OK, so now we've officially entered the "I hate Winter" part of Winter...LOL....
We've gone from "WOW! It's snowing! Isn't it PRETTY?" around Christmastime, to: "Oh CRAP, It's snowing again."
What can you do? Winter still has us in its grip.
And that means...more days of freezing weather, more snow, and more days when we're stuck inside wondering what to DO with ourselves. Right?
Oh yeah. Been there, done that. This is the period of time when I'd always use food as my entertainment. My buddy, my friend, my companion. "What can I MAKE?"....not just for me but for my husband...what kind of comfort food, crockpot maybe casserole lasagna full of FAT food could I make for dinner? Because after all, it was WINTER, right? We NEED comfort food. This is the time when we should be making casseroles and using the crockpot and making rich soups on the stove....
WAIT A MINUTE. I'm on the TSFL program. I don't NEED that artery-clogging JUNK in my body anymore. And guess what, neither does my "non-dieting" husband!
Matter of fact, as we speak, I have leftover "MF turkey taco meatballs" (couldn't be easier, 1 lb. ground turkey plus 1/2 to 1 envelope low-sodium taco seasoning mix, mix together, form meatballs, and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes....weigh out 3.0 to 3.5 ozs cooked (depending on the fat content of the turkey...I sometimes use 99%, sometimes 93%) and that's 1/2 lean (I split my lean between lunch and dinner...obviously you'll have 6 to 7 ozs. if you're doing a full lean).
Plus my mashed cauli, as usual...and my salad. GOTTA have my salad.
My salad has become like my 'dessert'....don't laugh it's true...I look forward to it and eat it 'last' because I love my salad dressing so much. It's MF-approved, of course (consult your condiments list...the approved salad dressings are on the back page, lots of great choices...the Newmann's Own brand are good, as are the Ranch dressings...) and I put it on with a plastic tablespoon I set out next to my silverware every night. YEP, I do!
My lifestyle and my eating habits have changed PERMANENTLY.
And that is SO COOL!
My head is in a different place.
I don't automatically think of junk anymore. Instead I'm thinking 'Hmmm...it's been 3 hours...need to start thinking about my next MF meal...what do I feel like?' and I go from there.
DH laughs at me because I do happy dances. A LOT.
My happy dance is a weird combination of off-kilter karate and some sort of jig I made up. LMAO....I was doing it this morning after getting on the scale and seeing it went DOWN 2 lbs. YAY!
Honest to God. Poor DH was trying to PEE and I'm standing there in the bathroom going 'I lost 2 lbs!' and doing a jig. He just smiled and shook his head....LOL
NOTHING makes me happier than having to change my ticker!
So I'm now at 160.8....which basically is back at my original 'goal' weight attained in July (and kept off within a few lbs either way)...but now I'm headed for my new, revised goal weight of 157. So I've got 3.8 lbs to go.
Can I do it? I KNOW I can.
I am GOING to do it.
AHA! That's the key for all of us.
HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?
HOW COMMITTED ARE YOU?
I'm serious.
If you just say 'It would be nice..... if I lost some weight' (like my mother keeps saying)....you aren't committed and you won't do it. No way.
And if you say 'I NEED to lose....X # of pounds' then you're kind of 'yelling' at yourself before you even start! And is that a nice thing to do? Of course it isn't! Your 'inner child' will REBEL at that and I submit that you will NOT be successful.
If you say 'I WANT to lose...X # of pounds'....OK, you're getting closer...but this still doesn't imply 'total committment'. Sooner or later that 'want' will get challenged by your inner cravings that tell you that THEY 'want' you to eat this instead...'just for now', and you will CAVE.
But if you say 'I AM GOING to lose X # of pounds', NOW you're getting there! You have RESOLVED that this is going to happen.
You will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to get there.
So how BAD do you want it? Do you want it badly enough that you'll say NO to your cravings and urges NO MATTER WHAT is happening in your life?
I read somewhere that they surveyed like, 1,000 women and asked them, 'If you could become SLIM for the rest of your life, guaranteed, and never had to diet again....but you had to cut off your pinkie toe to do it, would you?"
Guess how many said "YES"?
I can see your heading nodding. YOU BETCHA! A majority!
I would do it. In a heartbeat.
And...isn't that....SAD, when you think about it?
I mean, we are willing to MUTILIATE our own bodies just to get skinny!
So when you think about it....if you're willing to do THAT to yourself, I mean walk around with one less TOE for the rest of your life, basically DEFORM yourself....then....why is this program so tough for you? After all, you SAID you're willing to do 'anything', right?
So all you need to do is remember that. And say "NO" to those food cravings whenever they occur, no matter how many times they occur throughout the day.
And let's face it....depending on the day we ALL have 1->many cravings to overeat. I sure do. And weekends....especially wintry weekends like this one...are worse. Because we're not as busy. We have more leisure time on our hands, we're not running around going to work or school or taking the kids wherever they need to go or running errands or making phone calls or....the thousand different things we all have to do during a typical weekday.
Weekends the pace is slower. Especially on Sundays. Even UPS doesn't deliver on Sunday (she said mournfully....as I'm expecting my latest MF meal order 'as we speak'....). Everyone's 'off' and they are sitting around doing whatever they FEEL like doing.
And I don't know about you, but what I always, always FELT like doing was....stuffing my face. Usually in front of the TV but a good book would work, too. As long as I was stuffing my face.
UGH. Thank GOD thank GOD thank GOD those days are over.
At least...I HOPE they are. There always is a little kernel of doubt....that wonders 'Is this REAL?'....and that has to 'pinch' myself to remember that YES I DID finally lose the weight and YES I CAN keep it off...forever.
But it's not 'easy'. It'll never be easy. Not for me. I know that. I STILL have my bad days. I STILL have times when I want to chuck it all and just sink into a huge vat of....'whatever' sludge I can get my hands on....and not think about...anything.
Enter the 'food trance'. That's what it felt like to me.
But now I enter an ACTUAL meditative trance when life really stresses me out. I put my headphones on and a very soothing relaxation/meditation CD and I lie down and sometimes I even nap for a few minutes while I 'de-stress' and it feels wonderful.
And is a whole lot better for me than stuffing my face.
Or I'll head to the bathroom, shut the door, light my scented candles and announce I am NOT to be disturbed....and take a long luxurious bubble bath. Just me and the hot water and the beautiful scents surrounding me. Ahhh.......
Not to mention it reinforces my PRIDE in my own body. WOW, look at that, muscles in my legs that are nice and lean. WOW, my stomach IS getting flatter. etc.
HANG IN THERE today, gang. Remember, it's just another day. Tomorrow will come and you will have to deal with whatever you did today...or ate today. Right? So if you stay OP you can feel GREAT about yourself. Or...you can get up tomorrow morning and think 'Well, I blew it again. Gotta restart today'. That's not a nice way to start a Monday morning (believe me, I've DONE it).
Keep on keepin' on!!!
We've gone from "WOW! It's snowing! Isn't it PRETTY?" around Christmastime, to: "Oh CRAP, It's snowing again."
What can you do? Winter still has us in its grip.
And that means...more days of freezing weather, more snow, and more days when we're stuck inside wondering what to DO with ourselves. Right?
Oh yeah. Been there, done that. This is the period of time when I'd always use food as my entertainment. My buddy, my friend, my companion. "What can I MAKE?"....not just for me but for my husband...what kind of comfort food, crockpot maybe casserole lasagna full of FAT food could I make for dinner? Because after all, it was WINTER, right? We NEED comfort food. This is the time when we should be making casseroles and using the crockpot and making rich soups on the stove....
WAIT A MINUTE. I'm on the TSFL program. I don't NEED that artery-clogging JUNK in my body anymore. And guess what, neither does my "non-dieting" husband!
Matter of fact, as we speak, I have leftover "MF turkey taco meatballs" (couldn't be easier, 1 lb. ground turkey plus 1/2 to 1 envelope low-sodium taco seasoning mix, mix together, form meatballs, and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes....weigh out 3.0 to 3.5 ozs cooked (depending on the fat content of the turkey...I sometimes use 99%, sometimes 93%) and that's 1/2 lean (I split my lean between lunch and dinner...obviously you'll have 6 to 7 ozs. if you're doing a full lean).
Plus my mashed cauli, as usual...and my salad. GOTTA have my salad.
My salad has become like my 'dessert'....don't laugh it's true...I look forward to it and eat it 'last' because I love my salad dressing so much. It's MF-approved, of course (consult your condiments list...the approved salad dressings are on the back page, lots of great choices...the Newmann's Own brand are good, as are the Ranch dressings...) and I put it on with a plastic tablespoon I set out next to my silverware every night. YEP, I do!
My lifestyle and my eating habits have changed PERMANENTLY.
And that is SO COOL!
My head is in a different place.
I don't automatically think of junk anymore. Instead I'm thinking 'Hmmm...it's been 3 hours...need to start thinking about my next MF meal...what do I feel like?' and I go from there.
DH laughs at me because I do happy dances. A LOT.
My happy dance is a weird combination of off-kilter karate and some sort of jig I made up. LMAO....I was doing it this morning after getting on the scale and seeing it went DOWN 2 lbs. YAY!
Honest to God. Poor DH was trying to PEE and I'm standing there in the bathroom going 'I lost 2 lbs!' and doing a jig. He just smiled and shook his head....LOL
NOTHING makes me happier than having to change my ticker!
So I'm now at 160.8....which basically is back at my original 'goal' weight attained in July (and kept off within a few lbs either way)...but now I'm headed for my new, revised goal weight of 157. So I've got 3.8 lbs to go.
Can I do it? I KNOW I can.
I am GOING to do it.
AHA! That's the key for all of us.
HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?
HOW COMMITTED ARE YOU?
I'm serious.
If you just say 'It would be nice..... if I lost some weight' (like my mother keeps saying)....you aren't committed and you won't do it. No way.
And if you say 'I NEED to lose....X # of pounds' then you're kind of 'yelling' at yourself before you even start! And is that a nice thing to do? Of course it isn't! Your 'inner child' will REBEL at that and I submit that you will NOT be successful.
If you say 'I WANT to lose...X # of pounds'....OK, you're getting closer...but this still doesn't imply 'total committment'. Sooner or later that 'want' will get challenged by your inner cravings that tell you that THEY 'want' you to eat this instead...'just for now', and you will CAVE.
But if you say 'I AM GOING to lose X # of pounds', NOW you're getting there! You have RESOLVED that this is going to happen.
You will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to get there.
So how BAD do you want it? Do you want it badly enough that you'll say NO to your cravings and urges NO MATTER WHAT is happening in your life?
I read somewhere that they surveyed like, 1,000 women and asked them, 'If you could become SLIM for the rest of your life, guaranteed, and never had to diet again....but you had to cut off your pinkie toe to do it, would you?"
Guess how many said "YES"?
I can see your heading nodding. YOU BETCHA! A majority!
I would do it. In a heartbeat.
And...isn't that....SAD, when you think about it?
I mean, we are willing to MUTILIATE our own bodies just to get skinny!
So when you think about it....if you're willing to do THAT to yourself, I mean walk around with one less TOE for the rest of your life, basically DEFORM yourself....then....why is this program so tough for you? After all, you SAID you're willing to do 'anything', right?
So all you need to do is remember that. And say "NO" to those food cravings whenever they occur, no matter how many times they occur throughout the day.
And let's face it....depending on the day we ALL have 1->many cravings to overeat. I sure do. And weekends....especially wintry weekends like this one...are worse. Because we're not as busy. We have more leisure time on our hands, we're not running around going to work or school or taking the kids wherever they need to go or running errands or making phone calls or....the thousand different things we all have to do during a typical weekday.
Weekends the pace is slower. Especially on Sundays. Even UPS doesn't deliver on Sunday (she said mournfully....as I'm expecting my latest MF meal order 'as we speak'....). Everyone's 'off' and they are sitting around doing whatever they FEEL like doing.
And I don't know about you, but what I always, always FELT like doing was....stuffing my face. Usually in front of the TV but a good book would work, too. As long as I was stuffing my face.
UGH. Thank GOD thank GOD thank GOD those days are over.
At least...I HOPE they are. There always is a little kernel of doubt....that wonders 'Is this REAL?'....and that has to 'pinch' myself to remember that YES I DID finally lose the weight and YES I CAN keep it off...forever.
But it's not 'easy'. It'll never be easy. Not for me. I know that. I STILL have my bad days. I STILL have times when I want to chuck it all and just sink into a huge vat of....'whatever' sludge I can get my hands on....and not think about...anything.
Enter the 'food trance'. That's what it felt like to me.
But now I enter an ACTUAL meditative trance when life really stresses me out. I put my headphones on and a very soothing relaxation/meditation CD and I lie down and sometimes I even nap for a few minutes while I 'de-stress' and it feels wonderful.
And is a whole lot better for me than stuffing my face.
Or I'll head to the bathroom, shut the door, light my scented candles and announce I am NOT to be disturbed....and take a long luxurious bubble bath. Just me and the hot water and the beautiful scents surrounding me. Ahhh.......
Not to mention it reinforces my PRIDE in my own body. WOW, look at that, muscles in my legs that are nice and lean. WOW, my stomach IS getting flatter. etc.
HANG IN THERE today, gang. Remember, it's just another day. Tomorrow will come and you will have to deal with whatever you did today...or ate today. Right? So if you stay OP you can feel GREAT about yourself. Or...you can get up tomorrow morning and think 'Well, I blew it again. Gotta restart today'. That's not a nice way to start a Monday morning (believe me, I've DONE it).
Keep on keepin' on!!!
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