Nearly Recovered!

2.25 pounds of trip weight and period puff are gone!

I've been eating between 1800 - 2000 calories a day and working out.

6/26/07 Elliptical - 33:41 min, 2.72 mi, 300.0 cal, 4088 strides
6/28/07 Elliptical - 48:00 min, 4.03 mi, 462.0 cal, 6208 strides

I was 154.25 this morning, the same weight I was June first! Looks Like
I will break even this month. Hopefully things will continue turn
around, and I will get back under 150 by the end of July. :)


-= Mental Health =-

An article recently featured on WebMD talked about how being "good" can be bad for your weight loss.

Food should not be an ethical dilemma. Eating a piece of cake won't land you in dieter's prison, but dwelling in the good/bad mentality will make it harder for you to lose weight.

No carbs. No desserts. No food after 6 PM... people often set "rules" like these when trying to lose weight. But ironically, they're the very things that hinder success!

Setting diet rules creates an all-or-nothing mentality: You can't have or do something, and if you do, you've failed. Seeing yourself as a failure makes it easy to just give up entirely!

Dieters tend polarize foods as 'good or bad,' and then pass judgment on themselves based on what they eat. When you eat a 'bad' food, you're bad. Those negative emotions then spur you to eat more!

Rather than beating yourself up remind yourself that sometimes it's okay to splurge. As long as your next choice is a healthy one, you are back on track. :)

I have a sweet tooth. Cutting out sweets would make me feel deprived.
So allow yourself your favorite treat, in small amounts.

Chocolate

• Adora calcium disks
• Bite size or fun sized candy bars
• Dove Promises
• Hershey's Kisses

Ice Cream

• Skinny Cow Ice Cream sandwich
• 60 calories each Dove miniatures

Weight Watchers snack cakes....

You get the idea! ;)

Giving yourself permission to indulge will help evaporate guilt and quell the desire to overdo it.

When stress cravings strike, the first thing you should do is think or say out loud, 'Am I actually hungry, or would doing something relaxing like calling a friend or listening to music
make me feel better?' If you are honest with yourself, odds are food won't be the answer. Work to develop healthier coping strategies. And to prepare for future stress. Try making a list of your favorite food-free ways to unwind. I honestly have a text file called "Happy List.txt" at work, and when I feel stressed, I open it and read all the things that I am thankful for, and it makes me feel better. :)

But let's say your happy list is not around, and you start eating ice cream with a spoon driectly out of the containter... well here is a way to stop mid-binge.

Once you realize you are over-eating try popping a piece of gum. You could also try brushing, flossing, and rinsing with mouthwash. It sounds simple, but it provides an opportunity to think about whether you really want to continue eating.

I find that once I am "minty fresh," I don't want to dirty up my mouth again. Crazy but it works for me. :)