cybermom's Journal, 06 September 2013

Different things work for different people, but what I did to kick this habit was the following...first off, I wasn't eating enough at dinner time and come 8, 9 o' clock at night, I was starving and standing in front of the fridge. I moved dinnertime to 5 o' clock instead of 3 or 4, and I make sure I eat enough at that time. When evening rolls around, that means TV watching time for me, and that's when the cravings start hitting because of all the delicious food commercials and what goes better with TV than a snack? To kick that, I make SURE I have a drink on me, I don't care what it is, hot green tea, lemon water, whatever. It seems to send my brain a message that I am getting something in my belly, and that something is better than nothing. If a half hour goes by and I am sincerely hungry, I reach for something easily available and ready to go so that there's no standing around in front of the fridge and the cabinets looking for sweets and cheesy goodness, lol. Snacks are a high priority in my house, I have to have them easily accessible, or I can kiss my weight loss goodbye. I keep a lot of fresh fruit on hand so my body is getting some sugar, I feel good after I eat some. I also love Rolds Gold cheddar pretzels, I just make sure I portion them out so I'm eating an actual serving and not the whole bag. I know a lot of people on this site are anti-bread and anti-flour and all that, but for me? That's just not gonna cut it, sorry. I enjoy a good bowl of cereal as a snack, I eat a lot of Special K, it really hits that craving. I eat string cheese sticks, mozzarella and sharp cheddar. But I eat ONE, not the whole bag, lol, you have to exercise self control. Oh! I started buying Dole banana dippers, they make them with and without almonds and they are fantastic! A pack has four of them in it and they run between 100 and 120 calories, depending on if you like the almonds. Soup and broth with a few crackers always makes for a great snack. If veggies are your thing, feast up. If yogurt is your thing, have a yogurt (but you have to watch what brand and what style, that stuff can be super ultra sugary, you might as well be eating candy bars. Same goes for all those "healthy" fiber bars and stuff. You really gotta read the ingredients and the nutritional info, so much of that stuff is no better than a Snickers.) If all else fails...go to bed earlier, lol, seriously, sometimes that's exactly what I make myself do.  

Also, I just wanted to say, please don't beat yourself up over having some ice cream, I don't deny myself anything. I truly believe that when you look at food as "good" and "bad", you set yourself up to let yourself down. I look at food realistically, I know that some foods are going to inhibit my weight loss a little bit, but I haven't actually cut anything out of my diet. If I want a bowl of ice cream, I eat it and move on. And it doesn't hinder my weight loss because I make very healthy choices overall. I love ice cream, too :)