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I oftentimes catch myself having opened up some junk in the house, halfway through eating it, and say to myself, "What am I doing? Why am I eating this?" and then proceed to "hide it from myself" by stuffing my face!! Like, how dumb!!
I generally agree that I don't trust any diet/weight loss program that assumes that every body on the planet needs to eat the exact same thing, or do the exact same exercise to get fit. We all have different DNA, different programming, different, triggers, so why in the world the same types and amount of food work the same for all of us?
I have learned about myself that works, sometimes, but not always.
1. Even if I only exercise for 5 minutes on a videotape (yes, I still have VHS!), I still get myself credit for being able to squeeze that 5 minutes in for the day.
2. I eat when I feel hungry, not by someone else's schedule. I try to eat before my stomach starts to growl, because that's when I notice I grab any old thing just to shut up the growling.
3. I have eliminated the use of a scale...when the number is small, I give myself license to eat, and when it's big, I say, "Well, I guess I'm just going to be fat forever, so I may as well eat!"
4. I make myself aware of potential exercise throughout the day (such as, when I feel upset because I have to walk from one place to the other, I think to myself, "just think of the calories I'm burning!") Sounds a little "Pollyanna," but the Pollyanna thing works for me.
5. When I eat refined sugar, I can actually feel it in my blood vessels...they feel dirty, "gunky," and I feel slower throughout the day. I try to avoid negative remarks (with "no" and "never," etc...) and instead say, "Sugar tastes gross...think of how it will make me feel later."
6. I have two small children, ages 8 and 5, so it's hard to keep junk out of the house (especially on Easter and Christmas!), so I do allow myself some sugar and chocolate treats during that time. But, for the most part, if it's in the house, I'll eat it. So, I try to keep that stuff out of my house as much as I can.
These work on my positive thinking days. I know that my weight is directly proportional to my level of happiness. I used to think that meant that I have to learn how to be happy all the time. But now, I realize that I have to learn how to make it so the outside, external world doesn't affect my eating habits. I haven't quite figured out that link yet!
Kari
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