On Family, Support, and SLUDGE!

Do you have a family that eats sludge?

LOL...most of us do, right?  I mean, 'normal' people can eat junk food and still stay slim.  My own husband can eat ONE -- I swear! -- Reese's peanut butter cup, and SAVE the other one.

This is a totally foreign concept to me.  I mean, there is NO WAY.  No way on God's green EARTH that I'm going to put that second peanut butter cup in the drawer and 'forget about it'!  It would haunt me, call to me, wake me up in the middle of the night, until I devoured it.  LOL.

As a food addict and a sugar addict, life with me hasn't always been easy.

My husband has had to deal with having things suddenly 'disappear', if I was in binge mode the night before.  Entire jars of Skippy vanish, along with a corresponding jar of strawberry jam.  If there are cookies, cakes, pies, anything like that around?  They have a life expectancy of about 10 minutes in my home. LOL.

I once went to a Christmas 'cookie' party that my sister throws every year (I have since talked with her about this and declined, PERMANENTLY, and honestly told her I cannot do it, I cannot sit there surrounded by cookies and stay on my program!) and brought home a big baggie full of cookies for my husband.

Or at least, that's what I TOLD everyone.


In reality?  I devoured the entire bag of cookies on the way home. And then told my husband I 'forgot' to get him some.

I didn't fool him but God bless him, he never said a word.

I'm not proud of it.  In fact I've been guilty of running out to the store to REPLACE things I've polished off, so he 'wouldn't know'.

But you know something?  Our family DOES know. To a certain extent, anyway.  I mean, we aren't really fooling anyone....just ourselves.

So what's the answer?

Well, it's very simple!  You sit down and TALK to your family, you TELL them about your food addiction (remember, they LOVE you, they WILL want to help you!) and you ASK them to keep that junk OUT OF YOUR HOUSE and away from you.

If they MUST have it in the house, ask them to hide it.

SERIOUSLY.

After all, with us?  "One WILL hurt".  One ALWAYS hurts.  It always always always always always always (get the idea?) leads to more!

So why GO there to begin with?

Get it out of your home. You'd be surprised -- amazed, really -- at what your family is willing to NOT have around, to support you.

I used to make all kinds of fattening dinners...lasagna was my specialty...and I don't anymore.  In fact, the last time I made lasagna was over two years ago.  And my husband used to RAVE about it.  But you know what?  He's cool with my not making it anymore.  He understands, because he loves me, and he SEES how miserable I get when I'm bingeing or have gained weight yet AGAIN and I'm absolutely HATING myself.

He knows.  He sees me and he loves me so he supports me by letting that stuff go.  It's not THAT important.  He's happy with a nice plate of spaghetti, now (which isn't a trigger food for me like the lasagna is, so I can make it for him, no problem).

Same with his favorite "peanut butter pie" .(Yep, you heard right).  It's only about 5,000 calories a SLICE.  (not really but you get my point).  It's incredibly fattening, it's all sugar and fat. 

And I don't make it anymore. And you know what?  He LIVED.

We used to send out for either pizza or chinese every Friday night. And sometimes the next night as well.

We don't do that anymore.  Hubby has his pizza out at work, with the guys he works with.  And he's fine with that.

The few times I have indulged in pizza?  I've been miserable afterwards...so you know what?  HELLO?  It's not WORTH IT.

I let it go.  I let it all go....I threw out or gave away all my cookbooks (and I was amazed at how many I had accumulated over the years...I'm talking like 15, 20 cookbooks!  Most with names like 'Decadent chocolate recipes'...argh...)

I make two meals most nights....I'll make him a burger and mac&cheese (also not a trigger for me)...and my own lean & green meal as well.  It's NOT a problem.

He has his snacks....yes, he eats nuts and sometimes I'll hear him crunching over there in his recliner while we're watching TV....but I just try not to listen.  And he stores them in 'his' drawer where his snack foods are, that I don't go into.

"Out of sight, out of mind" is my watchword.  I don't LOOK at that stuff.  His bread is in the breadbox, which is covered.  His junk food, what he does eat of it, is in 'his' drawer, as I said.

But when I walk into my kitchen?  I see nothing but cleaned off counters.  NO FOOD left hanging around.
And believe me, this is a big change from when I was growing up.  And my mother STILL to this day, in her kitchen?  There's ALWAYS some new goodie hanging around.  Some cake or cookies or pie or whatever.  She can get away with it, she's been slim her whole life and has a great metabolism.  Not me. 
"Out of sight, out of mind".  That's my watchword.

I talked to my husband.  And you can talk to your family members, too.

I don't believe in 'testing yourself' by having to sit there and watch your family devour goodies you can't have.  I don't believe in having all that junk food lying arond, just WAITING for me to have a bad or stressful day so I can binge on it.  NO WAY.

We CAN control our environments, and it's UP TO US to do it. 

Don't test yourself. WHY??????  Life is hard enough without making yourself 'pass a test' by having to watch or walk by sludge every 5 minutes.  I mean, gimme a BREAK!  Control your environment as much as you can.

God knows there are enough other things you CAN'T control, right?  At least you can control your own home.

And again, your family will NOT 'suffer'.  I mean, PLEASE.  They can get their sludge within 5 minutes, right up the street.  No problem.

That doesn't mean they have to wave it in your face!

DO whatever is necessary to make things as easy as possible for you.  Surround yourself with the healthy stuff....fresh clean clear cold water (I keep a jug in my refrigerator, and I drink from it all day, my goal is to finish it by the end of the day)....fresh veggies, maybe fresh fruits if your plan allows you fruits, lowfat dairy (lowfat is better than NONfat, guys....because NONfat has more carbs!  Read those labels!), and lean meats, poultry, fish and meatless options. 

You CAN control your environment and you CAN succeed on your plan and lose the weight.

And you'd be surprised at how wonderful you look, you feel, AND how proud of you your family will be! 

Keep on keepin' on,

Linda
alias Catlover771
angiecat6@comcast.net