Battling the Bulge

I made it through the Holidays and have only gained .7K/1.5lbs. I say that’s good because I haven’t been following the old WW plan AT ALL and haven’t been to the gym once in 2 weeks. I am definitely not proud of that. In fact it was scary to see just how easy it was to fall back into my old habits in 2 weeks time. However, it made me happy to see that I could identify a couple of interesting bits.

Like, I needed to drink more water when I wasn’t consciously downing 2L a day. I was thirsty! That I was actually craving water, which is a first for me. I used to had drinking water with a passion! But I found that if I put a little lime juice in it and I love it!

Since I haven’t been working out, I have not handled stress as well. And the first thing on my mind during a stressful period was what sort of junk is there to eat? Fortunately, there was none - I know myself better than that. But in the prior 6 weeks, when I was going to the gym, was disciplined in my eating habits, and was on a schedule (Up and to work with a cup of tea, gym in the afternoon, shower, cup of coffee, back to work, then dinner, and work on email or blog stuff, I didn’t have time to entertain those strong urges to find a little bit of chocolate. Idle hands, and all that….
And what I have found is that too much wine, ahem (hello, New Year!), affects me for days, unlike when I was younger. I physically felt slow, dehydrated, headache-y and just not well. It’s a good thing that I don’t like to drink usually. I don’t want to repeat that process. Plus it’s just empty calories. I could better spend them on snacks.

I have also learned that snacking -or rather, managing my hunger- helps me stay sane. If I don’t eat at regular intervals, if I don’t snack between meals, I will eat too much, guaranteed. So planning is key. Having the right food on hand and planning ahead enough for meals so that we don’t call for a pizza. Because a Capricciosa with extra cheese and tomato seems to be the answer to any problem when we get too hungry. I say we, because my husband tends to not be a ‘planner’ so I feel like if I don’t plan ahead, we will fall into the EFT - the EVIL FOOD TRAP!!! Don’t get me wrong, my husband is a fantastic cook, but his dishes are not always diet friendly. If you know what I mean…

It’s like I have finally figured out the formula, and how to work it into my life. Now I just need to make sure that I make the time for myself to follow it.