Goal 2: Lose 30 Pounds

Today was the first day of October Unprocessed.  I did have some Cheerios for breakfast, which are processed.  Oh and cottage cheese for lunch to dip my carrots in.  It's better for me than ranch dressing.  Ugh! Did I fail at October Unprocessed already!?!?!  Nope, I don't think so!  I overcame a lot of cravings today.  I actually felt a twinge of jealousy as I watched people park at the Subway across the street.  I sat in the break room, ate my ham roll ups, carrots, cottage cheese, water, and raspberries.  I spent about 10 minutes getting over the fact that my favorite honey wheat pretzels were sitting on the counter, thanks to a coworker.  After the craving passed, I was fine. 

A couple of mantras kept rippling through my thoughts:

1. "Food is fuel, food is fuel, food is fuel.  I don't need those pretzels to survive."
and
2. "I really really really really really really want this lifestyle change."

By the end of my lunch, I didn't glance back at the pretzels. When I got hungry mid-afternoon, I reached for the box of raisins I brought in my lunch bag.  They were just enough to cover my tummy for another few hours until dinner.

You know, I didn't hit that midday slump I usually have.  It was great.  I was tired. I think I may be coming down with something but I wasn't on that sugar low like usual.  I certainly was feeling my emotions.  Work was stressful today but I just worked through it and when I felt like it was getting to be a lot, instead of going back to munch on food, I just socialized with my coworkers.  I also drank a ton of water today.  Here's to tomorrow!

So, anyway, my second goal is to lose 30 pounds by just after Christmas.  This makes me nervous because I'm not really sure I can do it.  I changed my goals over at MyFitnessPal to reflect the weight loss. It is calling to consume 1600 calories a day.  Sheesh! I struggled to get 1200 calories today.  I think I'm going to have to eat the more meals each day.

The thing is that I have done it before.  Five years ago I was really paying attention to what I was eating for the month of March and I lost 10 lbs in that one month! I was so excited...so excited that I stopped eating healthy! I think I treated myself or something and got so off track.  I am using this October challenge to refocus my brain.

Soon after Pat and I got married, everyone said the wedding stress would make me forget to eat and I would lose that extra weight. Please! Have you ever met a binge eater? Stress sends me over the eating edge.  I think of all those feelings that pass over my brain when I'm stressed.  There's excitement, anxiety, hunger (or what I think is hunger), relief when I give in.  I need to find another way to deal with my stress, especially at work.  While the weather is still nice I plan on going for walks during the workday just to get away.  I know this has helped me in the past and gets me away from the snacking temptations at work. 

So, here's to 30 lbs!

Trigger Foods

Wow, I find that it really takes me a lot to get motivated to write. Does any one else have that same problem? It feels like working out to me. I have a great streak of writing and I'm so very motivated and then I hit a wall of laziness and have to force myself back into the grove of things. I have found that, also like working out, that music helps motivate me to write. It's like a positive trigger.  Which is a great intro into my entry.

What are your trigger or trigger foods? According to Weight Watchers, a trigger food is a specific food that sets off a course of overeating where control is lost and excessive amounts are consumed. I don't think mine are all food triggers. I have mental triggers too. I'm slowly starting to figure out my triggers and how to work around them. I have three main triggers:

1. Breakfast
2. Stress
3. Sugar

I'm sure there are others but these are the ones that pop into my head the easiest at this moment. I'm just going to touch on each briefly and then talk about what I am doing to avoid these triggers.

Breakfast
Breakfast sounds like it would be such a positive time of the day to start off right. Well, if I find an excuse to not eat breakfast at home, I usually compensate with a breakfast on the way into work, usually McDonalds or something else. I have to eat breakfast. If I don't, I will be lethargic the rest of the morning and will only be able to think about how hungry I am. Last fall, I managed to go a number of months with eating breakfast at home.  Eating at home was actually my first goal in a series of goals that sent me all the way through the new year. I ate home for breakfast every day for three months. I am doing that again. I did my clean eating grocery trip after work last night. I was sure to pick up some Kashi and shredded wheat for breakfast.

Stress
We all deal with stress in different ways.  Some people smoke, some scream, some just go for a run, and some just eat. I'm in that latter group. If I am stressed, and I espcially will notice this at work, I will come up with an excuse to skip over the meal I brought from home and will go out for lunch. Usually it is Subway but other times it is fast food or Chinese take out. And I don't just eat a little to satisfy the craving, I eat a lot. I haven't quite figured out how to overcome this one yet. If there are any ideas, I am willing to listen.

Sugar
Sugar is probably my only true trigger food. I love sugar. If you give me a choice for candy, it's always the non-chocolate candies that I will reach for. Now don't get me wrong, I do like a little bit of milk chocolate here and there. But non-chocolate is what really gets my taste buds going. (My mom and sister probably think I'm from some other family) I love sugar! Jelly beans are an all time favorite along with those sugared gummy oranges. Delicious.  This is an easier thing for me to control if I just put the work into controlling it. Usually a piece of fruit will satisfy the craving. I have learned that I need to keep something quick and small around me to reach for instead of the candy.  I do love to reach for grapes or apples. Watermelon is my favorite fruit and food. I just wish I could have it all year round. Hubby and I are currently working on our third melon of the season.

So what are your triggers and how do you deal with them?