As I was laying in bed last night, I was thinking about how difficult it is to change your eating habits. Let’s face it, most people have an addiction to food. We eat way more than necessary which explains why so many of us are overweight. Not to mention with technology making it possible for you to accomplish so many things while sitting on your butt, we don’t move enough.
When someone is addicted to alcohol, they go through rehab and are forbidden from drinking again. Same thing when you’re addicted to any other drug or even cigarettes. Well, we can’t just give up food because we need it to survive. Most of us use it as much more than just fuel for living. I know I spend a lot of time thinking about it and have used it for:
- Comfort. When I’m feeling sad or depressed, ice cream makes it better, right?
- Socially. When we plan to meet up with friends or family, plans are always made around food. What are we eating? Where are we eating?
- Bored. Eh, I’m just sitting here doing nothing, I might as well grab a bag of chips for some company.
- Obsession. There have been times that I wanted something so bad, that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Whether it be a Blizzard from Dairy Queen or a huge burger from our favorite hangout. I would drive myself crazy until I eventually gave in and guess how I felt after?
- Celebrations. Whether it be a birthday, anniversary, holiday or the super bowl. Our first thought is always food.
- Cheap. Would you like to super size that with a ginormous order of french fries and a coke bigger than your head? You’ll save money.
So..why don’t we just eat less? That’s what it takes to lose weight, right? It’s not that easy. It’s definitely a mental struggle to change your relationship with food and view it as fuel to sustain your workout rather than comfort after a rough day.
The hardest part for me is sugar and starches. I CRAVE them constantly, but I do notice when I eat less of them, I don’t think about them as often. The nice thing about Weight Watchers is, all fruits and most vegetables are FREE! Yes, they are well aware that fruits have calories but they’re hoping this will encourage you to choose that apple or banana over a 100 calorie pack of cookies.
(Source: Kim’s random rambling)
I know you’re all dying to know if I worked out yesterday and what I ate, so let’s get down to it.
Workout: I skipped the gym yesterday morning because I had a terrible headache when I got up. I’ll consider that my rest day and get my workouts in this weekend.
I was still up early, so I made eggs for breakfast.
It was Bagel Thursday at work and the smell of toasted bagels surrounding my desk won me over.
This turned out to be a very carb heavy day. Later in the morning, I had a deli flat with hummus.
Deli flat and hummus – 4PP
For lunch my co-workers brought me back some sushi.
Spicy tuna roll – 7PP
Edamame – 3PP (I didn’t eat all of those)
We were supposed to have Buffalo Chicken Pizza, but I forgot to take the pizza dough out of the freezer! I wanted to eat something before Dane’s softball game, so I made some tuna and sweet potato fries.
Deli flat and tuna – 5PP
Sweet potato fries – 4PP
Before we left the game, I made myself a smoothie. In the mix:
1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 packet Splenda
Smoothie – 4PP
Total DP’s – 26 + 3AP’s + 12WP’s = 41PP (DP = daily points. AP = activity points. WP = weekly points)
Yesterday afternoon, we had some storms moving in. I took this picture of some crazy clouds in St. Augustine.
Have a wonderful Friday!! 🙂
candy said:
Ah food! Glorious food! And don’t we use it for everything but fuel! I eat for all of the reasons you stated above. But to me, the strangest reason why I eat is when I’m angry. “I’ll show them! I’ll eat. That’ll fix ’em.” Tell me how that makes sense!! Fortunately WW is helping e overcome that. Question…it seems you add chia seeds a lot. What is their purpose? BTW…love your blog!
Kim said:
Thank you so much! 🙂
Chia seeds are a great source of Omega 3 and fiber. When I add them to my smoothie or oatmeal, I’m full for quite some time. Here’s a link that explains some of the benefits. http://www.mychiaseeds.com/Articles/Top10ChiaBenefits.html
Racheal @ Running with Racheal said:
I have tried so many times to not be addicted to food – and it always ends up not working.
I recently have decided to embrace that addiction. I love food. Period.
I believe that I can still use food for comfort, to enjoy myself socially, etc. but in a controlled sort of way. The people who I see lose weight and keep it off have done exactly that.
I am not saying that it will be easy. But I think I can “live to eat” and not “eat to live” and still lose weight. Maybe I am just a silly optimist, but I actually enjoy my food more when I am following WW because I truly appreciate a treat. If I can have ice cream for every meal then it wouldn’t be as exciting.
I will get off my soap box now. 🙂
Sushi…..yummmmm….
Kim said:
You’re absolutely right!! I definitely appreciate “treats” more now that I’m following WW. 🙂
Jen said:
How funny! I was just posting on FB about food for fuel. Such a simple concept, yet so hard to follow through on. I’m a terrible emotional eater. Carbs are my weakness, too. Like you said, though, I’ve found the more I stay away from them, the easier it is to resist them. Keep up the great work, Kim!
Kim said:
Thank you for checking in on me and holding me accountable. 🙂
Libby said:
I am new to your blog and I am LOVING it! I have lost 23lbs on WW and I love the free fruits and vegetables. I find that snacking on some grapes does fill me up..way better than chips or pretzels. I have started running and I try to remember the whole “food is fuel” but oh, those yummy yummy carbs:( I think I could live off of bread, rice and potatoes.sigh. I dont crave them as much as I used to. Enjoy your weekend..btw. I really want to try your overnight oats. What type of peanutbutter do you use?
Kim said:
Thank you for reading! 🙂 I usually use Skippy natual peanut butter but I’ve been wanting to try PB2. Have you heard of that? It comes in a powder form and needs water added. If I remember correctly, 2 tbsp = 1PP. I haven’t seen it in any stores, so I’m going to order it online. Let me know if you like the overnight oats. 🙂 Have a great weekend!
kkc1 said:
Well written, Kim! I have thought about the why’s of eating quite often myself lately! Food for fuel is my battle cry!!
Kim said:
Thanks, KC! 🙂