Saturday, June 18, 2011

Day 13 of 84 in the StSC: Another pound down, a great few pages to help you overcome overeating (ie, REHAB yourself) from the book that helped me the most, and the value of sleep...

Tanita-san: 191.2

Yep. Another pound down. I was afraid my "carby" vegetarian eating day yesterday might slow me down or give me a slight bit of carb bloat (I got up to 118 carbs), especially since I had a lot of cheese (mozza and parmesan) on my spaghetti squash (ie, added sodium). But no, worked out fine.

Friday calories: 1088

Part of that is that I'm sleeping fine again. Eight hours. Good rest, I find, makes for good losses. When I sleep poorly or sleep little, the scale stops budging or goes back up. So, yeah, I see this as the factor that has helped the no-cardio week not impede me. I am so antsy to walk, but I won't be a fool and strain what is already strained. I have to recover and be patient. So, no walking. :(

I'm 6.2 pounds away from a merely overweight BMI status. Go, me!

I really enjoyed my veggie day. What I ate:

Brunch: I cooked a smaller sized spaghetti squash in the nuker, and it yielded a lot of "pasta". I made it marinara style (melted mozza, sprinkled parmesan) with zucchini on the side (sauteed in EVOO with some parm on top) and used the Mrs. Dash Italian Medley for flavor. I ate a fresh organic pear and 1 gluten-free (almond flour and coconut) low-carb cookie for dessert. Had coffee and my loads of water.

Dinner: More squash, this time with pesto Calabrese style (red pepper pesto) and mozzarella melted on top. A bit of spinach and mushroom saute on the side (flavored with garlic). Had half a baked apple with walnut butter for dessert. Zevia grape flavored and coffee and water. My Frieling French press has been getting good use lately. Lovely java.

This is a higher carb  day for me, but it came from the fruit and veggies, which I don't mind. That's good carbs in my book. :D

I mentioned how I had cravings earlier in the week that I fought off. I do believe that fighting off cravings matters. For some people, just giving in and having some of a craved food seems to be their solution. It can't be that for me MOST of the time. I find that to continue to have control, I must USE control. I must use that self-control to keep those new habit pathways working as primary. I don't want to default to the REWARD system for things like junk food or sugary treats or trigger foods.

For me, the rehab system described by various sources--for me, notably Kessler in THE END OF OVEREATING and Gillian Riley's work on beating overeating--and part of that is simply saying no. Not justifying caving. Just refusing to cave to "fave food/trigger foods" and old reward systems. When I do that, the cravings pass and I go back to low appetite, calm eating mode. That was yesterday. I wanted a pasta-ey thing, and I didn't want old trigger foods (pasta, pizza), so I made my lower carb, plan-friendly "pasta" dishes.

I felt satisfied. And I felt victorious for saying no all week to the crap that traps me back in cue-reward old habits. I refuse to let food win. This week, I fought the old cues. This week,  I won. You take it day by day, week by week.

Caving to a craving is sometimes okay. But for a lot of us, it can be the trigger to cascade into more cavings and more cravings and a setback. If you're doing well...don't cave Say no. Hold on. Build new habit neural pathways. Get stronger each time you use your "no" muscle.

Cave and you might be back at square one. Seriously. You may not be the sort that does well with sidetracks. It might kill your momentum.

If you have issues with temptation, with caving to overeating, with staying in your calorie level, please read THE REHAB chapter of THE END OF OVEREATING if you can't read the whole thing (highly recommended).

Update so far for StSC:

This week, exercise took a hit due to my injury. So, only got 1.5 hours of exercise in so far this week.

Fluids and prayer were consistent and excellent.

Calories: well under max allowed.

Weekly weight loss goal 1.5 lbs: This week isn't over, but I needed to make it to 191.9 (or less) to make goal. I hit 191.2 today, so I made my goal and exceeded it. Yay!

I haven't quit. I blogged frequently. I encouraged others (though some days were minimal and some days much better).

I am still with my eyes on the prize....

Keep yours on the prize, too.

And enjoy your family holiday....make it about love, not eating.

Be well...

19 comments:

Sarah said...

Send some of that scale dropping over here please? LOL Good job!

Rachel Schofield - Virtual Interior Decorator & Home Stager said...

I'm so happy you met your goal! I can't wait to be overweight too. haha Who thought we'd ever say THAT?

Good for you for keeping yourself in check. Looking fabulous!

Bluezy said...

Wow. I love how you can eat slow down and carb up and lose weight. Wow. I have NEVER had spaghetti squash and I am bookmarking this post so I can do this after the 4th. A veggie healthy carb. Yah

I sometimes have to back track from the post comment when the captcha is prophetic. This captcha says "combo" and I just thought of when I add more carbs to my diet. How prophetic it that?
Hail to the Oracle of Captcha! (I am a simple primative I stop for symbology, birds perching near, animal sounds, bugs that don't fly away or perch on you like a butterfly or dragonfly, birds flying in houses or butterflies flying by when I am contemplating deep things.)

Colie's Kitchen said...

Wahooo great job!!! Keep up the good work 1 pound closer to goal wahoo!! Nicole @ www.colieskitchen.com

Lizzie said...

Hey...you feel like my dieting twin...both in spitting distance of overweight, fighting off an injury this week and loving spaghetti squash!

Keep up the good work!!!

Retta said...

Getting stronger when we exercise our "no muscle"... I like that!

Anonymous said...

I read the excerpt. I love that book!

That is exactly how I see food--as a reward. Put in a good mommy day, got the kids to bed--ice cream was my reward. That--not overeating regular food during the day--is how I got to 252 pounds on my 5'5" frame.

I eat to soothe anxiety, too, but I would think that the techiniques that work to break the reward cycle would work to break the "calm down" cycle.

I've got to get that book! Thanks.

Deb

Brightcetera said...

I'm going to grab my EOO book from the shelf and read that chapter before going to sleep.
I'm having a helluva time this weekend with overeating. Not on bad foods but in ridiculous proportions and for all the wrong reasons none of which are hunger.

Congrats on moving on down the scale, Princess!

Julie said...

Great Mir, just plain and simple great work. I have got to try spaghetti squash. When I do I am going to ask you how to do it because it's not something I've ever tried.
Sleep, sleep is awesome and something we really need and like you said so does our bodies.
Have a great weekend Mir. Keep healing and taking care of yourself. Blessings my friend.

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy said...

I LOVE spaghetti squash! I love how you ate it for 2 meals in one day, I could totally do that.

You're so right about fighting cravings. It makes you feel in CONTROL when you are able to divert attention away from it and not give in to temptation. I LIKE that control feeling. I can totally feel that downward spiral happening as soon as I let go of that control (like vacation). We're on a mission to lose weight, not reward ourselves when we do good for a week.

I so love your scale, you rock!

40404t said...

You're an inspiration!

Candi said...

WOOHOO!!! You made your goal!!! I need to get more sleep. I rarely get a full 8 hours. so far I'm learning stress and lack of sleep can deter weight loss.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing, I will be checking for that book on amazon soon!

Anonymous said...

Yeah!!

Empty Nester said...

If I give in to a craving, it's OVER. I know that I will NOT stop at just one 'give-in' but just keep on eating. So, no giving in to cravings for me.

I have found that getting enough sleep is key for me too! It helps improve my moods too...LOL

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on losing another pound. I'm all for any reading that helps keep successes coming.

Michele said...

I love Kessler's book. He also has some youtube videos. Great resource and a great thinker/scientist. Hope there is another pound down this week, too. Michele

Meg said...

Congrats on your success so far!
I'm still working on my "no" muscle.

Carrie said...

I'm gonna have to check out that book! Carbs are my downfall if I give in to the craving for them.. French Fries, Bagels, mashed potatoes... *sigh* But they hate me. Must stay away from them.

You are doing great! Keep up the good work!