So many excuses

I have had so many excuses to eat, over the years.  Yesterday was a typical one.  When having an unexpected day off because of a big storm, I've always automatically thought about what special foods to buy, prepare, and eat.  It's the same if I'm home sick (unless it's a stomach bug!).  I did the weekly grocery shopping on Sunday.  Knowing that a big storm was coming, the old thoughts of what special foods to buy went through my head, but I was able to recognize what was happening, and just bought what was on my list.  Clear sailing, right?  Wrong!  Yesterday, though what I ate was on my plan, and I believe my calories, carbs, etc. were within range, I still found myself picking a bit while preparing  meals and after eating.  It's those little, seemingly harmless things that eventually get me into trouble.  This behavior was one of the things that I was doing as I slipped out of clean maintenance into several months of struggling.  I'm sure it started out in the same way as yesterday - "legal" special eating, but it got out of hand - gradually, but still out of hand until I was on that slippery slope.  I need to be more diligent about not letting my guard down and being mindful of my lifelong triggers of excuses to eat, as well as what my trigger foods are and staying away from them.

Thanks for the reminder!

I am making a habit of making a commitment to the type of eating I will do each day the night before. I then recommit the next morning. I have been doing this every single day for a while now. I find it very helpful. What works for me is the attitude of "I can do anything for 1 day."

My latest commitment has been to eating super low carb (which also for me ends up being super low calorie the past few days). I'm doing this because I want to see just how much carbs actually add to my hunger. So I have been doing no more than 20-25 carbs per day for a few days. It's a little intense, but again, it's a one day at a time type of thing. I can choose each evening or each morning to commit or not commit to my plan.

There is some anecdotal research that I've been reading that shows via observation that hunger lessens and satiety increases after super low carb eating. I was surprised that yesterday I had only eaten just under 600 calories for the day, but over 100 grams of protein and only 21 carbs. I had only mild hunger, too.

Something to consider since you're considering trigger foods and lifestyle changes. Like you, I have a very slippery slope and am working on gaining my traction!

One day at a time really can work.  I spent many years in OA and that was one of their mantras.  It is so much easier to do something if it is only for one moment, one hour, one day.  I have greatly reduced my carb intake over the past couple of weeks.  I haven't actually been counting carbs, so I'm not sure what I've been averaging, though most likely not in the 20-25 range - probably more in the 40 or so range, give or take.  I do know that, while I was struggling, I was eating more refined carbs and the more I ate them, the more I craved them and food in general.  Certainly something to look at!  Thanks for the info and food for thought!

Ah, diligence.  It's a daily challenge sometimes, eh?  

Always!   But so worth it!