I wish I can say it is all just a big party, like ice cream and cake, going smooth as butter or even NO PROBLEM! No in every way it has been a challenge for me. As much as I want to loose weight, look thin and cute, wear the clothes I like. It was been an intense long fierce battle!
I love to eat and cook, experiment in the kitchen with new recipes etc. I'm a total social eater. Every event according to me needs some thing to eat either it is just a meeting.
HERE IS SOME OF MY STRUGGLES AND WHAT I DO TO SAIL AROUND IT:
STRUGGLE: I crave sugar and chocolate. I think for most of my life I ate some kind of chocolate daily..... probably some addiction :)
DO: I buy the cheapest 80 to 85 percent dark chocolate. I check the label and make sure I do not eat more than 5 net grams at a time. I try not to eat this every day as I know I will want more and more. I probably have two cubes 2 times a week.
STRUGGLE: My family are sugar and carb junkies. I find it very challenging to eat with them. I love them deeply and want to spoil them with good healthy meals. So I have to come up with these meals, cook it and watch them eat it. Even if I cook healthy there is carbs and having to sit at the same table as them and smelling the great food and having to eat my food it often discouraging.
DO: I try to come up with some food in the same range as what they eat creating it for me without the carbs. When they have toast and egg I will make the bun in a mug with egg. When we eat hamburgers I just eat the inside without the bun and have more salad on the side. I will make them lasagne and make a baby marrow and eggplant lasagne for me.
STRUGGLE: Going out for meals and my family and friends enjoy cake and ice cream and I have to smell it, and see them fully devouring it.
DO: When our family have ice cream like Magnum's (doesn't happen allot) I then have a small bite from each. I have made a decision not to have one of my own. Telling myself this is it.
STRUGGLE: Often hard to handle is when I land up somewhere at a party or a meal at someone's home.
DO: I try to stick as far as I can to low carb food. Sometimes I have to explain how and why I eat if they insist dishing for me. If I was asked to bring something to share I make sure it is something I can eat.
STRUGGLE: Going on a road trip with my family. They love to eat carbs!
DO: I pack boiled eggs (I know it sounds totally old lady :) and eat it with cucumber sticks or lettuce leafs. I always have a packet of nuts in my handbag. I stock up on almonds and cashews, and have a few at a time when I'm starving or know I'm going to be lead into temptation by something to eat.
STRUGGLE: When all around are fully enjoying the birthday cake or cake at a coffee shop.
DO: I order coffee with cream like a cuppachino and sip it slowly.
STRUGGLE: When the scale has come to a halt!
DO: I drink more water. Go for a brisk walk and make sure I get some more exercise on a regular basis. Make the low carb chicken soup and eat it for lunch and supper for a few days. Make sure some carbs is not creeping in somewhere. I look back over the day before and try to figure out what could have caused a gain.
STRUGGLE: When I crave something to eat and its not lunch or supper yet!
DO: I make myself coffee with whip cream inside. If my sugar cravings is out of hand I had a little bit of stevia. I go sit somewhere but not in the kitchen and enjoy my coffee. Have a small hand full of nuts and eat them one by one slowly.
STRUGGLE: I'm often tempted to just take one bite or one piece or just a bit of something high in carbs. Especially when I'm in the kitchen cooking or baking or dishing up for my family or I'm tired after a long day.
DO: I have made a decision not to taste. Not a bit. Not even a crumb laying on a plate. I know when I taste it is going to be like a shark and I would want more.
There is probably many more struggles with great answers. What are struggles you have and what do you do to solve it?
The biggest breakthrough for me has been dealing with my sugar addiction. Once I have gone through the sugar detox, I have just not had any sweets or sugar in any form (other than in the fruit I eat). I think this has been my biggest struggle in the past, and has made the biggest difference for me this time. It is still hard to not eat in social settings - like birthday parties. One day at a time. Monique
ReplyDeleteI love fruit and I think doing low carb and not being able to eat lots of fruit has been a set back. Instead I snack on a carrot. I eat little pieces of fruit or just a few strawberries etc. I'm use to eating bowls of it. I was never much into sugar but I often crave chocolate. For me too my biggest set back was eating too much chocolate and that will keep my weight back and then I give up at the end trying. Good work Monique keep on going. Great to have someone here talking and processing with me. x x
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