Friday, June 26, 2009

Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we diet!

I've been on this diet for a whole week now. It started out tough. I've been very emotional lately for whatever reason(s) and I was pretty miserable on Saturday and Sunday. By Monday, however, I was feeling pretty good. I had energy (which was a good thing because we had an extra doctor at work on Monday) and I wasn't starving or craving candy/bread. On Wednesday my co-worker dropped a hershey kiss into my pocket and said, "there, that's a pick-me-up." My other co-worker offered to share her fruit roll-up. I didn't accept either. Well, I didn't give back the hershey kiss. Instead I threw it in my purse and it's rolling around down there somewhere and probably melting each time I get in the car and getting chocolate all over the bottom of my bag. But I don't think about those things.
I did start to eat grains again on Wednesday. I just couldn't handle meat and eggs again in the morning (if I eat eggs too many days in a row I get an upset stomache) and I just needed something fast so I ate some of my favorite Fiber One cereal (the biggest losers eat that stuff! It's the stuff losers are made of. :p) and because we were literally out of lettuce I brought a sandwich to work with me. Whole grain of course and it was only 100 calories so I didn't feel too bad. Since then I have been eating grains every once in awhile. I feel much better. Energetic and not at all deprived even though I'm not eating desserts. Every once in awhile I think I'd like something sugary, but it's not as intense as it used to be and I can say no.
So far this diet has been a positive experience in a few ways.
1. For one I feel like I'm a little more in control. I am exercising self-control and it makes me feel good to know I can say no to tempting things.
2. Another good thing is I am eating more veggies and trying different dishes I wouldn't normally try just for the sake of variety.
3. I am in the kitchen more making food (like the salad I made and I tried boiling and mashing cauliflower like potatoes which didn't turn out exactly as I hoped. But at least I tried!) so I know what is going into the food I make and I have control over what I want in it.
4. I've been able to make healthier choices in snacks. Instead of eating chips and dip I eat carrots and a little bit of dressing. Instead of peanut butter crackers I eat celery sticks with all natural peanut butter. I still get the flavors I like but with fresher food that has nutrients and fiber in it. Win win win!
5. I do feel like I've lost a couple of pounds which makes me happy! I'm hoping to be significantly lighter by the end of the summer. I'm not sure how long it will be before I start to eat sweets again, but I hope to make this change somewhat permanent. Less desserts and more vegetables and meat and things like that.
6. I've been able to identify a few bad habits I have concerning eating and I'm working towards changing those habits. If admitting you have a problem is the first step towards recovery, then identifying the problems makes me feel like I'm in the second or third step towards being healthier. How many more steps do I have to go?

So. That is a narrative on my first full week of this diet. The diet that I hope to change into a lifestyle, not a passing phase. Like I've said before, I don't really believe in dieting if you just plan to go back to the old way you used to eat. My goal is to find a way of eating that fits with my lifestyle so that I can feel good and keep up with the things I need to do.

No comments: