Droppin' it like it's hot (the weight that is)

This past Thursday I went for my weekly weigh in and to my great surprise I lost 1...2...3...4 pounds! It made feel me great :)

I should have lost that much, though, considering the cardboard diet I'm on. Those fiber "crackers" just don't get tasty no matter what you do to them - I tried mashing them into my oh so delicious plain oatmeal, using them as croutons on my filling two cups of lettuce, dipping it in my "rich chocolate" protein shake and force feeding it to myself with big gulps of water. But hey, at least it's doing its job, even if it tastes like saw dust.

I'm not hungry on the diet, but I still have cravings. It gets a little old eating the same thing for breakfast, am snack, lunch, pm snack and dinner. I was flipping through a magazine with delicious pictures of pasta, steak and cheesecake. My mouth started watering for the flavorful food so much that I felt like my dog begging for chicken at the dinner table. I was ready to eat the picture, BUT that would be a calorie that I can't afford.

This week is the "tone up" phase in which I am to start strength training. I was ready to be using weight machines, but little did I know that strength training was considered timing myself doing jumping jacks and wall sits in my living room. The dog watches me like I'm an idiot while I jump around the room from one exercise to the next - the dog can judge me all it wants as long as these pounds keep melting off.

Even though the diet is not the most tantalizing taste wise, I am so thankful that I am participating in it. I had plateaued and didn't know how to continue my hike downward with my weight. Sometimes I feel frustrated that the weight has taken so long to come off, but when I sit back and look at it, 36.5 lbs lost in six and a half months is not bad. 6.5 of those lbs being in ten days on this diet - that really is incredible. Going through this program helps me realize that I really can accomplish anything that I put mind to.

"Be not afraid of going slowly, be only afraid of standing still." - Chinese Proverb

Food addictions

Cutting back on the fattening food was probably one of the most difficult challenges I faced and still face. I come from an extremely Italian family and food holds great importance for us. A lot of family time was centered around decadent meals with things like baked ziti, chicken cacciatore, lasagna, and my favorite, chicken parmesan - mmmm mmmm good.

Not to mention that dinner was almost always followed with a delicious, hard to resist dessert such as red velvet cake or cookie dough ice cream. It was such a catch-22 with my family as well - we'd be eating dinner and mid-meal someone would nonchalantly announce, "Gee you're puttin' on the pounds there chunky." Obviously that would quell my appetite and I'd put down my fork which would be met with the inquiry of, "Oh, you're done, do you want some dessert?" Excuse me? No I don't want dessert now! As you can probably guess based on this story, dieting was never met with much success in my house. 

Since January, I have revamped my eating patterns and decisions and trained my stomach to fill up on smaller portions than what I was used to. This was NOT easy though. One thing you need to be prepared for is that you aren't always going to get support from people. I can't count the number of times someone said to me, "Oh come on, don't follow your diet just this one time eat the (insert high calorie, not good for you, food here)." And oh is it tempting to listen to the other person's pleas for you to join their eat-a-thon of crap food - I'd be lying if I said I didn't give in sometimes.

The point of this post

When you start a diet it is going to be rough - especially if you are addicted to food the way I am or it is engrained in you to eat big meals. Remember though, you are not alone - there are thousands and thousands of others out there struggling to diet as well. 

Taking the time to think of the reasons you love food and have a hard time keeping a diet is very important though. If you can address these issues, then when you are faced with a challenge and feel like you're going to break your diet you can understand your emotions towards food and battle them better. 

If you do falter and make a bad choice one time, for a whole day or even for an entire week, this does not mean you should give up. We are human - taking a step backwards is normal - so just get back on the diet with your next food decision and eventually eating healthy will become a habit.