Eating Journey

I'm part of a group of women over at The TysonMethod4Moms that has committed to eating as healthy as possible (and being accountable!) for at least 6 weeks. The goal is to change some habits to improve & maintain overall health. I am NOT in this to lose weight, in case anyone is concerned! Another priority is to figure out why we're eating when we're not hungry, and what our triggers are. I don't usually spend time reflecting on what/when I eat so it feels a bit obsessive at first, but it is helping me see patterns. I've been posting about it over on the members site but thought I'd re-post some of the ideas here (in reverse order of writing).
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Grocery Aisle Confusion: Marketing 101
By Tannis
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I live in a small town with two grocery stores and one bulk food store. Specialty health food items aren't necessarily easy to come by or super affordable so I headed over to the nearest city to shop. It was a disaster. I didn't realize how much of the processed/junk food aisles I tune out altogether in my usual routine. In a new place I had to wander around and walk past all kinds of tempting items I hadn't remembered really seeing in ages! It turned out fine but took longer and I felt pretty frustrated by the time I made it out. On the plus side, they had a good variety of Clif bars, turkey bacon, and low-fat cheese. I stuck to the list!


Jan 15th
Grumpy
By Tannis
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Yes, I'm grumpy and would love to blame it on my diet. I must be low in fat and salt!! Quick, emergency chips! Yes, I'm probably PMS'ing but it happens every month for a few days. There are no chips in the house for a reason. I keep focussing on all the things I DIDN'T manage to do perfectly this week. I feel down on myself for willfully not cutting out all caffeine, it's my favourite crutch. I thought I was feeling buffer a few days ago and then I must have fallen off the wagon big time, because today feels puffy.

Then I looked back over my diet for the week and said "holy crap I mostly ate really well, what is wrong with me?"! If you have the same tendency to look at the exceptions, mentally compare your week to the week before you started. Is it looking pretty good now? Thought so!! We've all made changes, so bravo! Next week will look even better, we'll gain strength as it becomes habit.


Jan 13th
People Pleaser
By Tannis
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I'm a people pleaser. I want everyone to like me. I understand the limitations of this and have figured some things out but I'm just learning that this even applies to eating! If someone has me over for dinner or makes me cookies, I will gladly eat what they lovingly prepare. Often it's not something on my healthy list. Yes, I try to control portions and fill up on the veggies but sometimes I cringe when I realize how easily it could have been made over. Then I feel ungrateful and guilty. I do like my treats too though and that's generally how I look at it, then I feel thankful and am able to enjoy it. I eat well most of the time so that I can afford to have those nights out. Can anyone else relate?

Kind of along the same lines, I realize that I take on other people's issues about food. I am okay with passing on a dessert most of the time, but get upset when other people make a big deal of it, like I must have an eating disorder. I need to get over the over-sensitivity. Ideas on how to handle that gracefully without preaching a sermon?



Jan 13th
Up and Down
By Tannis
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Today was seriously up and down. My schedule didn't go as planned and the meals I had in my mind didn't materialize. It made me grumpy and I had an extra cup of coffee in the afternoon. On the other hand, I did still eat pretty well other than the bite of cookie I caught myself sampling.

By 6:30 I was winding down and getting into relax mode. I was justifying not working out b/c I had a lot of exercise yesterday. I kicked my own booty out of the chair and turned it on. I technically had the 20 minutes. It turned out to be my best workout in a long time. I did the fit test and measurements afterwards and felt fantastic. I had new music on my mp3 and went hard (sorry Tami, wasn't listening, just watching!), it's amazing what a difference that can make. I snacked on a few frozen blueberries (one of my strange go-to snacks), had a cup of tea and am looking forward to my sleep!



Jan 10th
Shredder - Day 1
By Tannis
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It's 9:30pm and I'm hungry. The growling belly type, not just bored. Grr. I don't think I need a bigger dinner, nor do I want to eat it later (usually around 6). Normally I'd try to have a small bowl of yogurt or something around 8:30 but I thought I'd attempt to go without snacking after supper. Advice or ideas?

I did a program similar to this in spring and lost about 11 lbs, most of it fat. I've done pretty well with sticking to some of the bigger changes but realized I've been letting the little nibbles creep back in. I'll be doing a slightly different variation of the diet as we eat primarily vegetarian and I have quite a number of strange food sensitivities. I'm recording it all though and it will get posted!

I'm both a "grazer" and a "liquid lover" and I thought I'd share a couple things that have helped keep me on track.

- distraction. I'm not so different from my 3 year old sometimes. If I walk into the kitchen looking for a snack and then see my note beside the fridge about grazing I first try a drink of water. Sometimes that's enough and I wander away. Staying out of the kitchen unless I really need something is a way better idea.

- substitutions. I seem to have constant cycles of cutting down/ramping back up on coffee. I love it, but thank goodness I love it black. I'm weaning off the caffeine part again. I also enjoy tea so I'm substituting that when I want a hot drink after noon. Right now I'm drinking hot water. Sounds lame but it works for me. I crave cheese but find that cottage cheese totally takes the edge off, phew.

- patience. when I'm tempted by a fancy dessert in front of me I just try to buy a few minutes of time before I grab one. If I excuse myself briefly and come back to see everyone else half way through it doesn't look as tasty anymore. I know I'll feel better if I don't and the temptation won't last long. Alternatively, if it's something I really love, I try to take a small sample and eat sloooooowly to really appreciate it.