My eating triggers

Have you ever made a list of those food items that trigger your over eating? I have, and it is rather lengthy. I've included it in one of the many food journals I have around the house. I have a few things to add to the list that I've discovered over time.

1. Oreo cookies (this is number one for a reason, I can't keep these things in the house or I will eat the whole bag in a day, no joke!)
2. Chocolate graham crackers (this is a new one I've discovered recently)
3. Egg noodles (cooked or uncooked)
4. Rice
5. Cheese
6. Popcorn (regular and Crunch and Munch style that is caramel sugar coated)
7. Little Debbies (including but not limited to Swiss cake rolls, Nutty Bars, zebra cakes and the variations they create for each holiday and season change) These I will eat the whole box in a matter of 2 days depending on the number of cakes in the box. I will usually eat 2 cakes in a sitting. 
8. French Fries
9. Cheetos (crunchy or the puffs, but I usually have to stop eating the puffs at some point because they tear up my mouth)
10. Yogurt Pretzels (I get serious heartburn if I eat too many of these)
11. Raisinettes  (or pretty much any chocolate covered dried fruit, they have these chocolate covered pomegranate candies now that I can't stop eating either) eating too much of this also gives me heartburn
12. Cupcakes 
13. M&Ms

There are probably more, but I know that I need to stay away from these foods. If I do have them I know I need to be conscious of how much I am eating, if not, they will be eaten until they are gone.

Exercise = 45 minutes walk/run

Friday July 17, 2015
HB egg, cottage cheese with peaches and raspberries, cheese, tea

Trisket thin crisps - 10 (with a little butter)
L/O fajita
Small handful walnuts
Swiss cake roll (2 in package)
Diet Coke
Brat

L/O grilled broccoli and cauliflower 

L/O rattatouilli pasta

A few goldfish crackers 

Girls' night reprecussions

I once read this book "How to eat like a hot chick" and the basic message throughout the whole thing was eat good stuff and if you go on a bender you can make up for it the next day by eating a bunch of spinach. Well, I feel like today is going to be my spinach day. I drank quite a bit last night, I even had a margarita which was not only alcoholic but also packed with calories. I had fajitas at dinner which I don't think was too bad, but I had a bunch of chips and salsa too. And that may have been what put me over the edge.

Anyway, today is a new day and I will once again watch my sugar intake and try to break the addiction. I once again didn't get very good sleep last night. Alice woke me up at 3:30am wanting to come in our bed and snuggle. She flip flopped for about an hour and kept me awake. Then my alarm went off at 5:00 to get me up for the day's work out. Arg! I wanted to stay in bed, but then I thought about making the commitment to myself and got up. I'll nap this afternoon when she is napping.

Exercise = Yoga 25 minutes, 15 minute walk
Thursday July 16, 2015
HB egg and salt
Peach
L/O grilled veggie ratatouille pasta
Yogurt, peanut butter, banana, ground flax seed, cashew milk smoothie

Popcorn with coconut oil, salt and cheese topping

Steak salad

Cherry yogurt icy pop

Bite of laffy taffy 

Oh that low blood sugar

Well it happened last night, I had a low blood sugar attack. I was making dinner and started to get light headed and feel funky. I hadn't had that feeling in a long time but it didn't take long for me to recognize it.The hole in my gut feeling is another symptom. It isn't hunger really, it is just a gnawing feeling. I need to not give in to it. It is sticking with me this morning too, so I need to just be aware of it and not break my no sugar promise.

I also had a shitty night sleep last night and now I can't function. I don't know if it was because of the sugar detox or because my husband woke me up  for some lovin' or because my mother-in-law texted me at midnight. Any how, I can hardly keep my eyes open right now and can't focus on work.

Exercise = 20 minute walk run, plus 20 minutes more walking 
Wednesday July 15, 2015
HB egg, strawberries
L/O rice and chicken with ranch sauce
Out to eat for Mexican - Fajitas with rice, refried beans and chips and salsa
Margarita, cocktail, 3 nips, diet Pepsi, Moscow mule at the bar
(there was more that I ate but I can't remember it all right now)

Today will be the day

Ok, that candy bar indiscretion last night was horrible, I know! But today is the day, the day I finally focus and quit the sugar. No added sugar today. I am not going to discount fruit at this point. Why? Well summer is too short in North Dakota not to embrace all the ripe fresh fruit that comes along. Plus we just got a huge box of peaches that need to be eaten. Strawberries are still good and the raspberries in our garden are getting ripe and we will soon have a windfall of berries.

I have a girls night planned for Wednesday and will be challenged. We are going out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then to a movie. It is hard when you eat out to avoid sugar and carbs. Especially when they give you chips on the table. Good chips, not the ones from a bag that some places give you. The greasy ones that they make in the restaurant.

I also love to sneak nips into the movie theater when I go. "Nips" those little bottles filled with some type of flavored liquor. My preference is UV vodka, any flavor will do. Sometimes I'll mix it in a soda, but mostly I drink it straight.

So Wednesday may be my cheat day this week. If I eat a big dinner I may skip the popcorn and avoid the candy and just get a drink and add booze to it. Yes, that is my plan for the girls night. Now I have to stick to it.

Exercise = Yoga 18 minutes and a 15 minute walk around the block

Tuesday July 14, 2015
Cottage cheese with strawberries
HB egg with salt
DC coffee with half and half
2 cup DC tea 

Iced DC Americano from Carabou

Grocery store chef salad with Cesar dressing

1/2 piece of bread

Peach

Sway (Asian catfish) with peach salsa

Grilled broccoli and cauliflower 

Tootsie roll (small) 

Coconut soda water

Why can't I do it?

Maybe trying to quit two vices at once is a mistake. I am trying to cut out sugar along with quitting alcohol. And I've already messed up today! I ate a piece of rhubarb cake that Aaron made. Another home made dessert that I want to indulge in and having a hard time resisting because it is that time of year for summer fruit treats. I had a beer last night too because Aaron opened one that he didn't like and gave it to me to finish off. I have been finding myself craving alcohol in the evenings especially when it has been exceptionally challenging with the kids. I need a mantra to keep me in line.

However, I am sticking to my new exercise routine. Well, after a weekend of rest. My kid was sick this weekend and I think I got a touch of what she had. I just felt worn down and had a headache. So I didn't get up and exercise on Saturday or Sunday. However, I did get up this morning and completed day 3 of the couch to 5k program. I am going to do Yoga tomorrow. I weighed myself this morning which is something I probably shouldn't have done. I am still at 210. Not really surprising since it has taken me several days to get on the no sugar program. I also feel like I need to cut out carbs. They are a big weakness of mine too.

I probably need to do that meal planning thing where I prep all my food so I don't slip up. That has worked in the past. I also need to have someone standing guard at my cupboard/refrigerator asking me "is that something you really want to eat?"


Monday July 13, 2015
HB egg
2 turkey bacon
Cheese
1/2 banana
10 cherries
Piece rhubarb cake
Mixed nuts
L/O cucumber/tomato/radish salad with HM ranch dressing

L/O brown rice and ground chicken burger
Frittata with chard, cheese, tomatoes and basil
Toasted whole grain bread  
Starburst candy - 2
Almond Joy candy bar

Keep on keepin' on

Well, I can already say it is hard to cut out sugar as I knew it would be. I have had this bag of M&Ms in my desk drawer for a few days and today I polished it off. I can't have that stuff near me. Last night seemed to be an exceptionally stressful night with the kids. On top of my body aching from just 3 days of my new exercise routine I was exhausted from spending the day in the sun at a baseball game. I kept wanting to go for a drink, but then remembered that I am cutting out alcohol for a while. Then I wanted sugar. Well that I guess I felt a little better about consuming because after the kids went to bed I went straight for the cherry pie in the fridge.

Home made desserts I am not ashamed to go for. They are not processed packaged foods and I somewhat know how much sugar is in them. Although, this didn't do any good for my sugar purge and today I am not doing any better. I've gone all the way to junk food! I ate chips and Rotel dip for my snack today, plus those M&Ms didn't help. I'll start over tomorrow. Somehow I feel I can justify the slip up because I am making more of an effort to exercise. But I really don't think I should be using that as my excuse to feed myself garbage.

Friday July 10, 2015
HB egg
2 cup tea
Toast with butter
Grits with jelly and cashew milk
Rotel dip and chips
Cucumber and red pepper salad with home made ranch dressing
M&Ms
Ranch dip (with too much garlic) and crackers
It was a mess the rest of the day

Day 2 of the couch to 5K

Let me just say my legs are killing me. I guess I haven't used them in a while because my muscles and knees are aching! Tuesday I did the first day of the couch to 5K program. 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking with a warm up and cool down. I did yoga on Wednesday to help stretch out my muscles then today I got up at 5:00 am and did the run/walk again.

5:00 am is the only time I have found that works for me to work out. I tell myself that I'm going to work it into my day, but it just doesn't happen. I feel good about it so far. I do need to find a good motivator to keep me going. By feeling good I mean it feels like I am using my muscles even though they are aching. This just means I'm getting stronger right? And that is what I want to get stronger.

Thursday July 9, 2015
2 piece turkey bacon
HB egg
4 piece cheese (about an ounce)
2 cup tea
Lots of junk at the Redhawks game. 
Cracker Jack
Foot long hot dog
Popcorn
Dinner = Cheese burger, green beans and sweet potato fries 
Cherry pie with whip cream

Realizations

Well, yesterday I came to a realization. I am not going to get anywhere unless I make an effort. I also don't want to go out and buy a whole new set of work clothes in a bigger size. I had to go to Bismarck for work yesterday and I realized that none of my dress pants fit me anymore. They are size 14. I have also been having some health issues. My knees have been aching and I have been having more frequent asthma symptoms. Difficulty breathing.

I realized I want to feel strong again. I want to look better in my clothes. But most of all, I want to feel strong again (yes I reiterate). So this morning I started the first day of the "Couch to 5k" program. I have done this training before when I was in grad school training for the triathlon I did. It worked for me. Although I do remember having knee aching back then too.

I've also decided to recommit to the sugar detox. I got a book on my Kindle, but I don't actually want to read about it. I know that I just need to watch what I put in my mouth and don't take in any added sugar. This is difficult at this time of year. Summer is full of ripe fruit and by the end of the month we will have raspberries ready for making all kinds of desserts. I'll just have to moderate.

So I've started to get moving and I need to focus on portion control as well. That may be the biggest challenge. I think I might start eating like a kid and only portion out myself the same amount of food that I portion out for my kids. We'll see how that goes.

OH! I've also decided to cut out the alcohol for a while. Just to see if that helps. I haven't been binging lately, but I have been taking in a lot and frequently. I'm thinking the alcohol may be part of my weight gain in recent months.  

Tuesday July 7, 2015
I didn't need to weigh myself this morning to know I am at 210 pounds.
Microwave  egg dish with cheese and turkey lunch meat
3 gold fish crackers
5 cherries
DC coffee with half and half
1 oz swiss cheese
3/4 cup cottage cheese with stevia
2 cup detox tea
Handful almonds
Meat stick
Tortilla chips and refried black beans
L/O grilled broccoli, red pepper, olives and artichoke hearts with cilantro pesto
Grill chicken k-bobs (marinated in honey and soy sauce) with jalapenos, mushrooms
Brown rice with chard
Cherry yogurt ice pop (home made with minimal sugar)