I am no longer on a diet.
Now don't get me wrong....this doesn't mean the weight loss journey is over. I've just decided that from now on, I am no longer dieting. At least not in the strictest sense of the word.
In the past, I would adhere so stringently to "the diet" that I would just feel awful if I ate even one "bad" thing that wasn't on "the diet"...and then that failure would feed into a downward spiral of "well, if I am going to have a slice of pizza I may as well have the whole thing" and "well, if I was bad at lunch, I may as well be bad at dinner (or all weekend, or all week, or forever) because I've already blown "my diet.""
I've learned that this is a symptom of being a perfectionist and it's not a good thing. When I catch myself feeling guilty for eating something decadent, I try to remind myself that that's the perfectionism talking and that as long as I hit the gym regularly and don't make a habit of eating the decadent thing all the time, I'll be fine.
I also read a really helpful article about trying to instill healthy eating habits in children that has actually really helped me. I am kicking myself for not bookmarking it because I can't seem to find it now and I would love to share. But the most helpful trick that I took from the article was when a kid wants to eat something unhealthy (cake, cookies, etc.) instead of saying "You can't have that" you're supposed to say "We're having _______(insert food) at little Timmy's birthday party on Saturday and you can have it then."
It's immeasurably less miserable to go through life knowing "I am having pizza next weekend so I won't have any tonight" versus thinking "I can't have pizza."
Small trick. But it really is helping.
This week has seen almost a pound lost already and we're a day early for the weigh-in. I have a gut feeling tomorrow will be in the 136's....too bad I don't have a scale.
The best part, is that I am still seeing results during a week in which I:
- Got to have pizza for lunch Saturday (just 1 slice with a salad, and I walked to the restaurant which was about a mile from my house).
- Got to have Fat Harry's buffalo chicken wrap (after burning 1000 calories at the gym that morning)
- Got to enjoy so many beers that I didn't even bother counting them at the Saints game (ditto on the 1000+ calories at the gym that morning).
All other days I was more rigorous about eating healthier food and did more modest workouts at the gym.
Tonight, I will indulge in my all time favorite truffle mac and cheese. It's my favorite thing about coming to Lake Charles. And it's going to be fine because I am going to work out for 2 hours at the hotel gym and I had a very small lunch to accommodate a bigger dinner.
At this point, I would say this isn't a lifestyle change.....it's a lifestyle changed.
