Weekly Meeting Topic: Eating Healthier the Easier Way

At tonight's meeting, the leader asked us if, during our journey, we have had days where we ate all of our points but were still hungry. Not surprisingly, everyone could relate. The leader (who I adore - Karen, you are awesome!) asked us to think about what we were eating on those days - days when use all of our points but are still hungry; not mental hunger or palette hunger, but real physical hunger.

I have definitely been there and I knew immediately what she was getting at: the type and nutritional quality of food you consume is so much more important than you may realize. It was something I didn't know and would not have believed until I experienced it for myself.

I remember when I first joined, for the first year and a half, I lost my weight eating the same things I always ate - a lot of junk food and processed food - just less of it. Yes, you can lose weight that way because in the end, it's about calories in vs calories out.

However, not only is that not healthy, but I do not think that is sustainable long term. I think it worked for me when I had a lot of weight to lose because I could still eat a bunch of junk food along with the good stuff and managed to burn more calories than I used. But the fact is that the more you lose, and the closer you get to goal, you have to consume less food if you want to continue to lose weight. At that point, you don't have a lot of wiggle room anymore. Those calories (points) become so much more important and you should be more careful about what you eat. You should question what you are eating, why you are eating it and make adjustments that you are comfortable with and ready for. (The sooner you do this, the better, it took me a while to get to this point though.)

Even if I had heard this concept, I hadn't embraced it until I tried the Core version of the plan. Prior to that, I was on Flex and just concentrated on spending my points. I didn't give much thought to what I was spending them ON. A majority of my points were spent on things like junk food snacks, frozen high sodium meals, sugar free/fat free processed food - basically a ton of garbage and chemicals. Being on Core forced me to think about a whole new approach to eating - consuming actual, real food! Crazy concept, huh?

After just days on that plan I could not believe how different I felt. That's when the lightbulb went off. I noticed almost instantly how real food satisfied me so much more than the garbage I had been eating before then. It was like an "a-ha" and a "duh" moment at the same time.

And while it wasn't immediate, that first revelation I had as a result of eating real food caused me to have many more, leading me to the significant changes I made this year - first banning artificial ingredients (including the many seemingly healthy foods that contain them), and now my transition to Veganism.

For me, I can now look back and see that Core was a critical turning point because it made me reexamine what I was eating and *why* I was eating it, which caused me to say "Enough is enough. There are certain things I am not willing to put into my body anymore." This is huge - and it's just another reason why I try to remind you all the time - it's not all about the scale. This is such a mental journey. It's about the changes in your mind that lead to the changes in your actions. The scale will catch up to that eventually, but I think it's so much more important to be aware of what you are doing and why.

Lastly, remember that everyone has a different journey and this is not a race. Take your time and learn. Evolve. Have your own epiphanies, and make your changes. I think that's the secret to long term success.

Now for my weekly questions-

What did I accomplish this week?

• I tracked, but only for 2.5 days. This is less than my goal of 5 days, but it's more than none!
• A co-worker put a Baby Ruth candy bar on my desk. My instinct was to grab it and open it, but I stopped myself and reminded myself that I don't eat artificial ingredients anymore (I'm sure there are some in there, I didn't even bother looking). I thought about the whole exchange and realized that I wasn't even tempted by the taste, it was more just an immediate reaction to open and devour it. But I did not. I gave it to another coworker and didn't think about it again.
  
• Someone else at work offered me candy corn. (You may not know this but I am a former junk food junky and this was one of my favorite candies. I'd eat a pound at a time, and not just at Halloween.) I politely declined. When she offered again, I told her that I do not eat artificial ingredients. I even told her I was a former chemical candy junky, but haven't had any candy since March. She seemed amazed by that, and asked if I craved it. I told her that that was the most surprising thing - since cutting it out, I have not craved it once. I can now see candy and not feel like I'm going to die if I don't eat it. As opposed to before, when I tried to consume it in moderation, I would have to fight with myself to not eat it. But now I don't have that horrible internal struggle because I don't even want it. This, by far, is one of my biggest achievements to date. I never thought this day would come or would even be possible, but it's such a relief to not be tortured by thoughts of candy anymore!
  
• I had a box of Kashi bars in my office that I knew weren't "safe". So a few weeks ago, I brought them into my co-worker's office and explained that I was leaving them there for safe keeping. I did this because I knew that if they were too easily accessible and no one could see me eat them, I would eat them way too fast. But having to go into someone else's office, where they would SEE what I was doing was enough to prevent me from eating them at an unhealthy rate. It worked. Most of them are still there.
• I bought the B-12 and have remembered to take my vitamins 5/7 days.
  
• I ran on the treadmill yesterday and my goal was to do 2 miles in 25 minutes. I did intervals of 90 seconds at 3.8 miles (walking) and 5.8 miles (running) and I DID IT! I finished with 2.01 miles in 25 minutes. That's my new record (12.5 minute mile)! It was amazing!!!
  

What do I want to work towards next week?

• Expect to see this one for a while because it's that important: I want to track at least 5 days.
• I am going to a Halloween party this weekend. In order to be successful, I will eat wisely before I go, plan out my alcohol points and bring my healthy snacks.
• I want to start drinking hot water with lemon. Someone mentioned it in tonight's meeting and it sounds fantastic. I'm going to try it in the mornings and maybe I can even ween myself off coffee!

I'll close this out with the quote that was on the board tonight, which I liked - "Make the decision then do something - no matter how big or small - toward accomplishing what you want." (no source was listed)

Have a great week, everyone!


And since a few of you asked, this is the heart rate monitor I bought. I plan to do a full blog on it in the near future, but you can check it out there in the meantime.