This weekend I had lunch with a dear friend I met online through Weight Watchers several years ago. Since then, our friendship has extended well beyond the realms of dieting and weight loss, and I’ve come to consider her a really awesome friend.
We got to talking about journaling and, knowing that — weight loss, maintenance, or gain, I’ve been a diligent journaler — she asked if I still kept a food journal/tracked my Points. Continue reading “Journaling for Success”
In spite of feeling like a raging PMSing beyotch as I usually do right before my period arrives, I’ve actually felt a resolute calm for the past three days (today being day four).
The reasoning — what I’m about to say — will probably disappoint some of you who really were rooting for me to love intuitive eating, but I’m not one to lie, so … here’s my confession.
Intuitive eating just doesn’t come naturally to me without journaling; I’m just not there yet, and don’t know if I’ll ever be.
So instead of feeling frustrated at myself for giving in to emotional eating, I decided to work on my behaviors and, more importantly, my thinking. And in doing so, my anxiety levels are at a bare minimum. Hurrah! Continue reading “Calm Friday”
I’ve mentioned before that I have a personal journal and a food journal.
Well, this past weekend I found the cutest matching journals — one big (for thoughts), one small (for food/exercise) — in Walmart’s clearance section, of all places!
There’s nothing more exciting to me than a new journal. Truth be told, not even my new Coach bag was as exciting a purchase. I love, love, love to write.
I’ve been writing since sixth grade almost every day, starting at age 11 with silly fights with my sister or crushes on a certain boy who shall remain nameless … to details of friendships and budding romances, high school antics with the gang, unforgettable college memories, heartbreaks, studying abroad, my sorority life, body image issues, new purchases, the heartache of a long distance relationship, 9/11, travel, buying my first car, engagement, marriage, moving, new jobs, new friends … you name it, it’s in there. Pretty much my whole life is documented for our future children to see. Continue reading “Jivin’ for Journaling”
So it’s no secret that I’ve gained some weight this fall/winter; I’m about 5 from where I was last summer and about 10 from my comfortable weight.
I can see it in pictures, in the mirror … it’s there, and there’s no denying it.
So before 10 becomes 15, I would like to capitalize on my hardwiring as an anxious person and use that anxiousness to make lemonade out of lemons.
I’m still a loyal online WW member and have been since 2004 … which is even more perplexing as to how I’ve gained without going over my Points — the only culprit I can think of is the wrong choices within my points, since I am still working out the same and not even eating those APs I earn.
But I digress.
I’m not here to ressurect the past, only to look ahead to what can be done going forward. Last winter/spring, I lost about 7 lbs. by continuing on WW and also journaling on Sparkpeople.com, a free weight-loss jounaling site that actually shows you the nutritional breakdown of your foods in terms of calories, fat, fiber, carbs, etc.
Now, this summer I quit Sparkpeople cold turkey because I was journaling there, plus counting Points, plus keeping a spreadsheet that would make even an accountant cringe, it was that nitty-gritty.
It was obsessive to the extremes, and it just made me more fixated on food. Continue reading “Making Lemonade Out of Lemons”
Yesterday Lee over at For the Love of Peanut Butter (one of my favorite blogs about one woman’s amazing recovery from her ED) raised some really insightful and thought-provoking points about the dilemmas surrounding weighing and measuring food.
She notes that, as a former restricter, once she was out of her treatment, she initially weighed and measured meticulously, wanting to be sure she wasn’t going over what was recommended by her meal plans. Naturally, there was still that fear of eating too much.
Then, as time went on, she has gotten to a happier, calmer, more comfortable place where she feels she can eyeball some foods and simply doesn’t want to/need to rely on the tools anymore.
She doesn’t want to be tied to measuring cups and spoons and food scales, and she wants to trust her body — not rely on a measuring spoon to say, “too much PB today”!
I admire her a ton for her honesty and her insight, and say “Way to go!” for her determination to find freedom through leaving her utensils in their respective drawers.
Yet as a devoted Weight Watcher (who has admittedly never dealt with true restriction — Weight Watchers has minimums and I have never came close to those Points values), I’m mixed on how I feel about this approach for me. Continue reading “Weights & Measures”
Let There Be Light 