Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Identifying Patterns

I've been doing a bunch of thinking about those last 10 pounds and why I can't get over the hump. In looking back for something in an old post, I found my update from April 23rd and an even earlier one that declared my initial assault on those same pounds. I was shocked that it has been so long with so little movement on the scale.

Sure, my life has been sort of "abnormal" in that time ... the stress of my dad's death, a high-pressure time at work, a mini vacation. They all make for dangerous navigation of the eat well/exercise path.

But they're no excuse.

So I got thinking about what is really going on. What am I doing differently? What habits have I picked up or dropped to create a new pattern that's not really serving me very well.

And here's what I came up with:
  1. Weekends are sort of a free-for-all. I'm eating out on Friday nights, sometimes Saturday nights and a lunch or breakfast, too. Now they're not always terrible ... baked fish, Subway, etc., but I know I just eat more when I'm out. The baked fish might be all right if I didn't eat the French fries or the bread. I could skip the potato chips with the sub. You get the idea.
  2. I'm eating too many carbs for me. I am freaking addicted to those hard sourdough pretzels. I eat one. Then go back for another. Then another. I simply have to quit buying them.
  3. I'm sneaking too much chocolate at work. A couple of Tootsie Roll Midgets is OK every once in a while, but I'm eating them every day, with a piece of Dove to boot. Since I've been helping to fill the chocolate bowl, I know how to cure this one, too.
  4. I'm eating too much at dinner and in the evening. I finish my meal and then keep grazing. In my head I justify it because it's usually "good" food: pretzels, grapes, fruit, cheese, crackers, pickles. But too much is too much.
So now it's time to break a few of those new habits. I resisted the candy bowl today as Step 1. And I'm done eating for the night as Step 2.

Hoping Step 1 plus Step 2 can equal 6 more pounds in a couple of weeks.

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