I Don't Need No Stinkin' Resolutions

The season of eating with reckless abandon is coming to end (thank goodness) and I've decided to get a jump start on the New Year. Rather than waiting for New Year's Eve to come up with some lame resolution like:

• This year I'm going to lose weight. (who doesn't say that EVERY freakin' year?) or

• This year I'm going to exercise every day. (as if THAT's ever going to happen?)

Nope. This year, I'm starting NOW (did you hear me?)

I know that I am not alone if I say that I let the holidays get the best of me. Or, that I have paid the price. Too much sugar and starchy things...(but mostly sugar) has added 10 pounds to my "post cruise" self. So before those 10 become 20, I'm shaking myself out of my sugary haze and starting fresh. (again).

I briefly considered signing up for one of the membership based diet sites like eDiets or South Beach but in the end, I couldn't bring myself to plunk down any amount of money on my credit card (which is still smokin from the battle scars of December in a dual faith household). There's just too much FREE information out there to support the diet plan of your dreams.

Yesterday, I just jumped right in with both feet determined to use my knowledge for good. I'm relying on what I know has worked for me in the past and the daily scouring of my fellow bloggers wisdom. For tracking, I went back to Spark People to log my food and exercise. (It's FREE, FREE, FREE)

It's Day 2 and I already just plain feel better. Sluggishness...BE GONE!

And soon those 10 pounds will be too... and maybe a few of their friends as well.

I am back! Stay tuned for less of me.

Addictive Eating

I used to be a smoker. I was never a heavy smoker...just slightly more than a social smoker. About 10 years ago I quit…cold turkey. A fact which annoys my husband who still smokes. It’s not that he is upset that I quit but more that he doesn’t understand how I can just up and stop…just like…THAT.

And as I think back on it, it really was easier for me than most. I came down with a horrible case of bronchitis and just couldn’t bring myself to smoke while breathing was such a painful experience. Then, once I was feeling better…well, it just seemed silly to go back. But every trigger was a difficult one in the beginning. So it went like this…

Today I’m not going to smoke on the walk from my apartment to the subway. (OK, I can do that)

Next, I’m not going to smoke on the walk from the subway to my office. DONE.

Throughout the day it was more of the same until several days had gone by and I hadn’t smoked at all. So when these urges passed, I started to truly consider myself a “non-smoker” But it was a daily process…and it wasn’t as easy as I’m now making it sound.

OK, so why am I bringing this up?

It occurred to me yesterday in a moment of quiet contemplation (and kicking myself for whatever I ate that I shouldn’t have) that eating…while necessary to sustain life, is also an addictive behavior.

I need food to live…but do I need cookies? Not really.

What about the peanuts? Hmmm…no.

So why is it that some people are able to eat just what they need and the rest of us eat what we need plus what a small third world nation needs too?

How do I take that “one addictive habit at a time” mentality that I used to quit smoking and apply it to not eating except that which I need to sustain a healthy life?

And why was it so much easier to take weight off in the time leading up to last summer’s cruise than it is now? I obviously know HOW to eat the right things. Yet, somehow, without realizing it...I somehow find myself eating things I shouldn't more often than I'd like to admit.

Perhaps instead of one day at a time, I should apply the one bite at a time theory.

:SIGH:

I’m looking for answers so chime in if you’ve got some and… stay tuned for less of me.