BambiS -
BambiS wrote:I am around the halfway mark to a healthy weight!
Congratulations to you!
That is a significant milestone to achieve!
BambiS wrote:I am going to start watching salt in canned food, which I haven’t been doing.
The added salt in many canned foods can often exceed
what Jeff recommends. That can definitely make a difference; in addition to possible effects on blood pressure, added salt has an effect on palatability (especially in concert with sugar, fat, or both) which increases consumption. Buying and preparing foods without added salt (or sugar) allows us to have greater control over their inclusion, by adding them to the surface of the food at the table, if desired.
JeffN wrote:In regard to added salt and added sugar, we recommend buying and preparing food without either and if any are to be used, to add them at the table on the surface of the food. If either one is troublesome and create uncontrollable cravings for you, then leave them out.
BambiS wrote:Weight loss has slowed down to small amounts. I possibly need to slow down my eating so I don’t over eat? I need to wait to eat until my stomach starts growling.
In my opinion, if you feel hungry, whether your stomach is "growling" or not, it is fine (indeed, recommended) to eat. Take a little time to sit down and consider what sensations tell you that you are "full" or "satisfied" vs. "stuffed" or "uncomfortable". Where in your body do you notice the difference? What does it feel like? Maybe even note these down, to make it easier to be mindful of them. More importantly, however, you might also review
this article, to get a sense of how you can fine-tune your practice, with special attention paid to any "exceptions" to the recommended pattern of behavior that might be "slipping through the cracks," as with the canned goods above. Jeff's post on
Fine Tuning the MWL Program and Calorie Density is great in that regard, as well.
Mark Cooper wrote:JeffN wrote:When hungry (regardless of whether you may think it is true hunger, appetite, or something else) just eat. Eat of the recommended foods as outlined in the 10 point checklist.
Over time, it will work itself out.
It should not require Holmesian levels of attention to know when you are full. Do you feel uncomfortable? Are you stuffed? If you overshoot the mark, take note and do your best to slightly adjust next time, but don't spend energy fretting and beating yourself up over that - if you stuffed yourself on MWL suitable foods, the calorie density was low and it seems unlikely that you will be continuously stuffing yourself at each meal, each day, on an ongoing basis. Don't overvalue the importance of these episodes, or think you need to perfectly manage hunger cues, as compared to the impact from including troublesome foods in your menu or planning not to adhere on a consistent (or occasional) basis. If you are over consuming problematic foods, the problem isn't your appetite, it's the food, and you can direct your efforts accordingly.
BambiS wrote:Today is my husband’s 3rd anniversary for his liver transplant
Wow! Medical technology can be quite extraordinary! Congrats to your husband, too, on this auspicious anniversary!
Rebecka22 - Hang in there, treat yourself with empathy, and just keep working at it!
Rebecka22 wrote:What I realize this week is that even though I’ve read so many great tips about traveling I’m not quite prepared mentally or otherwise.
I think you have the right of it. Travel can be an immense challenge to our adherence, and managing it successfully is no easy task for one person, much less seven.
Do your best, try to learn what you can from those occasions when plans go awry, and adjust for next time. If "perfection" seems completely unachievable, due to space constraints, or some other uncontrollable factor, it might be worth prioritizing the avoidance of problematic foods (those that are recommended to be eliminated) over, for example, preloading at every meal. I'm not trying to encourage you, or anyone else, to ignore a recommendation, but rather advocating that you work within the constraints of a given situation to create the best possible result. I.e., avoiding food with properties that cause
passive overconsumption, even if that means sacrificing some attention to some aspects of calorie dilution. Check out Jeff's article,
Hedge Your Health, for a sense of what I'm trying to get at here. Being on the road, away from one's comfortable environment is hard; however, speaking personally, after I was able to travel successfully ONCE, I never had any problems thereafter. It was like my brain suddenly was convinced that I knew what I was doing.
squealcat - Cheers for utilizing your checklist, Marilyn! I think it can be important to not lose sight of the things that we are doing right, and what is going well, even (or maybe, especially) during a tough week.
squealcat wrote:The things I am happy about and consistent on are: my breakfasts are almost always just oats and berries, I have a large salad every day with a variety of greens and veggies , and a plain veg soup before dinner. I am still consistent on the exercise too.
Those are all awesome behaviors to have habituated! Cravings can feel SO overwhelming at times, right? Something that might be helpful to consider when you are beset with a powerful craving for troublesome items - concentrate on eating an adherent food that you really love in that moment, rather than making your sole mental focus the idea of resisting the craving. Imagine you are REPLACING the initial craving (for whatever CRAP it might be), with a desire for delicious adherent food instead. Don't perseverate on the deprivation, but rather feed your hunger with the recommended foods. Even if, in the end, you still have something non adherent afterward, I would expect you'd consume much less of the calorie rich and processed stuff.
squealcat wrote:I have done it before and I can do it again.
Just so!