feel so deprived. What I'm trying to say is, find out why you're doing this and maybe you can find a solution.
Hang in there.. as long as you're still fighting, then you're not losing the battle. Keep us updated
Angela
Believe me, I've been there too! I've felt like I couldn't be happy without eating whatever I wanted. The best thing to do is to think about what you are eating. I always grab the suggested portion and then put the rest away. That way, you don't eat the whole thing. Also, I make tiny changes. Like having a water instead of soda when I'm thirsty, eating one serving instead of two.
Believe me! This is a FIGHT YOU CAN WIN!!!!!!!!!! Just keep telling youself that.
Alyssa
329/318/165