Back to Basics
Since I have been living on my own I have had to do a food shop in advance and this included buying food for my sons lunchbox. He has a healthy lunch box in the main but does still have a packet of crisps (chips) every day, which means buying a multipack. You can see where this is going…
Yesterday I ended up eating far too much. It started when I had a big lunch and had eaten almost 900 calories by 1pm. If you know anything about my eating habits you will know the less I eat during the day the easier I manage my diet. I try to have 200 calories for breakfast and another 300 for lunch, then at about 3pm have another 200 so by dinner time I still have 800 calories left, which means I can have a 3-500 calorie dinner and then snacks in the evening. I think people with eating issues are one of two types: either scared of feeling full or scared of feeling hungry. I fall into the latter category and if I use my calories up early in the day I panic about going the rest of the night without being able to eat and usually end up binging.
This is what happened yesterday. Except I think there are other factors. I have been having a packet of crisps (chips) every day, incorporating it into my allowance, and also having ice cream and sugar free ice pops this week too. All within my allowance but I am absolutely convinced it is the chemicals within these foods that have led me to binge last night. I know that when I used to eat junk regularly I was hungry ALL THE TIME. Yet when I was eating a well balanced diet I could eat wildly under my allowance and not feel hungry at all. I have this theory that big money making food corporations put chemicals in the food that leads consumers to crave those chemicals/foods more… thus increasing their profits. But that theory aside, today I woke up and my body feels really crap from eating so much junk yesterday. And the 2lb gain isn’t very impressive either!
Sooooo… today I am on a detox of sorts. I just had a banana for breakfast. It’s almost 10.30am so I will not eat until 12pm now and then I will have a wholemeal pitta with fresh sliced salmon and watercress. Then we will go for a long walk. I will then have an apple and yogurt in the afternoon and for dinner I will have new potatoes, salmon fillet and mixed veg. In the evening I will have some oats with cinnamon and honey. Yes, I am going Back to Basics. I am reverting to the time where I didn’t have treats because I was so much more successful then. Not that I am not successful these days but I seem to be falling off the wagon more than I would like.
I tell you what keeps me going at these times is looking in the mirror and seeing how much slimmer I am. I just refuse outright to let it go to pot now and am determined to do whatever it takes. I feel a thousand times better than I did three months ago and am not going to let the junk get the better of me. So now my son will just have to go without crisps and ice cream because I have learned that I still cannot completely control myself around it. It is all about knowing your limitations and listening to your body.
I also need to start drinking water again. I’ve all but stopped. And I guess it didn’t help that I didn’t go to the gym on Friday because I was ill. I have still had enough exercise but just not aerobic level. All of this changes now. I am firmly back on the good stuff.
September 9th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Great decisions, all around. Everyone falls off the wagon sometimes, but the smart ones are the ones to learn from their mistakes–you are definitely one of those people!
He has made a lot of progress as well, just following your example, especially with the walking 
Good on you to notice all these details that affect your daily life!
I was just reading up on dieting, and–this must be old info for you– “experts”, whoever they were, were saying that it’s impossible to change the eating habits of only one person in a family: of course it’s difficult to lose weight or eat healthy if your spouse or kids are snacking (I don’t buy myself any chocolate, but my SO eats chocolate regularly, and when I see him eat it I’m hovering around to get a piece, too–I don’t want to miss out on anything!) So everyone should change so that whatever is eaten in the family is the “normal” meal and not like, dieter’s food and regular food. You’re doing exactly this, and I think it’ll do your son good too
Hey by the way, have you seen the movie So I Married an Axe Murderer? There’s an awesome scene where the character’s Scottish father rants about QFC and why he hates the Colonel. “Because he puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes ya crave it fortnightly!”
I will soon talk in my journal about my weight loss plans and how I’m doing. It seems that during the week I am more strict with my eating etc and it’s no problem at all, but come weekend and suddenly it’s self-indulgence time
So difficult.
September 9th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Thanks, R. Yeah, this time around I am absolutely determined to learn from my mistakes. Not just current ones but ones I was making for years before. An odd binge didnt make me obese after all, it was years and years of stuffing my face with rubbish and not taking any exercise.
Yesterday I watched a show called The Diet Doctors who help an obese person get their weight under control. A part of the programme shows a very fit person take on certain habits of an obese person to demonstrate the effects on the body. This week they got a fitness instructor to eat 3 tubs of ice cream per day for two weeks. Now, I don’t really think this trial is clinically sound because a fat person is far more used to what the food does to the body than a slim person who never eats anything rubbish. But today I have been really suffering from the ice cream and crisps I ate yesterday (and it was no where near 3 tubs!!!). I had real bad stomach ache that turned into cramps, almost doubled over. I have also had a really severe headache. I do sometimes get a small headache if I don’t drink enough water but this is much worse than that, its bordering on a migraine.! All from one day of eating junk! I swear to God, I never want to touch this stuff again!!!
I have been good today. I had a banana for breakfast, a wholemeal pitta with watercress, garlic cheese spread (low fat) and fresh salmon for lunch. And I have had a yogurt and satsuma as snacks. It’s almost 5pm and I had had about 500 calories! Plus I am just back from the gym where I did 70 minutes cardio plus weight training and 60 sit ups!!! I am going to try to restrict my calories to 1200 or 1300 for a few days to counter the binge and hopefully it wont affect my weigh in on Friday! Feeling so rubbish had really reinspired me to be very good!
I have heard that theory about it being impossible to diet when other members of the family refuse to. That affected me for so long. For a year before I did it I kept falling off the wagon because my mum lived on rubbish and while I never bought it I couldnt resist eating her food. But in the end I gave myself a talking to and managed to resist it, although I still couldnt resist crisps from time to time. I hear so many stories online about how peoples husbands refuse to make changes to their diet when they want to lose weight and (no offense to anyone in this situation!) that seems so selfish to me!! Would it really hurt them to make healthier choices around someone they claim to love? My mum was like this and it drove me batty! I just read an article on childhood obesity and I really do not want my child to suffer in the way I have, either physically or mentally, so I am very careful.
I havent seen that film but the quote is so true! I havent eaten KFC since I was 16 after I read that someone bit into a cyst in a chicken leg and it made me feel sick, but I stopped eating at other fast food places about 3 years ago because the rubbish in the food.
I hear a lot about people struggling at the weekend. Its got to be down to a lack of structure, if you ask me. I’ll look forward to hearing about your weight loss plans.
September 9th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Anyone that reads your blog should see, plainly, that you are in no need of advice! You are a success. My only advice? Keep on doing what you are doing!
September 9th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
Oh my… Rosabel hit a nerve (in a good way) with me with her comment. “I don’t want to miss out on anything!” she said. I’m going to write a post in my blog just on that, I think. I fully hear her on that one.
As far as your post goes, the only advice I’d even consider giving you is to move to NZ so you can keep a watchful eye on MY eating!! ha ha….
But yeah, I totally agree with you C. RE: the chemicals in food, etc. as well as the treating yourself regularly leads to those things not really being treats anymore and then you end up taking it up a level and having more treats and more bad-for-you treats.
You know your body, you’re good at figuring out what it needs. *hugs*
September 10th, 2007 at 7:52 am
Thanks Rachel.
Thanks Betz. I’m applying to study in Aus next year actually. There is only a 30% chance of it coming off but you have to be in it to win it! I would love to live in NZ! Like, seriously. And if I had the money and the visa rights, I would be on the next plane!!
I know what my body needs - a holiday! I am thinking of booking a week in europe for next summer (your winter)… we’ll see.
I went the whole day without eating any crap and only had about 1200 calories all day. I lost 1 of the 2lbs I put on (so am back down to my friday weigh in weight) and I feel so much better today!!
September 10th, 2007 at 11:55 am
[…] she wrote a great post detailing her recent struggle. I really liked this quote which I have never thought of before: I […]
September 10th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
I think it’s great how much of a positive attitude you’ve got even with a falling off the wagon. So proud of you! That’s why you’ll go the distance.
I find that I’m not so much scared of being hungry, (I even like being hungry) as when I eat I need to feel full - not just full, overstuffed. Really overstuffed. It’s like I need to literally fill up some empty place inside me.
If I keep happy and busy, I don’t feel like that so much. Ah, emotions, those annoying things!
September 11th, 2007 at 9:47 am
Thanks, you wouldnt have said I was positive if you’d heard my thought process last night! I was as close as I have ever been to completely falling off the wagon but I got through it and am re-motivating myself today!
In a way it is being scared of being hungry, or being scared of what the feeling of being hungry signifies: hunger - emptiness… I’ve been exactly the same the last week or so but I think it is lonliness for me, especially as my net works sporadically.
October 6th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Thank you for sharing!