Tweet
I'm starting this thread by stating that this thread is not dedicated to those events which occur at a spur-of-the-moment, but for those events we saw coming, for our conditioned responses to them, and how we can overcome addiction to food while dealing in these circumstances.
I'm a creature of habit. I'm addicted to tradition, that "I always do this as an end result of that event". I wake up. I get dressed. I check ADBB. I eat the same thing for breakfast every day. I could go on and on. For me, Predictability is my comfort.
Even before Atkins, I was a person who did the same thing over and over. It became so ingrained in my schedule and mental computer to eat at certain times because I always did it.
Today I fight myself and my compulsive need to fulfill that calendar of events with responses towards food.
I ate everynight after 7pm.
We had pizza every Friday.
We always went out on special occasions.
If hubby went out of town, we'd order pizza and hunker down with popcorn, candy and soda for the night.
If I was upset, I used food as my drug.
For a short while my blood sugar would spike and all would be well in my world.
The hardest part of this way of eating can sometimes be facing one of those situations, such as a birthday or a 'hubby out of town night' and NOT wanting to eat. I've trained myself to eat for these many years and now I'm having to substitue these "time to eat carbs!" activities with, "Time to do anything else" activities.
Some of us really are addicted to our schedules, to the responses we teach ourselves to the actions that take place around us. We're like the mice in the maze. When we get reward for something stressful, or for an event, we continue on and on with the 'getting of the reward'.
Only the reward isn't cheese, in our case. It's pounds of ugly fat, bad health, frowning doctors, and a life trapped in a morbid cycle.
The hardest parts for me haven't been kicking the after-7 eating habit. On Atkins I'm just not that hungry. It's not even passing up the pizza night or not eating because I'm upset.
The hardest part of my food addiction are those events that sneak up that we don't think about because we've licked the day-to-day.
The first time hubby went out of town, even though I'd been doing well on Atkins and had few cravings, I ordered pizza for my kids. Conditioned response? I ate it! My guard was down. Sure, everywhere else I was excelling, but I'd forgotten THIS conditioned response. It attacked me and it won.
1) Know what your old habits were and how you responded. Were you eating out each week? Did you always have a snack when you walked in the door from work? Did a spouse out of town twice a year mean Ben and Jerry's on the sofa and a film?
2) Plan for the events which are least frequent as well. These rare but dangerous situations are the silent ones which will cause you the most trouble if you are not prepared for them.
3) Watch for the signs. Do you see the event taking place? Do you subconsciously look forward to having your 'drug' of choice on hand for the occasion, such as the ice cream on the sofa? Start now to change how the event will be portrayed in your head. Jot down the events on your calendar which cause you to normally look to food and put an astericks near the item. Tip number five will help you to start planning NOW to actualize not giving in to food temptation.
4) Change your routine. If you know that when you walk in the front door, you go to the kitchen to have a snack everyday, walk through the back door instead, and go into the bedroom to change your clothes. If your spouse is going out of town, this time, instead of a movie (which will trigger the ice cream action), go out with a friend or buy a new decorating magazine and lay in bed. Go have your hair done. Do a craft.
If birthdays always entailed an icecream cake and pizza, this year go bowling with your family. Make it an activity which is exercise, fun, and something that isn't simply a pacification of an event through elevated blood sugars.
This isn't to say there won't still be struggles along the way. But just as we are trained to react to certain stimuli, also know, we can rewire our brains to react differently in the situations.
5) Jot it down. I want you to take 3X5 cards and do the following: on each card, I want you to write an action on the front.
As an example, you might write on the front of one card, "Family Game and Pizza Night". On the back of the card, write what your NEW conditioned response will be for this action. File these cards in a small box in your kitchen, or tack them up on the fridge. You can also choose to punch a hole in the corner and tie them together with a ribbon and keep them counter where you can refer to them.
Writing down your plans solidifies them. It helps you actualize them. You will read your words aloud and you will know that this is what you are to do.
I'm a creature of habit. I'm addicted to tradition, that "I always do this as an end result of that event". I wake up. I get dressed. I check ADBB. I eat the same thing for breakfast every day. I could go on and on. For me, Predictability is my comfort.
Even before Atkins, I was a person who did the same thing over and over. It became so ingrained in my schedule and mental computer to eat at certain times because I always did it.
Today I fight myself and my compulsive need to fulfill that calendar of events with responses towards food.
I ate everynight after 7pm.
We had pizza every Friday.
We always went out on special occasions.
If hubby went out of town, we'd order pizza and hunker down with popcorn, candy and soda for the night.
If I was upset, I used food as my drug.
For a short while my blood sugar would spike and all would be well in my world.
The hardest part of this way of eating can sometimes be facing one of those situations, such as a birthday or a 'hubby out of town night' and NOT wanting to eat. I've trained myself to eat for these many years and now I'm having to substitue these "time to eat carbs!" activities with, "Time to do anything else" activities.
Some of us really are addicted to our schedules, to the responses we teach ourselves to the actions that take place around us. We're like the mice in the maze. When we get reward for something stressful, or for an event, we continue on and on with the 'getting of the reward'.
Only the reward isn't cheese, in our case. It's pounds of ugly fat, bad health, frowning doctors, and a life trapped in a morbid cycle.
The hardest parts for me haven't been kicking the after-7 eating habit. On Atkins I'm just not that hungry. It's not even passing up the pizza night or not eating because I'm upset.
The hardest part of my food addiction are those events that sneak up that we don't think about because we've licked the day-to-day.
The first time hubby went out of town, even though I'd been doing well on Atkins and had few cravings, I ordered pizza for my kids. Conditioned response? I ate it! My guard was down. Sure, everywhere else I was excelling, but I'd forgotten THIS conditioned response. It attacked me and it won.
1) Know what your old habits were and how you responded. Were you eating out each week? Did you always have a snack when you walked in the door from work? Did a spouse out of town twice a year mean Ben and Jerry's on the sofa and a film?
2) Plan for the events which are least frequent as well. These rare but dangerous situations are the silent ones which will cause you the most trouble if you are not prepared for them.
3) Watch for the signs. Do you see the event taking place? Do you subconsciously look forward to having your 'drug' of choice on hand for the occasion, such as the ice cream on the sofa? Start now to change how the event will be portrayed in your head. Jot down the events on your calendar which cause you to normally look to food and put an astericks near the item. Tip number five will help you to start planning NOW to actualize not giving in to food temptation.
4) Change your routine. If you know that when you walk in the front door, you go to the kitchen to have a snack everyday, walk through the back door instead, and go into the bedroom to change your clothes. If your spouse is going out of town, this time, instead of a movie (which will trigger the ice cream action), go out with a friend or buy a new decorating magazine and lay in bed. Go have your hair done. Do a craft.
If birthdays always entailed an icecream cake and pizza, this year go bowling with your family. Make it an activity which is exercise, fun, and something that isn't simply a pacification of an event through elevated blood sugars.
This isn't to say there won't still be struggles along the way. But just as we are trained to react to certain stimuli, also know, we can rewire our brains to react differently in the situations.
5) Jot it down. I want you to take 3X5 cards and do the following: on each card, I want you to write an action on the front.
As an example, you might write on the front of one card, "Family Game and Pizza Night". On the back of the card, write what your NEW conditioned response will be for this action. File these cards in a small box in your kitchen, or tack them up on the fridge. You can also choose to punch a hole in the corner and tie them together with a ribbon and keep them counter where you can refer to them.
Writing down your plans solidifies them. It helps you actualize them. You will read your words aloud and you will know that this is what you are to do.
Comment