Monday, Monday...

How's it going, everyone? Another Monday....gorgeous weather here in NJ and I'm feeling guilty because I'm not out in my garden (LOL).....BUT....!
....I did Spinning this morning so I get a 'pass'. I can only do so much. If I overdo I'll be s-o-r-r-y bigtime due to the FMS.

I woke up this morning STARVING. Ever feel like that? Weird, isn't it? And I eat my final MF evening snack right before bedtime so there's really no explanation for it....most times I'm fine, having that meal in my stomach is enough. But this morning I was starved. And all I could think about was eateateat.....it took a LOT of strength to talk myself 'down' and just have my planned MF cereal and Almondbreeze.

What happened though...and I've found this happens a LOT...is that if I can do that, if I can hang in there and NOT 'give in'....the urge DOES go away.

If I can have a CRAVING WITHOUT CAVING (I love that, just though of it and I think it's my new mantra LOL)....then I find that about 1/2 hour later I'm like, "Hey, I'm FINE! I'm not hungry anymore!"

And that's WONDERFUL.




I spent so MUCH of my life being "HUNGRY". I think that's because of the sugar-monster addict in me....I never got enough. Always looking around for more. So now, the CALM and PEACE I feel is wonderful when I stay on my food plan.

I did Spinning this morning with NO air conditioning (yeah, really!) because they're still working on it...but they had fans going and in the door open and the rest of the gym is air conditioned so we felt the cool air coming in from the hallway...but still...OMG do I sweat. I'm soaked by the time we're done. And I usually reach a point about 3/4s of the way in where I'm thinking "Can I DO this? Can I get through this class again?" but I FORCE myself to sit there and I lower the tension on my bike and take a drink of water and towel off and I'm OK. I CAN do it. It's not easy...it's my toughest exercise of the week by far....but I feel like a milliion BUCKS when I'm finished so it's worth it!

And I realized today, as I was pushing myself to keep going in Spinning...that if I can do THAT, I can RESIST overeating. I mean, resisting off plan foods and too much food is just NOT doing something....as opposed to DOING something (i.e., exercise, whatever)....so....when you think about it...
It's EASY to NOT do something....just don't do it! WALK AWAY....just say NO....
And the urge WILL pass. (it will, you know!)

The one thing I've always guarded against, though (and I think a lot of us are like this) is telling myself it's "OK" to overeat "because I worked out SO hard". Right? I see women at the gym doing that all the time.....they're killing themselves, then they're getting these huge "protein shakes" with oodles of calories in them and wondering why they can't lose weight.

But that's negating the purpose. On the one hand, YES having extra protein (just a LITTLE, though...not 500 calories' worth!) is OK if you're really working out HARD...and I mean more than 3x a week. It can even HELP you because you're adding muscle and your body NEEDS the extra protein to build those muscles out of the fat.

But on the other hand, you can very EASILY negate ALL the good you did with your exercise by overeating to compensate or 'reward' yourself. I read somewhere that most of us OVERESTIMATE the actual number of calories we burned while exercising....so you combine that with eating 'more'....and you wind up not losing a thing.

The KEY is to eat LESS -AND- move MORE. Not easy to do. But it works.

There are no shortcuts, gang....no quick fixes....no easy pill you can take to cut your appetite in half or whatever LOL....believe me I've been there, done that and it DOESN'T WORK.

The only thing that works is TIME, PATIENCE, and FOLLOWING THE PROGRAM.

OUTLAST your scale...stay OP 'anyway'. That's the attitude I finally had, and it worked for me.

Now in maintenance I'm finding that my good ole MF meals are invaluable....they kill the hunger pangs, they get rid of the sugar monster addiction....and they satisfy me. So yes, I can eat other foods now, too...and I do....but I'm still cautious. VERY cautious. Because I'm a binge eater, too...and a trigger food can set me off and running until I'm eating everything that isn't nailed down! So I HAVE to plan my meals and work my plan. It's the only thing that works for me.

And is it worth it? OH YEAH!!!! You better BELIEVE it! It's AWESOME!

I don't know if I'll 'ever' be 145 like I 'wanted' to be way back in my 20s....but you know what? I don't wanna be if it means I have to starve myself. I LIKE my food plan now. It's just enough food to make me happy without starving, and without gorging.

I hope everyone is having a great Monday....the start of a NEW MONTH and hopefully a NEW YOU. Remember, every day is a new beginning!