Am I becoming a self-regulator? It's a piece of the puzzle!!!!

My boyfriend, Scott, is a self-regulator.  He's 145 lbs soaking wet & he stops eating when he's full.  Novel concept, eh?  Stopping when you're FULL instead of when the plate is EMPTY!??!??!!!  Yeah - that's what self-regulators do!  They listen to their bodies and STOP EATING WHEN THEY'RE FULL!!!!!!

Tonight Scott had to go to work & he grabbed the bag of chocolate chip cookies I made on Sunday off the counter.  I immediately had sadness!  I wanted cookies!  I asked him to leave one for me AND it is STILL ON THE COUNTER!!!!  The old Jenn would have pigged that thing RIGHT DOWN!  The New and Improved, Self-Regulating Jenn LEFT IT ALONE!!

Wow.  SO, I think I'm turning a corner!  I've been collecting small pieces of the weight-loss puzzle, and the closer I get to goal the closer I get to actually finishing my puzzle!  I just hope someone didn't steal a piece and hide it on me!  My family has a tendency of doing stuff like that.....

Here is what I learned tonight.  I don't have to eat something just because it is in front of me!  Really - I don't!!!!  I wasn't hungry.  I was done - so I decided that I'd put it in a zip-lock and have it tomorrow for an after lunch snack.  NICE, eh?  :)

I started in January with the goal of only drinking water.  I did allow myself 1 cup of coffee in the morning, but that's it!  I also committed to tracking every single thing that went into my mouth.  I did it!  February's goal was to visit my home meeting to get recognized for losing 50 lbs, which I did.  March's goal was to start going back to the gym.  I haven't been as dedicated about lifting weights as I wanted to be, but I've found a new love - ZUMBA!!!!  And I've got to a LOT of Zumba classes - so that SOOooo counts! :)

In my last post I decided I was going to be good at stretching in April.  I haven't done so good with this goal - and I'm not really sure why!  I've got Physical Therapy exercises I need to do every day - and I miss a lot of days.  That might explain why my damn shoulder & hip aren't healing, eh?  So, I'm going to modify my April goal to just doing my PT exercised until I'm BETTER!  Then I'll add stretching...

I really need to break this into baby steps.  I think that when people try to do it ALL at once they've successful for a short while, then it all falls apart.  Doing it ALL is exciting at first!  Then it just becomes a chore.  I've said this before, and I'll probably say it again - but the second 25 lbs I lost was done COMPLETELY with modifying how I ate.  AND BY TRACKING!!!!!  I didn't exercise at ALL!!!!  I was just mindful of what I ate and HOW MUCH I ate.

In speaking with people about their diets I hear this all the time.  "I actually eat really well."  I usually just end up staring at them with a blank look on my face remembering all the times I said the same thing!  OBVIOUSLY I didn't eat all that well to get my weight to 210.2!!!!!  I then want to shout "BS!" to them!  :)  (As someone that was under the misconception that I ate really well I think I have the license to do that!) Usually the person telling me that they actually eat very well looks kinda' chunky too!  Guess what - WE DON'T EAT AS WELL AS WE THINK WE DO!!!!!  We're a passel of hogs!!!!!

A Passel of Hogs

The reason I mention this is not to discourage you - quite the opposite.  It is meant to ENcourage you!  Look deep within yourself.  What small change can you make that will start you (or help you continue) on your weight loss journey?

I think the best place to start is to truly track what you eat WITHOUT MODIFYING YOUR DIET AT ALL for a week or two.  This will help you to see where (when?) your trouble is.  My trouble time is right when I get home to start dinner.  I am usually SO hungry - so I start snacking as I'm cooking.  What is my plan?  I chew gum while I cook!  Either that or I will drink a tall glass of water and eat a piece of fruit. It usually keeps me out of the snack cabinet!  (Usually..... sometimes I slip!!)

Once you see your trouble areas it's time to get control of your food.  I think you need to continue tracking, but THIS time you need to try to keep within a certain food budget.  If you're doing Weight Watchers you need to calculate points.  If you're doing something other plan you need to figure out how many calories you're allotted a day and TRACK IT!!!

Do you want to eat better, but don't know how??  Then you need to learn some simple recipes!  Weight Watchers puts out a lot of really great cookbooks.  Most of them list on the top if the recipe is easy, moderate or advanced.  Try some easy ones!  Also - feel free to ask your friend that is a gourmet cook for some help!  She (he??) would be honored!  I don't think you can lose weight effectively if you eat from a box!  You need to shop at the outside edges of the store (where the fresh foods live) and stay the hell AWAY from boxes foods!

As an Aside:  When mud season ends in Lincoln I'm going to have a small Weight Watchers cooking party at my house!  I'll have you bring the ingredients to a recipe you haven't cooked before.  You can choose one of the ones that I've posted, or bring a new one!  We'll all work together to create some delicious meals that you can bring home for later!  We'll also have plenty of WW food to eat while we're cooking!  Who wants an invite?!?!?!?

If you truly do eat really well (which I will VERY quickly ask you to prove to me), then you need to focus on exercise!!!!  There IS time in your busy schedule to exercise!  You just have to make it a priority!  And if you miss a day don't beat yourself up over it!  Just make sure you exercise the next day!  :)

So, What is it?  What are you afraid of?  Why have you started to lose weight so many times and FAILED?  Is it because you treated your weight loss like it was a 4 letter word???  (D-I-E-T)  Don't be afraid of changing something - THAT IS NOT A DIET!!!!  A lifestyle change is what you're going for.  A permanent change that you can LIVE with!!!  :)

Who's in????