|
Good morning!
I'm up a couple of hundred grams today. No biggie, but kinda bothersome at the same time.
I know this happens often after the weekend - two days of weight gain is not out of the ordinary.
There was a couple of things that I know have affected it:
1. I went to a brunch buffet with Wife Sunday. I didn't overeat, but I had food that I haven't prepared myself, and I don't know the finer details on what was in it. I calculated everything to the best of what I can, and even added 500 extra calories, just in case.
2. I had more ice cream after dinner. I didn't need it, but had it simply "because I could".
I see that sugar is taking a larger role in my food intake. I need to change that. I don't really want to be a slave to sugar, and I know how hard it is to resist. I know how hard it is to ween off it.
So, I declare this week "Off-the-sugar"-week. :)
No candies. No chocolate. No ice cream. No anything that obviously contains large amounts of processed sugars.
I probably can't avoid it all, but I will do my best. I know it makes me retain water, it makes me feel less than optimal, and it screws with my spider sense of when I am satisfied or when I am not.
So, no obvious sugar choices.
One of the larger challenges in this will be the protein products that I have been consuming lately. I know that the bars have sugar, and I shouldn't eat them. I will go for other types of protein intake as much as I can.
Today - being the first day - might be a little tricky. I didn't come up with this plan until AFTER I left home this morning, so I didn't prepare for it. I basically have protein bars and chocolate flavored protein drinks to up my protein intake. Not good.
I will try to see what I can change. Maybe I can simply run home and get something else. It might be as simple as that.
...
Today, I feel like I don't want to eat a whole lot. I feel sluggish. I feel that I have been eating a lot over the weekend, though I really haven't been all that bad.
Still, I feel like a mental cleanup, in lack of a better term. I feel that I need to be a little more aware of my food surroundings and that I can do better.
This is of course tricky if I at the same time need to up my calorie intake. How does one cut out the less-than-perfect foods AND consume 2800 calories in a day? I guess nuts and healthy snacks are an option, though a costly one. Nuts are frickin' expensive in Denmark, and not something I can do on a regular basis. I know they're good for me. I know they will up my calorie intake. I know they have good oils. Sadly, they're bad for my economy. A small bag of nuts (100-150g) is easily $5 US dollars here. Imagine if I was to buy one every day? :/
So, I can do my best on this, but not more than that. Still, doing my best is a whole lot better than a half-assed attempt, right?
So, today I will strickly limit my sugars. I will not buy anything that has unnecessary sweets in it. No snacking tonight after dinner either.
Post dinner snacking is easy to restrict today. Today I'm teaching my weight loss classes. Once I am home, it'll be past 7 PM and I am done eating for the day, so snacking isn't even an option.
...
I'm getting better and better at simply rejecting foods because it's either before 11AM or after 7PM. This makes it a LOT easier for me. I can actually use it as an excuse when I "want to mess up". I look at the time and when I see that it's past 7PM, I simply pack away the urge for treats and move on.
Why the heck is it so much harder at other times?!?
I think this is a matter of habit. Clearly, it's a matter of priority and perspective.
It's a priority issue because I can see that my Intermittent fasting times are more important than snacks. The fact that I think like this makes the treat unnecessary and something that I didn't need in the first place.
The perspective? I know I don't need it. Still, I go have it - and often have more than I intended to. I need to see things in a bigger picture sometimes, and realize that even if it fits in my calorie budget, it doesn't mean that it's an awesome idea to buy a ton of candy.
This is probably something I will have to remind myself of for the rest of my life. I'm prepared for this and I'm okay with it. I'm prepared to nudge myself back into a better place when needed. I just hope that I will always be able to identify when the time is needed for the nudging.
Of course, I hope that over time it will be less and less that I need to nudge. I hope that my relationship with food - and sugar in particular - will be better, and that it will be easier for me to handle.
I feel that I have gotten the grip on SO MANY things over the course of the last few years. I lost the weight. I am much better at portion control. I exercise as I am supposed to. I'm teaching! There is so much I am thankful for in all of this. And then, at the same time, I sometimes feel that I have zero control of things because I can't reel in my sugar use. It sucks.
If I was to point to ONE thing that I wish I could do better on my weight loss/maintenance journey, it would clearly be to handle sugar cravings.
I love sugar, and I know how bad it is. I don't care how bad it is, that is how much I love it. Like a frickin' addict.
Still, I think I can learn to do MUCH better than I am doing.
...
I haven't had bad cravings from it this last week. Sure, I have had PLENTY of sugar, but not gone over my calorie limit. I have NOT have cravings for MORE sugar than allowed in my RDI. This, I think, is a good thing.
But - of course - it would be so much better if I simply didn't have any significant amount.
I would love for a day to come where I didn't feel an urge for sugars, or feel that I can't fully control them. I wonder if that day will ever come?
...
Today is a great day though. I've been busy at work and have been writing on this journal off and on during other tasks. It's almost lunch time.
Like I said, I'm teaching tonight, and it's gonna be a great day!
Today, I'm thankful for:
- Determination to cut down significantly on sugar!
- Wife!
- Work and teaching!
- Sunshine!
Life is good!
|
185.4 lb
Lost so far: 156.3 lb.
Still to go: 0 lb.
Diet followed reasonably well.
|
gaining 4.6 lb a week
|