A New Way Of Thinking

Did you know that you are unable to think a positive thought and a negative thought at the same time? How you think is central to the way you view yourself.
I often find myself thinking, "it's no use! I will never lose this weight!" Or "it's all or nothing".That's my stinking thinking taking over when that happens. I just read where I can challenge my thinking by thinking on better things. Philippians 4:8 says; What ever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. 
I've got too many good things going for me than to waste my thoughts on negative issues in life. Sure! I want to lose this weight...but thinking I'm a failure isn't going to get me there any faster. So, why not think my way thin?
Life is a process, and so is my health journey. I'm going to approach each day with the attitude that  I do the next right thing.
I always used to hate that saying , "Life is like a box of chocolates" because it made me want chocolate! Yeah yeah, you never know what you're gonna get, but I know also that I can make my own destiny. I can stay the way I am or change it. And a box of chocolates aint gonna make it better. Maybe for the moment with pleasure but then after I eat the whole box I will feel bad about myself, again. I'm looking for the end results.
I can't do this all on my own. I keep trying and failing at it. I need to rely on God's power to change my thoughts, which will change my actions. You see, I have a food addiction, but that's just a stronghold in my life. It's something I gave power over to, to control me. Strongholds are meant to be broken or replaced. I'm replacing one stronghold with another, food for God. Psalm 144:2 says, He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge.
Those have been my thoughts, what have you been thinking about? Have they been positive, or negative? Is it time for a change? For me it is!

Food journal:
This weekend has been a bust when it comes to eating so today is a new day, thank God! I love Mondays because it brings back routine.

Journaling

Someone asked me if I would blog my food journals. So, why not, that's what this is all about, isn't it? It's a good idea if you're starting out a new healthy living style to journal. Write down everything you eat and drink, even if it's a cheat. You will be surprised by what you didn't realize you actually ate.
When I'm eating on track, it looks mostly like this;

Breakfast- oatmeal, 2 eggs whites & 1/2 banana
Mid-morning snack- 2-4 oz protein like turkey sausage, chicken breast or tuna with fruit. I usually have an apple or an orange.
Lunch- 4oz lean protein like chicken breast or turkey burger ( buy Jeno O premade patties and love them), rice cake to put the chicken or burger on Since I don't need the bun, and veggies like tomatoes, and spinach on my burger.Load it up!
Mid-afternoon snack-lot of times its the same as mid-morning snack (boring I know)
Dinner- This I am still trying to get this one right. I am very tempted and tend to slip up and eat everything the family eats. Like, if they have garlic bread, I want some too!
I will say, I try to have had a good salad with chicken breast for dinner.I make it huge too. 4 oz chicken breast but I load up on the veggies. Tons of baby spinach, tomatoes, green peppers, carrot shavings, mushrooms.
I work late nights so have something else after dinner or my blood sugar will drop bad. 
Late-night snack- Fruit, I love oranges and grapes to eat while I'm working.

Each new day is a do over so if you are like me and blow it sometimes, just get right back on that horse and keep on riding! It's a journey and not a race. I take it one meal at a time, or else I would lose my sanity.

What is everyone else eating? Comment!

Are You A Junkie?

Hello, my name is Dina and I am a food addict. I am addicted to food. I love it! I'm not afraid to try new things. But it comes with a price. I am a "food junkie" It's my drug, so to speak. I thought I had it under control in my life lately but it would seem I do not. I notice that if I slip up just one bite, I'm done for. Bring on the cravings! Then I have to start all over again, ridding my head of the cravings. Dang trigger foods!
So that brings me to a thought. What are the signs of food addiction? Is this all in my head, so to speak or am I really facing a problem here? I looked it up and here are some of the signs to look for. This could be you!

Food Addiction Symptoms
If you suspect you or someone you know of having a food addiction, here are some early warning signs for you to look for to help you with early detection of food addiction.

• Obsessed with thoughts about food.
• Eats to relieve worry or stress.
• Eats until they feel sick.
• Feels anxious while eating.
• Worries or feels anxious while eating which results in more eating.
• Overeats because the food is there.
• Eats too fast so they can eat more.
• Eats everything on the plate even when they feel full.
• Feels guilty when they overeat.
• Hides food so they can eat in secret away from other people.
• Goes on a food binge after dieting or after trying to cut back.
• Does not like the feeling of being hungry.
• Sees food as something to be avoided or as harmful.

So out of those 13, I have 11. So then, what do you do if you know you have this problem? Go away to a deserted island until you are skinny! Okay, coming back to reality for a minute...
The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. (Ok..did that just now)
Next, identify which foods are "your trigger foods". (Oh boy!)
An interesting find! Trigger foods are actually food allergies causing allergic symptoms and cravings. 
Trigger foods which when ingested cause negative symptoms and changes in the body but at the same time provoke cravings.

So, again, what do I do? 

• Journal what I eat and my feelings toward food.
  

• Find my trigger food.

• Go to God. He heals!  

• Get some accountability. I can't do this alone! 

Resources were found at http://www.allaboutlifechallenges.org/food-addiction.htm if you are interested in looking further into this yourself.




 

The Missing Link

What is it? For me...energy! It seems I have been missing this and didn't really realize it until I found it again. Since eating healthier something amazing has happened. I am regaining energy I didn't realize I had lost. In my case, I didn't know what I had until I found it. I have noticed over the last few days I wasn't "requiring " my daily coffee. I have been drinking an enormous amount of water though and I think that has replaced the need for my coffee. Today I felt good enough to actually clean my house.

The other night I watched The Biggest Loser and had an interesting eye opener. The shows doctor evaluated each team and gave each team a task. One task was for one team to look at all they used to eat in a day and the trainer Julian had to eat it. She was so accustomed to healthy eating so when she tried to eat the junk food it was making her sick and she couldn't finish it.
That just goes to show, you really are what you eat. It reminded me of way back when, when I ate healthy foods all the time. I looked better and felt better too! Now when I am tempted with bad food choices, I am going to think about what it did to Julian on The Biggest Loser.

All in all, I have been doing very well and starting to reap the benefits too. I've set up an accountability board around me to keep me accountable and motivated. I encourage you, if you're struggling, find a way to stay on track. Set up boundaries and find others who will hold you accountable. Set up a "no fail zone".

Now for some tips.

• Baked sweet potatoes- bake them in the over and make up several so You can have some set back for later. ( I will post a recipe on this)
• Prepare your foods in advance- I am making it fail proof. When I fix something like chicken breast, I make several and put in baggies to have later for a quick protein snack.
• If you are struggling with drinking so much water, try some decaf green tea with a touch of Ste-via or Splenda to add flavor. I make this up in a big pitcher and sip all day on it.
• Don't go more than 3 hours without eating. Fuel the metabolism by eating.
  

The Biggest Loser

I have to confess, I am a huge fan of this show. I have never missed one episode, not one! Every season when it comes on I always say, I'm going to do it with them and see how much I can lose. Then by the end of the season I fizzle out and it ends in harsh disappointment in myself. Last week was the new season opener and I of course wanted to say the same ole thing, but I stopped myself. I really am doing it this time around, losing weight that is but I don't want to set myself up for any disappointment like before. I'm setting realistic expectations in myself.
Which leads me to the scale. Weigh in time. I am proud to say I am down a total of 5 pounds since starting. It's not much but hey, a loss is a loss. I'm no Biggest Loser, but who has time to exercise 8 hours a day? Who wants to? I would if I had a chance to win the money they are offering them. But I live in reality, and reality says I have 3 kids, a husband and a job. I'm learning to schedule things in to my busy life. I have set a time every day to exercise. I feel like if I make it a set time, then I will just know it has to be done and do it. It's all a mind set. If I tell my mind exercise if good, I'm hoping some day my mind will not fight so much with me on it. Hey, miracles have happened before you know. Until then, I'm just not giving myself any choices. At 2 o'clock every day it's exercise time. Just like I work at a certain time every day and I have no choice in that matter, its the same for my exercise. It's just got to be done.
I look forward to the pay off though. Feeling good, more energy and less flab. You know, it's not the extra pounds that has bothered me so much lately as it is the flabby fat jiggling. So, if you're not happy with something, then change it. Don't wait till summer when you go to put on those shorts and realize you have to do something about it. I'm starting now so I will be happy with what I see this summer.
I am not happy with the way I look now so until I win the Lottery so I can have plastic surgery, exercise is how I'm changing it. So, off I go to iron out that flab and by summer I look forward to the "fab"..haha! I hope to reap the payoff!

The Joys Of Detox

When I go on a diet or "new lifestyle change" i struggle with unbelievable cravings. I am also a food addict. It used to be very bad but within the last year I seem to have it mostly under control. I used to get so bad I would pace the floors wanting something, anything to fix my craving. Like an addict, I needed my "fix". My drug was, and is...food!
If I can make it three days with no trigger foods I am home free. The problem, getting through those three days. Detox is hell! Yeah, I said it. Food addicts struggle just like alcoholics but our down fall, food is everywhere! If I watch TV, there it is! If I go out somewhere, chances are I will see something food related, like a restaurant.
The best thing for me is to lock myself up in my house for three days. Better yet, tie myself up somewhere in a back room where I can't watch TV or deal with food all together. I know that's a little extreme, you got to have food, but you get my point.

Here are things that I have discovered that help me in the detox stage. Everyone is different so you may need to try some things catered around you.

• Don't allow the trigger foods in the home
• Water, water, water
• Exercise (Gives me confidence)
  
• Avoid places with trigger foods
• I am cautious of what I watch on Tv (If a food commercial comes on, I change the channel real fast)
  
• Tell the people around you not to enable your cravings (another words, I tell them not to tempt me with trigger foods or bring it into the house)
  
• Shut the kitchen down after dinner, lights out!
• Stay busy with a hobby. (I have taught myself how to knit, I also start projects like decluttering the house or painting a room.)
• Pray and read my Bible (I ask God to help me daily with my eating)
• Get an accountability buddy. ( Have daily check ins)
  

If I can make it past the 3 day mark, the rewards are great. I feel better and the pounds begin to shed. I also gain confidence in myself, knowing I made it through that difficult time. The key is, to not go backwards. If I do, then it's detox all over again. That's hard! Hey, I'm human, but I am also accountable for my mistakes.
The choices are mine, so I should be adult about it.
Good health doesn't have to be hard, as long as we tell ourselves the benefits.Change our mindset toward food. It just requires diligence and a lifestyle change.

Eat Well And Prosper

Let's get real. We are what we eat. If you eat a lot of fat and junk, you're gonna get fat, or you will at least feel like junk. If you eat healthy foods and exercise, you are going to feel healthy and fit. You get what you put into it, in any part of your life. I am experiencing that. For some reason, after I exercise, I feel thinner. Maybe it's just me, but it does something to my confidence at least. That's my motivation.
A successful eating plan needs to be flexible and suit your lifestyle. We all don't live by the same cookie cutter. So that's what I've been working on. Trying to eating right to suit my lifestyle. It's not always possible to eat at a certain time or we may need to eat fast food once in a while. The problem with me though, I self condemn myself. I allow my moods to now be effected by what I eat. It used to be that my moods were effected by the scale. Well, I don't have to worry about that for a while. The battery is dead in my scale so I can't even weigh myself right now. Haha the irony! So my mind has shifted to guilting myself by what I eat. The thing is, I seem to always find some way to be harsh and punish myself. I'm working on letting go of the guilt. This is my life and it effects more than just me, but the people around me. I'm planning on living a while, so why not live it out with freedom and enjoyment, instead of guilt and punishment.
Who would have thought losing weight involves more than just eating right?

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

It's result time! If anyone is following this I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat waiting to see how I did. I battled with posting this blog today. I've put myself out there, publicly for others to monitor. I have a desire though, not just for me to lose this weight, but to help other people lose it as well. So, if these blogs help just one person, I feel like I've accomplished what I've set out to do.

Well, first let me get to the good.
I started out with a bang and did really well. You know that momentum you get just starting out. I had my food prepared and I ate it. I was getting in my water too. I learned much about myself too. I feel like I set a lot in motion for myself. Then reality hit and life got in the way. Who would've thunk it? Can't live in a bubble all the time.

Which leads me to the bad.(This is where the life getting in the way comes in.) My parents came in to visit for New Years. We ended up doing a lot of eating, and not the healthy kind either. Remember those trigger foods I was telling you about in the earlier blog? Well, I had them all, and was craving more and more. They seemed to trigger me wanting to eat. Wow! Never seen that one coming. I kept telling myself, "just this one" and that turned into a whole lot of "ones"! That adds up fast. Next thing I knew, I fell off my horse.

And then there is the ugly. Or perhaps the scary? The scale this morning. I forced myself to get on the scale this morning and to my surprise, didn't gain. I lost maybe a pound or two. That's stretching it though. LOL
It was disappointing however because I allowed myself to sabotage my efforts from earlier in the week. I went against all I told myself to do. I didn't take my own advise.
So, what have I learned? It's a lifestyle, and a process. You are only one meal away from undoing all your hard work. But the good news is, this isn't a race. I'm back on my saddle and ready for the ride. Sure it's going to get rough and bumpy. My bottom is sure to be bruised. I may get bucked again. But the key is to get right back on. I'm not going to let it defeat me. It's not all happy trails but the adventure is never dull.


I have a new discovery, but watch out. This one may be dangerous! It's Yoplait's Delights Parfait. Oh this is a touch of Heaven on earth. It's only 100 calories too! It comes in 4 flavors and my favorite so far is the Creme Caramel. There is also Chocolate Raspberry,Triple Berry Creme,and Lemon Torte. You can find it in the yogurt isle. But let me warn you again, this doesn't taste like yogurt and it's very hard to stop at just one. I have to hide these from myself or I will eat them all.