tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1498002565495221711.post6667732241628733491..comments2023-06-22T05:49:55.907-04:00Comments on Melissa's Life - Life After 42: I've said for years that the weight was the last hold on meberryblondeboyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075928021362889250noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1498002565495221711.post-71093215842908070042011-07-11T11:24:18.151-04:002011-07-11T11:24:18.151-04:00Adding what I wrote on a weight loss forum as it a...Adding what I wrote on a weight loss forum as it adds to my thoughts on this:<br /><br />I detailed more in my blog today, but it's interesting how a single food can trigger so much.<br /><br />On Saturday I ate a single oreo. I very rarely grab a sweet nothing and I knew when I did it that it wasn't a great decision, but I also didn't beat myself up about it. A single cookie was not going to be a problem.<br /><br />Later, I was tempted by another one and before taking a second, I looked up the calories as I track everything. How did I forget they were 75 calories PER cookie? Wow! I used to eat an entire package of these in one day. How many cookies are in a package? About 30. Regular oreos are 80 calories per cookie, so that's 2400 calories in JUST cookies.<br /><br />Of course, that wouldn't be all I ate for the day. I often times needed something salty to offset the sweetness. So, besides the oreos I would eat Cheetos Cheese Puffs - the entire bag. So, that's about another 2000 calories. THEN, I would eat a big dinner with my family in the evening. So, on average, I was eating 5000 calories a day several times a week. And all that crap!!!<br /><br />I couldn't ever stop at eating ONE oreo before - ever. In college my roommate would sometimes buy oreos. She would eat one a day. If she went away on weekends, I would eat them all and then would need to go and buy her a new package and eat down to where she was in the package to make it look untouched. Can you say trouble with food?<br /><br />Yesterday, my family was eating ice cream. I made our ice cream. I had one tablespoon - just enough to give me a taste. That's all I needed or wanted. Years ago? I would sneak a carton of Ben and Jerry's ice cream and eat it in one day. Calories in that? 1080. In one tablespoon of my eggless ice cream? About 25. And it's enough. I don't 'need' the entire package.<br /><br />Eating lower carb has definitely helped with not needing tons of carbs. I don't crave them as much, but I also got a better relationship with food over time.<br /><br />I wish I knew exactly how I got over the emotional eating. I have no idea. It just slowly evolved. Then my eating became more of a "survive the day" need. I had a child who didn't sleep and to make it through the day, I needed lots of caffeine and lots of quick releasing carbs. Waking 5-7 times a night for 4 years is a doozy. As soon as I started sleeping? I didn't need the junk any more.<br /><br />I keep reading over and over from people here that failures in weight loss can eventually lead to success and I'm beginning to understand that. My first weight loss journey was a starvation diet with heavy exercise. Lasted a month and I gained more than I lost. Second weight loss journey I was doing everything textbook, and weight watchers, but I was still emotionally eating and would sneak food for little treats a day after weigh in. I wasn't treating it as a life journey, but a temporary thing I had to do. I did a feeble attempt one other time and it was a "I just need to exercise, what I eat doesn't matter." And while I was getting fitter, I didn't lose any weight.<br /><br />Along the way, I've learned to slow down my re-entry to exercise to prevent injury. I've learned that I can't just exercise, it needs to be diet too. I've learned that keeping myself open and honest about food is key - no hiding my snacking and being accountable for it, even on bad days. And I've learned that eating lower carb makes me feel better, not deprived.<br /><br />Lastly, and more importantly, I'm learning this is a life journey, not a temporary state. So where before even eating a single oreo would have made me feel horrible, now I see it as, 'I ate one oreo. One oreo is not excessive, so it's OK. Just acknowledge I ate it and account for it and make good choices the rest of the day."<br /><br />It's all about how I mentally treat eating an oreo.berryblondeboyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06075928021362889250noreply@blogger.com