Problem Time Periods - Part II

When it comes to 'problem time periods', everyone is slightly different...and it can take some time to figure out when your particular problem time periods are.

Yesterday I blogged about nighttime eating...specifically, dealing with the 'munchies' while watching TV with the family, etc.   Basically the time period from after dinner till bedtime.

Today I want to talk about the afternoon SLUMP time.  This is my particular Achilles Heel and always has been. 

For me, there are several things going on:

1).  After lunch, typically 2-3 pm, I get very very tired. It's the fibromyalgia combined with the body's normal slowdown during this time period...(there's a reason why they take siestas in Spain! LOL). 

So Fat Brain will start in, about how I should have 'just a little something' extra BEFORE my afternoon snack, supposedly to keep me alert and awake.  Or in 'addition to' my afternoon snack.  Suddenly that MF bar or that MF smoothie 'won't be enough'. (even before I've actually eaten it!  Again, Fat Brain doesn't have to be logical or make sense....she just has to work on your emotions and talk you 'into' whatever she has in mind). 

Handling Nighttime Munchies!

If you're going to be successful on this program, you have to do a whole lot of analyzing and studying of you own habits.  That is DEFINITELY true. 

You can't just say "I'm going to follow this" and not think about it.  You SHOULD think about it.  You should analyze your own habits, and determine your problem areas, and work on them....little by little.

For instance, do you have a problem with nighttime eating?  Watching TV with your family, do you feel an almost overwhelming desire to eat something?  ANYTHING?

You're not alone. This is a very common situation and one we've all fought.  The problem is, you've established HABITS around that time of day, that situation, even that specific chair you sit in and what you're watching on TV!  Everything works together in your brain, so that the second you sit down and it's 8 pm and your favorite show comes on, your brain immediately starts demanding you eat whatever your favorite goodie was that you used to eat at this point in time.  Or for that matter, ANY goodie. 

So how do you STOP that behavior? 

I HAVE to Punish Myself!

...ever feel this way?  Like you MUST punish yourself somehow, for ... overeating, or not reacting the way you SHOULD have, or getting angry, or for being depressed over something 'stupid' (define STUPID!  If it's important enough for you to get depressed over it, it's NOT 'stupid' to you)....or .... whatever!

Fill in the blanks, right?  I mean, WOW, we sure do expect a lot out of ourselves!
And then we punish ourselves for not measuring up to impossible standards. 

We think we have to be 100% PERFECT, 100% of the time.  We have to be the world's best....

Worker
Daughter
Friend
Lover
Spouse

....whatever!  And when we don't measure up to some impossible standard we set ourselves up for, we feel bad.  And we need to feel better.

So we eat to feel better.  But then....OH NO I did it again...!  I screwed up!  I overate and now the calculator in my head is telling me that I either
a). Fell out of ketosis, or
b). Ate too many calories or
c). (HORRORS)....BOTH!

Stop. Challenge. Choose. 12-Week Health Transformation

Check this out!  Are you ready to change your LIFE?  I lost my weight on this program, gang.
IT WORKS.

If you're sick and tired of yo-yo dieting, now's the time! 

Go to www.stopchallengechoose.com and click on 'Select your Health Coach' ...
and input LINDA LEIBY in the name fields. I'll be your FREE Health Coach....and I promise, no lectures, no weigh-ins, and no hassles!  I'm simply there for you AS NEEDED, either over the phone or via email, whenever you have questions or are struggling.  Remember, I've 'been there done that', so I know this program!

STOP putting it off.  Decide....once and for all, to lose the weight and stop fooling around.

DO IT TODAY!

It's Not FAIR!

How many times have you seen other people in your life, 'normal' eaters, munching on things you can't have?

How does that make you feel?

Angry?  Upset?  Stressed?  Anxious?  FRUSTRATED? 

It's not FAIR, right? 
It's not fair that you can't eat what they eat. 
It's not fair that they never gain weight, and yet YOU only have to SMELL fattening food and you gain 2 lbs.! 

It's not FAIR that you have to live on packets and only eat 1000 calories a day and STILL you have to wait and worry and run to the bathroom every 5 minutes and say 'No' all the time and salivate watching everyone else enjoy themselves while you sit there with your plain SALAD.

It's not FAIR!
Of COURSE it's not fair. 

You're right!  You are absolutely, 100%, RIGHT.
But....listen to me for a second....

Celebrating - Medifast style!

Today is my 28th wedding anniversary with my ever-patient, ever-loving husband....LOL....and we spent some time this morning over coffee reminiscing and talking about how far we've come. 

We've built a life together, a home, and a relationship that is solid and enduring. 

And I got to thinking about how I we would have celebrated in the past.

Oh, I'd have all kinds of expectations. 

To begin with, we'd have to go out to dinner, I mean I simply cannot cook when it's my anniversary, right?  And there would have to be flowers, preferably roses (and preferably yellow roses, because they are my favorite), and there would have to be some sort of fancy dessert at dinner, PLUS I'd make us 'goodies' for that night when we got home. 
We'd rent or buy a first-run movie and watch it together, eating and drinking the entire time (and by the way, there would have to be wine with dinner and a few mixed drinks as well....and then at home I'd continue with the wine and/or strawberry margaritas).....and then finally make love before turning in. 

I'd have it all planned out. 
And heaven forbid if it rained, or hubby couldn't get me the right kind of flowers, or the restaurant turned out to be not-so-great, or ... whatever.

Feeling Sorry for Myself....

Hi all.  Having a not-so-great Thursday....I pulled my lower back this week, I think in Spinning class, and I'm paying for it bigtime in pain.  Been living on painkillers and hot baths and RESTING. 

It's hard not to feel sorry for myself, you know what I mean?

Those old 'scripts' in my head start playing again.... whenever I feel bad....am in pain, or sick, or depressed.... over and over in my head. 

"Eat something, you'll feel better".
UGH.  That's a biggie. 

In fact I would rate that phrase as among the top FIVE 'worst' things I ever told myself.

Also on the list are the following:

"One won't hurt" (oh boy, famous last words, right?)

"Well, you blew it NOW...might as well eat whatever you want and go BACK OP tomorrow"
(how many binges has this caused you?  For me it's been MULTIPLE binges).
"I NEED this because (insert reason here...bad day, stressed out, sick, mad at someone, whatever) ________________"

On Headwork....and FEELINGS

OK, so we all know that

Headwork + the Right Nutrition (i.e., this program) = SUCCESS!
So.....why is headwork so difficult sometimes? 

And how do you do it so the lessons 'sink in'?

Well, first of all, I found that headwork only 'works' if you're HONEST with yourself. 
I mean, let's face it, sometimes we need to be brutally honest, to swallow our pride enough to let those thoughts and feelings out via blogging or emails or talking to your Coach or keeping a private diary or a journal or just sitting and THINKING sometimes about what goes through your head.  Understanding that it's OK, you're among friends!

And we need to be open-minded enough to really LISTEN and internalize the ideas and suggestions that others might make, via comments or whatever, in turn.

It's not easy to swallow your pride. To admit that maybe you've been thinking along the wrong lines for a long long time.  Believe me, I know.  I did it! 

FEAR is a big factor in doing the headwork.  EXPOSING your thoughts and feelings takes COURAGE.  And it takes even more courage to realize that maybe, just maybe, that comment that someone made was 100% correct -- you just didn't want to hear it!

How many times have we been in denial?  "No way, that's NOT me". 
Well, maybe it is. 

Why it makes NO SENSE to go off program over the Weekend!

Yep, it's Sunday....and we are all in the middle of what I call "Weekenditis", that peculiar phenomenon that so many of us are susceptible to, wherein we do perfectly during the week, but somehow always fall down over the weekend.

Let's make it perfectly clear, by the way, when I talk about staying 100% OP. 

100% OP means NO extra meals, snacks, or off program food or drink.  Any of that is going off program!  Period!  You can rationalize it all you want, you can say "Well, I was 'almost' perfect", or "I was pretty much OP", but of course we both know what OP is and what it isn't.  So don't lie to yourself.  1 glass of wine is going off program.  An extra MF bag of chips is going off program!

Unless you're in maintenance and have PLANNED it into your food plan, ANYTHING 'extra' is going OFF PROGRAM. 

Which means, that BLT (Bite, lick or taste) is going off program.

Now.... MAYBE it won't throw you out of ketosis to have ONE bite of that sludge, but what will it do to your HEAD?   It opens the door for Fat Brain....and once the door is opened, just a crack, she comes out and starts telling you all sorts of crazy things....ANYTHING to get you to do what you 'always' did before, which of course is, EAT.