Bad habits you never want to go back to.

[princess_sunbeam]

I am 3 days from the end of refeed. I have been reading the refeed/maintenance sections to get a handle on how others cope with "life after Cohens" I am working at identifying my "triggers" so hopefully I can see them coming and give them a wide berth. I would love to see others of you- even if you arent at this stage of your journey, have a think about your triggers and list them here, then your resolve to avoid the triggers.

My triggers are:

1. The bakery that I used to stop at most afternoons pre-Cohens for a doughnut. I adored their jam & mock cream doughnuts!
2. I love Maccas! If I didnt go to the bakery, I often stopped off at Maccas and had a chocolate shake & an apple pie (or sometimes a cheese burger & fries- for afternoon tea!!)
3. Chocolates at the servo. Everytime I bought petrol, I bought chocolate!
4. Not taking lunch to work. I used to make excuses- too busy in the morning, not well enough prepared at home etc etc. Therefore, I had to buy lunch at the tuckshop, or worse- out at a takeaway.
5. Stress. Running for junkfood made me feel better- in the short term, but contributed to the constant "beating myself up" in the long term.


My resolve:
I am NOT going to go into the bakery for afternoon tea.
I am NOT going to Maccas for afternoon tea!
I am NOT ever going to buy chocolate at the servo. If I want chocolate it can be a conscious decision at the supermarket, not an impulse buy at the servo!
I am NOT going to stop taking my lunch to work every day so that I have to go buy some junk somewhere.
If I get stressed, I need to find other distractions- like admiring my new body (how vain !!) Maybe having a look in the mirror now or at a fat photo. Taking a moment to reflect on how bad I felt and how much I hated myself when I was fat THEN decide if I need to eat that thing that I know my body doesnt need.

I am learning a new respect for my body. I dont pour cordial into the fuel tank of my car- as my car is worth alot to me and I respect that it needs quality fuel to run efficiently- so now I need to treat my body the same way. I have some slim friends and I dont believe that they display any of the prevous behaviours (listed above) as a part of their every day life. I want to be "slim Jen" , so I need to start learning the behaviours of a slim girl, cos if I start to put on weight, I can only blame myself. THE BUCK STOPS HERE!

[louise41]

Good on you for your resolutions Princess Sunbeam! I have found that it is very easy for old habits to creep back in and you do need to consciously decide what you will allow yourself so you dont undo all your good work. Someone said something to me recently that really struck a chord - it was "dont waste your calories". I thought that is a good thing to hang onto, really think about those indulgences and choose them judiciously.
Great going!

[Jenna]

Great Topic Princess Sunbeam, and good for you for making that decision not to go back to those bad habits!

I am just starting my journey - I have only just done my first bloods and sent in the contract but I have already been thinking about these sort of things a LOT.

I know that in order for this to work I MUST completely change the way I view food and end my dysfunctional relationship with it - to find a new, healthy relationship.

Yesterday I beat a big hurdle - which to some sounds like nothing - but it is big for me. I had finished shopping, was 45 minutes drive from home, it was lunch time and I was SO hungry. I knew there was a macca's right at the entrance to the highway. Before in this situation, I would have gone through and gotten myself a cheeseburger meal with a coke and then had lunch with my hubby when I got home too.

I had to keep reminding myself that I am stronger than this urge and that if I am incapable of conquering these urges once and for all, I will not be able to lose the weight and be healthy again - let alone keep it off.

I did NOT go to Macca's and the immense pride I felt in myself for fighting it off even when my tummy was aching from hunger was great.

My main problems are:

- Not having food prepared so I go for the easiest option.

- Emotions - this is a huge one for me. When I get stressed, I make a bee-line for the nearest source of fatty, comfort food.

- The fact that I LOVE food. Healthy, fatty, sugary...I love them all. So luckily I will be okay on this programme as I love healthy food too. I just have to be concious of my portion control once I head into maintenance.

- Caving in to what my family wants to eat, instead of putting my foot down and saying that I am going for the healthier option - basically because it's easier than arguing.

- Family gatherings, social events, dinner parties. I love gathering around food with family and friends - and I love cooking for them, as cooking is a big passion of mine.

So... In the future:

- I will make sure I have food prepared and ready. Pre- weighed, Pre-packed (by me) portions and if we are going somewhere, I will pack a small cooler so if they want to eat fast food I have something to eat.

- When I am feeling emotional and feel the need to eat - I will stop and make myself think about what I am really doing and how much MORE emotional stress I am putting on myself by sabotaging my efforts. I will also try to distract myself until the urge passes - playing with my daughter, talking to my husband, going for a leisurely walk with my daughter in her pram.

- Once on maintenance I will need to be very careful of my love of food. If I am going to have something a bit more sugary, I will only take a couple of bites, not an entire slice of cake, etc. Moderation is absolutely key.

- I will have to stand up for myself and my body when dealing with family meal times. What their bodies can handle, mine CANNOT. If the last few years have not proven this, I don't what will. My husband and I eat the same meals, of which I have a lesser portion and I continue to gain weight and he stays thin. I just have to accept that my body is intolerant of certain foods. I suppose I have to look at it as an allergy...I know I am allergic to shellfish, so I stay away from it because I don't want hives. Why would I purposely put something in my mouth that will make me gain weight and cause far more issues than just hives?!

- This by far will be my largest challenge - Social gatherings. There will be people who want to sabotage my efforts by minimizing the importance of my choices (oh, come ON - just ONE piece isn't going to kill you, you deserve it) and the fact that I enjoy having a few glasses of wine, munching on good food and socializing while doing so is going to be so hard - but I WILL overcome this. I will have to stay away from the food. While I am on the first part of the programme I will have to avoid having dinner parties all together.

Hm. That was a good exercise. I will be putting that in my personal journal that I am keeping on my computer so that I can remind myself of these goals.

Thanks to Princess Sunbeam for bringing up this topic!

[shell]

Avoiding SUGAR!

Especially if you have a problem with it- cravings/binging.

Look at the list of ingredients on everything you buy, if sugar or a sugar derivative (anything "ose" -fructose etc) is listed in the top 4 -DON'T BUY IT!!

I had been more frequently adding a bit of this and a bit of that in the way of sauces, chutneys, marinades etc and I think over time it has added up and made me crave sweet things- which I never did before.

Also not enough "good" fat in your diet will make you crave sweet things as well.

Shell

[babytime]

I'm still a long way from goal, but like Jenna am already thinking about the habits i need to break so i can live a healthy life.

- Being prepared for dinners at night, to avoid the fast food/take away run.
- Not giving into my cravings immediately. If I think I want chips, chocolate or some other assorted crap i will try to satisfy it with the healthy alternative, but if it is still lingering more than a week later i will succumb, but have planned for it in my daily caloric intake.

I'm sure there are plenty more that will come as I get closer to goal.

[Cheral]

I still keep a pack of crackers in my bag at all times. And some gum. It doesnt stop me over indulging at a meal, or with friends, but I often find that one or two crackers, will stop me from buying a muffin or a small block of chocolate.

We all develop stratagies to cope in maintenance, some we succeed at others not. I find I just cant say no to the occasional birthday party pie or sausage roll at work. The smell gets to me every time.

And ALL my meals are smaller now than they used to be. I also drink a fraction of the alcohol I used to prior to the programme.

Cheral

[JuJu82]

Thats a good idea to keep crackers in your bag to avoid snacking on other things. This is a good thread!

I'm a sucker for savoury foods, especially crisps, so i'm setting the rule for myself that those are for parties and celebrations, not snack foods. When i'm in the routine of the working week i find it easy to eat properly, so i think after the program i will stick to that and then indulge a little on the weekends if out with friends or at parties. Also if i keep up regular excerise i won't feel so guilty indulging a little on the weekend!

Starting refeed in a couple of weeks so i'm really looking forward to starting an exercise routine and setting these new habits in motion. When i'm out i already look at menu's and think what i would get which has minimal carbs and is pretty close to the program.

[shell]

*bump*

[Matt]

Macca's! I must stay away from that place! I only used to go there for breakfast, but also the occasional slack dinner after work.

Paul's iced coffee's. Man, the Territory has the best iced coffee in the world! Evil stuff it is! LOL!

Friday night is fish and chip night down the wharf. Nothing better than battered fish and a plate of chips! That's going to have to be grilled fish / prawns and salad, or some of the chinese down there from now on.....

I was never big on pasta, but I used to have potato with every dinner. Usually crushed boiled potato, cooked in the oven, but frozen chips or pommies (crunchy potato puff balls!).

Dessert after dinner. My wife (skinny) loves dessert after dinner. Pie and custard usually. Easy to cut this one out, as I only used to eat it because she used to make it.

The 27 coffee's at work. I now have 1 in the morning, and even that tastes like crap without 2 sugars and milk. I am still trying to get used to tea, but that tastes like crap too! This coffee one is going to be a hard one, but I guess the sugar replaced with the sweetener tablets helps heaps.

The biggest thing is alcohol. The NT is a drinking society. Very hard to avoid, and to just stop at one when you start. I never really drank at home, but socially all the time!

Funny thing is, Im not missing these things! Although I can't wait to have wraps again.

[carrieanne_c]

buying crapp food at the gas station-drinking beer and wine just cuz its cheaper than water and diet coke.

[mcpsych]

Errrrrm 3 bottles of wine, family block of cadburys and a jumbobag of BBQ chips- on the couch for an evening of footy watching
what? There's a problem with that????

[C-JAYE]

Dipping hot chips in butter!!! Eeeeewwwwww! how gross is that to think about!

[mcpsych]

Haha- that's not a habit cj that's a lifestyle

[carrieanne_c]

cjay I worked at a restaurante once where we got free fried corn bread, french fries and salad with homemade dressings, you can't imagine how nice fries are dipped in homemade chunky bleu cheese dressing as are deep fried corn bread balls in butter. After work we would usally drink white russians and end up in china town for chinese at 4 am. i was huge!

[divineparadise]

One of the bad habits or "way of life" I had in the past was mentally visualising food. I would see something, say a chocolate muffin and visualise how nice it would be to eat it and of course my brain told my mouth to order it...and to eat it.

I try to do the same for clothes now, not food.

I am also an emotional eater. If I was feeling low I would tend to think of going for carbs like, Indian food, rice etc. In the past I could just eat rice on itself. Really have to change this bad habit!

[rockabette]

I never ever went to get back into the habit of snacking when i get home from work. I used to go for anything that was around. Now I have my coke zero when I get home and it satisfies me until dinner time.

Also... never want to go back to skipping breakfast ever.

[goodlucktummy]

jose, jack and johnny... gonna miss my boys so much