She's Back - Honoring our selves and our Hunger!!!!

Am I Hungry?

Good Morning All...

Last week was a tough week...I think I over did it!! (Surprise, Surprise) and began getting an infection in my foot.  Needless to say I stayed low for the week and am much better this week.

This week's topic is about honoring hunger...When do we eat?  Are we really hungry?

There are many reason why people tend to eat:  Their bodies may need food, they may go by the clock, sitting down for meals on schedule whether their stomach is rumbling or not; or they may eat in response to emotions-not just sadness but also stress, boredome, anxiety, even happiness.  But eating for one of the latter reasons can easily lead to overeating.

This week we are going to learn to listen more carefully for our body's hunger signals, track them and honor them.

Here's some questions to ask yourself:

• Do you ever eat just because the clock says it's mealtime?
• Are you stuck in a three-meal-a-day run?
• Have you ever eaten at a certain time just because it was convenient?
• When have you found yourself at the fridge for reasons other than hunger?
• What happens when you ignore hunger signals?
• Even when you are full do you remember what our mothers and grandmothers said "Finish everything on your plate!"

So often I remember hearing that when I was growing up so I thought I had to always finish everything on my plate.  I would eat until everything was gone and then I would feel so stuffed I couldn't sleep or move...When I joined Weight Watchers I found ways to erase those old tapes and eat until I was satisfied and be okay with leaving food on the table.  I can take a bite of something and be done with it, and if I am not hungry and I can "No Thank-you" and not feel guilty about turning down food.

I realized that most of my eating was in my head and not really in my stomach.  I honor my hunger when I am really hungry, but I also think about what is going on.  Am I really hungry or does the clock say it is time to eat.

Take this simple test:

When I am hungry I feel ______________
When I am satisfied I feel _____________
When I am full I feel _________________

Now compare it to what the experts say:

Hungry:  Classic hungry symptoms include a rumbling stomach, decreased energy and mental distraction.
Satisfied - When you've eaten enough your brain knows it.  You're neither too hungry nor too full, but somewhere in the middle, just right.
Full: If you override the signals that you've had enough and keep eating, you feel full.  It's uncomfortable, like your stomach is about to burst.

Before Weight Watcher's I think I owned stock in Tums.  But my brain didn't get it.  At night I would eat, I would get ready for bed and I would grab a handful of Tums.  I couldn't understand why my stomach hurt every night, maybe I had an ulcer, maybe I was just stressed.  This past week I cleaned out our medicine cabinet and realized we had a full bottle of Tums that had expired.  I look back now and realize that it was the overeating that caused my stomach to hurt and I didn't have an ulcer!!!  Amazing what hindsight can show you!!!

I have a poem for you and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I read it...

How do I know when to eat?

Do I go by the clock
Or when I see my favorite treat
Sometimes I eat, when I'm feeling down
And sometimes I eat in secret, when no one's around
I often eat when I have the time,
Or when my schedule, allows me to dine.
It is not very often though
That I listen to my hunger signals for a yes or a no.
I would do much on better on my weight loss plan
If I eat when my body needs fuel,
And not just because I can!

Enjoy your week and I look forward to seeing you on Thursday if you can make it to the meeting!!!

Carol

Enlightenment and Hope

This week is all about looking into one's life and looking at what is working, what is not working and how to change those old habits that aren't working.

Now we're talking about the tough stuff...looking inward and finding our own strengths and acknowledging and changing our weaknesses.  What does this have to do with weight loss?  It has everything to do with weight loss.   Why do we eat?  We eat because we are hungry, we eat because we are bored, we eat because we are upset, we eat because we are celebrating, we eat because we eat!!!

What was it about losing weight that was important to you?  For me it was the fact that I couldn't do any of the things that I used to do.  I could hardly walk without getting tired, there was no way that I was running anywhere and then there were all of the health issues I had.  I had been in the hospital with pneumonia, I was taking five different medications every day, my cholesterol was off the charts, my blood pressure was inching up and I was turning 50.  My father passed away from a heart attack when he was 50, both my mother and my sister had heart valve replacements when they were 50 and here I was going down the same path...

I walked into Weight Watchers and I became a convert, I tracked everything that went into my mouth, I tracked my exercise, I tracked my feelings, I tracked my sleep, if it could be tracked I tracked it.  And you know what I learned?  I learned that I ate when I was upset, I ate when I didn't feel like I had any control over whatever the situation was and I ate when I was bored.  I also learned I had to learn about what was going on inside of me!  Instead of being upset about a situation and drowning my sorrows in food, I learned to face the situation, ask for support if I needed it and move on.  I stopped letting things fester inside of me and I started dealing with things that bothered me.  This is the scary things we have to face when we start making positive changes in our lives, sometimes we have to look in the mirror and say I'm not okay with myself and I am going to make changes in my life.  There were lots of times I had to look in the mirror and say that but after a few months (or years in my case!!!) I am finally able to look in the mirror and say I know who I am and I am okay with myself.

Does that mean that I never have problems?  Does it mean that just because I have achieved my goal weight that life is always easy?  No...it means that I have learned the tools necessary to take care of myself, to stand up for myself when I need to, that I have finally said I am just as important as the next person.

Writing in a journal has helped me to explore these issues, I write them in a journal that belongs to me.  I still keep track of things going on in my life, I track what I eat because again I ask you if you aren't tracking, what did you eat two days ago for breakfast?  If you don't write it down you can't own it, whether it is food, exercise or emotions.  Am I always happy when I look at my tracker, heck no!!!  But the beauty of it is that tomorrow is another day or my next meal is a new beginning.  I have that power!!!  I am in control of my own life and frankly I can't blame it on anyone else...IT is my LIFE!!!

There is hope.  There is always another option and as long as I am around, you can always talk with me.  Hope is what you make it, you can look at a situation as hopeful or hopeless.  It is all in how you look at it.  Take control of your life and make it your own life.  If you need help, come see me on Thursday evening!  We will take this journey together!!!

Until Thursday!
Carol

It's not a Diet, it's a Lifestyle!!!

So often I hear people say "When I am at my goal weight, I can enjoy my life again." or "I only have five more pounds and I can go back to enjoying my life."  


I too believed that was what would happen to me, but what I finally realized is that Weight Watchers is all about lifestyle.  I think one of the most powerful aspects of the PointsPlus plan is that it allows us to enjoy our life.  If someone had told me that I would never have the opportunity to have a piece of cheesecake, a glass of wine or a chocolate bar again for the rest of my life, I would have run from the room screaming!!! What you have to understand is that you are making a lifestyle change that will stay with you for the remainder of your life. Fad diets do not work -- yo-yo'ing does not work. What Weight Watchers teaches all of us is that when you make the decision to change your lifestyle, it is a change that you will pursue for the rest of your life. Is that worth it to be at a weight you desire, and to be in a physical and mental space you desire? You Bet!!


Weight Watchers taught me strategies for avoiding feeling deprived, both physically and mentally.  I realized that only when I feel satisfied - in both my mind and my body - can the weight loss process be sustainable for the long-term.


How can I do this?

• I spice up my menu by trying new recipes and new foods
• I use smaller plates and bowls
• I have learned to eat mindfully - I enjoy my food instead of wolfing it down while watching TV, checking e-mail or driving (I can't remember the last time I went through a fast food drive in!!!)
• I appreciate my surroundings. I have surrounded myself with great companions and people with a winning lifestyle and attitude.
• I take my time when I am eating because it takes my brain 20 minutes for it to register the signal that my stomach is full!

I used to equate "trying to lose weight" with "limiting the amount" of food that I could eat.  I have learned that I don't have to think these thoughts. You can carefully track what you eat and still enjoy the foods you like.


Finally, always remember that you can indulge yourself.  You can eat the foods you love -- whether you want a brownie in the breakroom, your favorite pasta dish for a night on the town or a great omelette on the weekend.  That's what your weekly PointsPlus Allowance are for!!!


What has perceptions about Weight Watchers have changed since you joined?


Come join us this Thursday night for St. Patrick's Day in Placerville!!!  You will love the meeting!!!


Until Thursday,


Carol