Well, I have pretty much spent the last year of my life eating whatever I wanted. There were small periods of time where I cut back and lost a few times, but that was the extent of it- no lasting change. And you know how the holiday season is- countless cookies and deserts at work and then at home with family. It’s an all out desert buffet and I did not use any self control.
I won’t say I don’t have any self control because that just isn’t true. I have self control in other areas of my life. I go to work, pay my bills, and don’t go into debt (anymore). There are several examples that I could share that exhibit how I use self control every day of my life. So, why should health and weight loss be such an exception? I’m sure there are a lot of reasons. One I can think of off the top of my head- because it’s acceptable. I don’t smoke or drink to help with anxiety or stress- obviously I couldn’t do either of these at work- but I can eat a cookie or chocolate and it might actually be encouraged by others.
So, what am I going to do about this. I need a plan to deal with my stress and anxiety before I’m actually faced with it. I always feel better with a plan and having a plan in place before a situation occurs often will lead to success. So- My Plan- I’ve got to deal with stress in a healthy way (duh). How am I going to do this? Well, at home when I’m stress I can replace eating with a bath or a walk. I plan to keep myself busy when I am ’emotionally hungry’. At work this may be a tad more difficult as I cannot ‘get away’. I think I may have to replace those needing chocolate moments to a cup of coffee or water. I may need to brainstorm on that a bit.
What most of my meals looked like this week:
- Breakfasts- most days- 3 scrambled eggs, there were two days I added a banana. Two days I had a low carb wrap with 2 TB of natural peanut butter. I drink coffee with Splenda every morning and I did try to use almond milk in my coffee, but I just couldn’t do it- I reverted back to my 2% milk in my coffee. I enjoy it too much to want to give it up.
- Lunches- lunches revolved around a protein source and I had lower carb vegetables and sometimes berries. An example- Turkey sausage, sauerkraut, acorn squash and strawberries. Another example- tuna fish, garden salad and strawberries with blueberries.
- Dinners- again, dinners revolve around a protein with low carb veggies as a side. An example- Steak, brussel sprouts, broccoli, butternut squash. Another example- Rotisserie chicken, cauliflower, acorn squash, zucchini and onions.
- Snacks- I sometimes have a snack between lunch and dinner or after dinner. Example- a serving of cashews and an apple, Another eample- Muffin in a mug (this is a variation of the Trim Healthy Mama Recipe- how I make it– 1 tablespoon of almond flour, 2 tablespoons of flax flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of water, 1 egg, sweetener of choice to your liking, stir well and microwave for 1 minute. Their recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of oil, but I usually omit the oil. I like to top it with peanut butter and it helps with my dessert cravings.
Victories this week:
- This week I stuck fairly close to my plan. It wasn’t 100% on point, but I’ll call it about 80%. I’m not really looking for hard fast, written in stone rules. I’m looking for a sustainable approach. Quite honestly, a life without peanut butter sounds pretty sad to me- so I have eaten peanut butter- which at the beginning I thought I might eliminate.
- I did cut back on the diet mountain dew. Some days I did great, other days, not as great. I’m celebrating even the smallest achievements here.
- I did not over eat. That is an accomplishment.
What I could have done better:
- I should have consumed more water. I’m planning on journaling my water intake this weeks in hopes to increase my water consumption.
- I didn’t walk everyday. I would like to walk 6 days a week and add exercise from there. This is something I plan to journal as well in the coming weeks.
- I will continue to cut down on my beloved diet mountain dew.
I’m not the most consistent of people, but I’m working on it.
I’m working the next 4 days, 12 hour shifts, so after this post I will be going to make lunches for the next 4 days. The menu? Probably egg salad, chicken salad and tuna salad with garden salads, leftover dinner veggies and strawberries. I also bought some beef jerky sticks and turkey pepperoni for snacks.
How is your health journey these days?
If interested you can also check out some you tube videos I’ve been working on.
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