Ahhhh! I Can’t Stop Eating

I’m gaining weight, I’m always hungry when I’m really not hungry, I’m bored out of my mind! And yet people are telling me I look like I’m sliming down – what?

So about three weeks ago I quit/took a hiatus from skating. As much as I love I wasn’t making any progress and it was getting me a little down, so I thought a trial separation might help me. Well now I have three hours when I was skating, not eating, and I’m bored.

Yesterday I tracked Points Plus and I went over by 22. So I ate almost double.

I refuse to try any diet pills or potions and I’d never get surgery so I’m going to have to find something to occupy my time cause idle hands are my downfall.

Now It’s For Real – A Challenge I Can’t Ignore

I told my mother how much I weigh and she was mortified. So she’s reviving a challenge she first gave to me about a decade ago: Lose 100 lbs and I’ll give you $$$. (I don’t want to say the amount but it’s enough to make me like jogging.)

The first time she issued this challenge I was doing pretty well financially. Now things have slowed down a bit so this would be a significant little bump. My husband loves money so he’s whole heartedly agreed to help me.

It’s not really about the money for me, it’s about how I connect my weight problem with my mother and blame her so much for it that if she could do something to help me lose weight it might help repair some feelings. Like if I do this I could only blame her for helping me to lose weight.

Well it will be a long endeavor, 100 lbs doesn’t just fly off. I hope to do it within a year. The challenge is 100 lbs off from my highest weight so I have 91.1 lbs to go.

This is going to be so hard but there’s too much at stake for me to fail.

Phase Three: Shake It

When I was a chubby child, there was a diet program that touted having “a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch and a sensible dinner” would lead to weight loss. And I remember my skinny older sister did the SlimFast diet and got even skinnier.

I also remember my skinny older sister was always exercising. She had Jane Fonda and Denise Austin workout videos. She went jogging. She did 100 situps before bed.

So in Phase Three of Stephanie’s 2012 Slimdown I’m going to Shake It!

When I’m hungry and don’t know what to eat and am too lazy to cook I’ll make myself a shake. And I’m also going to be adding more intense exercise to my life.

The shake I’ll be using consists of:
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbsp chocolate vegan rice protein
1 banana
2 ice cubes
Sprinkle of cinnamon

This shake has less than 200 calories and is 2 Weight Watchers Points Plus values.

I’ll use it to replace meals or snacks. Basically anytime I feel like what I’m eyeing to eat isn’t a better choice than having this shake.

So yesterday I didn’t have a clear bead what I wanted for breakfast, so before I became ravenous I had a shake. Then for lunch I made myself a nice sandwich with fruit and for dinner fish and veggies.

I also restarted Couch 2 5K last night!

Results of Phase One: Limit Sugar and Phase Two: Limit TV Time

Limiting sugar to 5 grams or less per serving for processed foods was easier than not watching television between 3 and 5 pm.

I did slip up with Phase One when I had my period and surrendered to some ice cream, but there were two days on Phase Two when I just couldn’t turn off the tube.

I still feel I’m getting a handle on controlling these addictions and since I’m down 1.8 lbs I’ll move on to Phase Three: Shake It.

Phase Two: Turn Off The TV

Phase One was limit processed food to 5 grams of sugar per serving. And I did pretty well with that. It didn’t result in a huge weight loss for me but I feel better.

Phase Two is to limit the amount of time I spend watching TV. So from 3 to 5 pm weekdays I will not watch TV.

I’m for sure fat because I overeat. But I’m also fat because I can park my butt infront of the TV for hours and hours and hours. And when I watch TV I always snack. So limiting time infront of the tube will also limit some snack intake.

Phase One: 5 Grams Of Sugar Or Less

So I’ve drastically cut out sugars from my diet and I feel 50% better than I did a week ago. (Aiming for r grams of sugar or less per processed serving.)

I’m less sluggish, my breath is better, and I have less pain in my joints. Even my period hasn’t been that painful.

I was actually thinking about buying a moo-moo and just giving up on the whole being skinny thing but I don’t give up.

Also I went to Costco today and surprisingly didn’t buy anything too bad. I got a roasted chicken, skate fillets, torta rolls, canned salmon, artichoke hearts marinated in water and chicken ravioli.

Finally! Weight Lost!

So I’ve lost 0.8 lbs. so far this week, not much but every little bit counts and a bit of an accomplishment to do while PMSing.

I had had a good skate yesterday and even ran through two of my old programs. I also did the Shred, took some walks with the dog, and did 8 Minute Abs, Arms and Legs in the evening.

For breakfast I had Cheerios with unsweetened almond milk, a protein shake, a leftover raspberry whip Easter egg (I know it had 18 grams of sugar. It was a decision to have one – and just one – to kill my craving.), a Kashi bar, low-calorie Gatorade, thin crust pizza with artichokes and cantaloupe. Not a great menu but I’ve eaten plenty worse.

Like I said, right now I’m just trying to limit the sugar. 5 grams or less for anything coming out of a box, bag, tub or can. If I add too many restrictions I’m going to get overwhelmed and over limited and honestly I’ll probably forget most of them. So right now when I shop it’s look at the sugar amount. Most of the time if it’s unhealthy/un-nutritious it’ll be loaded with sugar. And I know there are unhealthy foods that aren’t loaded with sugar, like chips, and I just have to ask myself “Does a person losing weight eat that or a person gaining weight?”