I think I've been pretty lucky, all the way around. I recognize that this isn't the case for a lot of people attempting to lose weight and make a lifestyle change (DIET. DIET DIET DIET!!! Argh. I feel so PC when I say Lifestyle change... )
I'm in a fairly controlled environment. Much like the traditional white laboratory rat.
I'm a housewife. With a pre-school aged child. Without access to a car. Without lots of real life friends in the area.
You can't get much more controlled than that.
I don't get unexpected leftover birthday cake in the company office. I don't have co-workers with mini chocolate bars on their desks. I don't have to go out for business lunches. I don't even have loads of friends who show up on the weekends and want to go out for drinks.
My husband's doing this lifestyle change with me, so I don't have to contend with fixing one meal for him and one meal for myself. (The way my mother always did, except what she did was fixed him dinner and didn't bother to eat her own dinner for days at a time...) My daughter? She's so much of a not-sweets-aholic that she's still got most of a bucket of Halloween candy left over. (It's perched on the corner of the top of my desk, but most of the time, it doesn't tempt me.) My husband does the grocery shopping with me, so he'd know if I gave into an impulse buy and brought something into the house that we shouldn't eat.
I do a lot of my non-grocery shopping on line. I love the convenience of having something shipped to me, and then I don't have to go to the mall and fight with crowds and lines and not finding what I want. And thus, don't have to walk by the Aunt Annie's pretzels, or the Cinnabon, or whatever it is that smells good. I don't even watch a lot of TV... (have you ever noticed that they don't show those dreamy, slow food swirl type commercials for broccoli? Just cheeseburgers and ice cream and ... well, you know the drill.)
I really don't deal with temptation on a regular basis.
This makes me very lucky.
On the other hand, it does mean that when I get a craving, it's an actual craving. (As opposed to an environmentally created impulse.)
Last week, I desperately wanted ice cream. And not just any ice cream. Cold Stone.
So, I looked it up. For a Like It size, most of the Cold Stone ice cream runs from 8 to 10 points. Mix-ins can run from 1 to 5 points each. The Love It size is ~16 and I don't even like to think about 23 points of Gotta Have It! (For the record, I never ate a Gotta Have It. I usually got the Love It size...)
I mentioned it to Thomas. More than a few times, I'm pretty sure.
Finally, we decided that if we'd been really good this week, we'd go get some... since we couldn't save up points during the day for an indulgence, we'd have to use our WPAs. So, we did.
Both of us got the same thing, dark chocolate, no mix-ins in the Like It size. 8 points.
Was it worth it? Absolutely.
I enjoyed every single bite. And I ate it very slowly.
Did I love it enough to wear it? (That's my leader's motivational thing, when she's facing an ice cream, or a cookie... of course, Beth also sprays her leftover food with Windex before she throws it away because - she admits this - she has been known to fish something OUT OF THE TRASH to eat it. She says you can't wash it off. That she knows this... worries me. Just a little bit.) Not really.
But I didn't have to. I'm down another pound this week. (Thomas is down 2 pounds this week.)
Would we have weighed in at less, if we hadn't had ice cream? Probably.
Does it matter? No.
Situation; Resolved.
11 comments:
Yup that is pretty much how it is here. "Controlled environment". Wich is great for being in control of things well right up till something pops up and throws off the control LOL.
That ice cream looked sooooooo yummy!!!
Hope you have a SUPER week!
*huggles*
=0)
Same here... down to the preschool age healthy eater running around (well times two lol)
But, I think that if we're ever going to win (or lose?) in this weight loss gain that we need to enjoy our lives, and depriving yourself just doesn't fit into that... you waited for a real craving for something that looked soooooo worth the 8 points... and Congrats on the 1 lb. loss (it's still great!!)
-Rose
What I love about WW is that you CAN treat yourself. My leader said that if you treat yourself do it with a quality product, just like you did.
I LOVE dark chocolate ANYTHING! Way to go on the pound--it's still going in the right direction!
Oh yes! Life is meant to be enjoyed. Planned enjoyment is even better! :) I'm glad you enjoyed your treat! And congrats on the loss!
We have been talking about visiting Cold Stone all week. We haven't done it. That is probably a good thing since sre on vacation and eating almodt every meal out. I love that you can have treaets and still lose weight. Congrats in the loss.
Great job and wonderful way to plan your special treat and night out!
You've been tagged. Hope you'll share your <6 Word Memoir.
That definitely is a controlled environment. I don't really have too many temptations. I mean, v-day and easter went buy without even the tiniest peice of candy.
My only weakness is at the mall. I usually carry food with me if I know I can heat it up. But if I can't then, how do I eat? So I used to go to subway, cause they can be low in fat. But then I realized that a 6" sandwich can have as much as 1000mg of sodium. Eh, no thanks.
So now I just eat sushi. LOL!
I loved your post, your strategy and your way of dealing with your craving! Well done! I fully approve!
And congrats on the pound lost!
Bravo for mindful eating! You wanted it, you planned for it, you had it, you enjoyed every bite of it. And if that's not a way to live (call it lifestyle change, diet, or standing on your head stacking BBs if you will!) then I don't know what is. :-)
Well done! (Is it strange to congratulate one for eating ice cream? But surely not, in the circumstances.)
V.
Thats a lot like my life, pretty controlled environment. I stay out of the stores and save my extra calories for the occasional indulgence. I've learned that some things just aren't worth the calories
Hey Lynn, I absolutely LOVE this post! You've found one of the keys to being successful on this journey: plan for the foods you love and find a way to fit them in. I refuse to think of going the rest of my life without eating gooey, yummy Cold Stones once in a while. None of us should have to go without what we dearly love. The trick, as you said, is to save for it and plan for it - and not to do it every day (darn it!)
Good for you - I'm so proud of you!
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