I am my biggest obstacle. I do a lot of things wrong when I diet, and they are all starting to rear their ugly heads.
The first thing I do wrong – I crave. Now, I know that’s not something I can get around. We all have cravings. This week, I’ve craved everything from fried pickles (thank, Lisa!) to coffee ice cream. I don’t even like coffee ice cream. Last night, while watching the Food Network, I saw back to back commercials for Olive Garden’s new ravioli dish and the TV show Cupcake Wars, and began to seriously wonder how amazing cupcakes would taste wrapped inside a ravioli, drizzled with chocolate? I know, right? A totally new food group!
The thing that’s wrong with my cravings is I give into them in all the wrong ways. I had coffee ice cream last night – only a couple of bites, stayed within my daily calories, don’t panic. But because I don’t LIKE coffee ice cream, even though it cured the coffee ice cream craving, it left me feeling empty – and I wanted to eat something else. Which I did. Which put me over by about 100 calories for the day yesterday. Not a major misstep, I know, but it definitely stinks.
The solution? Obvious, isn’t it?
Duct tape – it fixes everything!
Anna, I think the problem is thinking of it as a diet. The word alone makes you want to sabotage (well, me anyway!) because it’s a mean, evil, hateful word 🙂
Granted I’m losing slower than you’re wanting to do, but I get through my day by looking at food as a series of choices. Ok I want something sweet – do I eat the 5 mini-candies at 220 calories (and the risk of another 5 and another 5 and…) or the giant Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich for 140?
Do I choose to eat a 220 calorie Lean Cuisine for lunch or do I go to Panera Bread for who knows how many calories?
When we go out to dinner, the first thing I do is cut my entree in half. It’s there if I want it, but typically if I eat slowly enough, I’m full by the time I’m done with half and I then have half for a meal the next day.
I seriously would never survive if I thought of what I’m doing as a “diet”! Good luck!! 🙂
I think “diet” for me means “get your fat ass down to business”. I’ve tried to call it other things – and tried to just convince myself it’s a lifestyle change. Ultimately, it does come down to making good choices – and I’m trying not to leave myself feeling deprived – but food is truly an addiction for me. One cookie to me means the whole box. A few chips means the whole bag. I’m trying to be more forceful at making the better choices, and I think diet works in terms of making sure I know and remember I need to crack down.
You’ve done an amazing job – and you’re doing it the right way. They always say slow but steady wins the race.