1. Drinking. I have to cut back on drinking when I'm trying to lose weight because of the calories, obviously. So what happens is, I don't drink all week and then accidentally get drunk on Friday night off of four beers! (Tolerance isn't as high as it used to be, unfortunately) And then once I'm drunk I proceed to eat everything in my kitchen that isn't good for me, i.e. everything in my roommate's cabinet.
2. "Lazy days". These are usually my days off, and no matter what my intentions are, I always manage to have one day off a week when I don't work out, but lay on the couch ALL DAY. Lazy days zap all my motivation and leave me feeling guilty the next morning.
3. Easter candy. Valentine's Day candy. Candy, in general. This is one of the hardest battles for me and I struggle with it all the time. Give me CHOCOLATE, damnit!
4. Working in a restaurant. Mmmmm, cherry almond pie, creamed corn and fried chicken! Good thing I'm friends with the cooks, they've gotten used to cooking all my grilled chicken and eggs with no extra butter or oil. They think I'm strange, I'm sure. Not to mention all of our "vegetables" are either drenched in bacon grease or filled with butter, cheese or oil.
5. Having a skinny roommate who eats all the time. I know I've already talked about this, but it's hard not to eat a cookie when they're always around. His mother loves to bake, damn her.
6. Smoking cigarettes. Bottom line, when I'm smoking more cigarettes, I'm working out less and when I'm working out less, I'm eating more and feeling EXTREMELY guilty.
7. Restrictive diets. I struggle with this, because as much as I would like to advocate some sort of "intuitive eating" plan, it makes me really nervous to think what I would eat if I could literally eat WHATEVER I WANTED (i.e. no food is off-limits). Supposedly your diet will balance itself out when you've learned to really listen to your hunger signals and what exactly your body is craving at the moment. For me, I always feel as if I'm craving french fries and Hershey bars. The problem, however, with restrictive diets (the other end of the spectrum) is that I do eventually go crazy from restriction and binge.
8. The scale. I honestly think the scale can be debilitating at times. I know I'm gaining muscle from my new workout regime as I was really out of shape, and so some weeks the scale is moving the wrong direction. It usually rights itself the next week, but lately I have been having a harder time just weighing in and dealing with the number. For God sakes, it's JUST A NUMBER. Like The Rotund said a couple weeks ago about about Girl Scout cookies: "IT'S JUST A COOKIE". You can't let it control your life.
9. Stress. Not even just stress from work, stress from grad apps (over and done now, woo hoo!), or stress from not working out. I swear, some days, someone can look at me wrong and I have to go home and eat a brownie. I should REALLY stop worrying about what everyone thinks. My opinion is important enough, right?
10. I don't have a tenth one. Does anyone else have anything that DOES NOT contribute to weight loss?
I know this list may seem counterproductive, but it really isn't, I promise. For me, the first step in managing my diet and not allowing these things to make me eat is acknowledging that they exist in the first place. For the longest time, I wanted to blame myself for being weak when I couldn't control my eating. Now I want to recognize what my triggers are and prevent them from making me feel the way they used to.
One step at a time, my dears.
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1 comment:
I totally agree with what you said about the scale. Just this morning I took the scale and put it in the closet for at least a week. Hopping on and off each morning was getting really counterproductive for me. And having a skinny roommate who eats all the time? Yike, that's rough.
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