felicula | (no subject)

So, despite nixing the tracking and exercise over this weekend, the pile of food from friends, neighbors, and relatives in my Mom's house, and my tendency toward emotional eating, my numbers still made me smile this week. I'm down to 230.5. In half a pound, I can officially declare myself free of the Depo-Provera weight gain. In a pound and a half I will have lost 50 pounds off my highest weight. After returning to Rochester, I got right back into my eating and exercising routine. It was tough at first, but remembering the part in my Dad's eulogy about how he once ran 20 miles every week is a good motivator. I am still brimming with energy. I had so many compliments from my relatives about my weight loss that I feel them like a challenge to keep things going well. What I am proudest about is being able to truly enjoy food and still lose weight. No, I can't gnarf it all down like I used to. I mean, I am capable of it, but I am also capable of making the choice to proportion what goes onto my plate in a way that will benefit my body rather than bogging it down. Anyhow, that's how I am progressing toward taking off my fat suit. One ounce at a time.

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I can totally relate to problems with portion sizes and emotional eating. Before talking to an eating disorder therapist and a nutritionist, those were massive, massive stumbling blocks for me. One thing that helped when I was getting into eating better portions was serving up one serving of each dinner item -- veggies, starch, protein, etc. -- then setting a timer for 20 minutes after I had finished eating my first helping. It was amazing how many times I was able to see just how "not hungry" I was after having a better, balanced single portion. I used to think I was hungrier when I was eating until I felt full at the table. Those 20 minutes helped me put things in perspective.

In my case, I had to find substitutes for the emotional eating. In some ways I am now an emotional-water-drinker. I realize that water is not the ideal substitute in your case. That's perfectly OK. I also talk things out with family and friends a lot more. I'll have to second

dawnstar's emphasis on calorie tracking. Yay SparkPeople! When I track a serving or two of snacks and healthy portions on my meals, it helps me remember that I want to get myself in shape much more than I want the instant gratification of an extra handful of cookies.

Oh, and BPAL has helped too. We can indulge our senses of scent without taking in calories! True, it doesn't work all the time, and it's an expensive addiction. It's fun though! ;)

I'll likely be available anytime after noon. My AIM screen name is the same as my LJ username. I have a gmail account in the same name as well. It would be cool to hang out at some point. I'll have to bring my collection with. Fun to try, they are!