Week 2, Day 4

I should never wait until I'm hungry to eat. I should never eat just because the clock says so, even if I'm not hungry. With either strategy, I end up eating too much. So where does that leave me?

Trick One: I'm learning to tell the difference between hunger and thirst. I used to be pretty good at this, but I got out of the habit. If I think I'm beginning to feel hungry (and it's important to catch this when hunger is just beginning, not full-blown famished), I need to drink a glass of water first and then wait a few minutes. If I'm not hungry anymore, then I was actually thirsty instead of hungry and kept myself from eating calories I neither needed nor really wanted. If I'm still hungry, then the water will have my stomach partially full, and I won't go nuts with the food.

Trick Two: Have food portions prepared ahead of time so when I'm hungry, it won't take long to heat it up. By not having to prepare food when I'm hungry, I'm less likely to go nuts. Jillian talked about this a bit on this past Tuesday's show.

Trick Three: If I'm eating at a restaurant, I need to get in the habit of asking for a to-go box. Not for leftovers. I need to put half my meal in a to-go box as soon as the food arrives at the table. Restaurant portions are huge anyway, and I used to end up feeling miserably full. This way I will not only get two meals out of the trip, but I'll bring the portions back down to reasonable. Of course, all of this will be helped by ordering diet-friendly food, too!

So, what prompted this whole line of thought was not eating until I was famished today. First, I ignored Jillian and Bob's advice to ALWAYS have breakfast. It was about 1:30 this afternoon when I was starved, and I ate a piece of cold pizza instead of fixing something more nutritious. And the worst part of it is that after eating the bread-heavy pizza slice, I was still hungry. I didn't do myself any favor by waiting.

I did better for dinner. I had a great salad with lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, and grilled chicken. I had a little bit of honey mustard dressing on it...just a tad. And for dessert later on, I'll either have a few marshmallows or some yogurt. I'm too stuffed right now to eat dessert, though.

I went to the store and walked the aisles for about 20 minutes. Up the candy aisle. Down the frozen dessert aisle. Up the cookies aisle. Down the sugar-sweetened cereal aisle. Through the bakery section, stopping only long enough to order a cake for my daughter-in-laws birthday on Sunday. And I smiled as I passed each temptation. I left the store having purchased only bananas, whole grain bread, chicken, marshmallows (I allow myself a handful a couple of times a week), trash bags, and birthday gift wrapping paper. I'm doing some weight stuff for my arms while I watch TV. I'll do some time on my bike later on this evening.

So, aside from the pizza, I was a good girl today. And I have a goal for the end of next week (a week from this coming Tuesday) -- I want my slacks to start getting baggy by then. Don't laugh...it could happen!