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Wednesday, June 12, 2013

If it's in the house



It has only been a couple of days, but so far this week hasn’t been a total disaster, like the previous two weeks were.   Stating that my eating hasn’t been a total disaster could be interpreted to mean it hasn’t been anywhere near perfect either.  I’m working on it, not being perfect, but doing better.

The good news is that I haven’t had any take-out, delivery or dining out in the last couple of days.  All food has been prepared at home.  Also, I have been trying to drink more water.  Eventually, I will eliminate diet soda.  As it stands now, most days I only have one 20 oz. Diet Mountain Dew in the evening.  Caffeine doesn’t affect me, so having it in the evening doesn’t mess with my sleep.  Some days though I may have an extra soda, a diet coke with one of my meals. Just because caffeine doesn't affect me or because it's not a sugar soda, it's still bad and one of the many habits I need to break.

The bad news involves a lunch that consisted of a plate of nachos and consumption of some leftover cake from my nephew’s birthday. 


If it is in the house, I will eat it.  Same goes for the diet soda, especially the Dews, if it’s in the house, I will drink it.  Why is this stuff in the house in the first place?  It’s here, because my husband won’t stop bringing it in.  I don’t think he is going to stop anytime soon, so it will be up to me to learn how to avoid the food and beverages that don’t fit the way I want to eat.  My husband isn’t interested in cutting out grains (especially giving up bread or pasta), dairy, sugar and he’s definitely not ready to give up soda.  He has the mindset that he can eat these foods in moderation and lose weight.  Probably true, but he doesn’t.  It’s not my husband’s fault that I am this size.  We enable each other, but that’s a post for a different day.

While my ankles are still swollen, my stomach and other areas don’t seem to be as bloated as they were a couple of days ago or even yesterday.  The water might be helping with that.  My left knee is still bothering me.  I believe it is arthritis and there must be some inflammation going on right now causing the pain to flare up.  Because of it, I am limping around and not even thinking about exercise.  It will come soon, but this week I am focusing on my food intake, water and trying to get the swelling to go down.

Thanks for all the support and encouragement, it is greatly appreciated.

21 comments:

  1. Hi and wishing you again all the best in the decision making process. I don't know if you've read this before from me, but when I wanted to change, initially I did it in baby steps. I only changed one food item to start with. I made a vow I have kept. I said, from now on...no more French fries. At the time I still drank diet sodas and ate hamburgers. I only gave up one food item. French fries. I wasn't exercising at that point either. The other baby step I remember taking about that same time was regarding my total cholesterol. I purchased non-flushing niacin supplements and started taking one 500mg capsule per day. Those were the only changes I made to my lifestyle for six months. Six months later my total cholesterol was down almost 40 pounds. It was still above 225 but was improved. If someone would have tried to get me to go Paleo 100% back then, I'd have probably laughed as I scooped my bowl of ice-cream. Sometimes we need baby steps we document and take it little by little. (I'm speaking of your husbands attitude towards his own health.) Anyway...have an awesome day! Blessings to you:)

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    1. Thanks Marc. Your comment had helped me look at things differently. Just because I am wanting to give up certain foods, my husband may not be ready to go there. He needs to find what works for him. Still we need to find a way that we can work together so that we don't unintentionally sabotage each other.

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  2. Marc gives such a great perspective. You have to do what works for you. If you can give up one food at a time and be successful, that's great. My husband seems to be eating more sweets as I am trying not to eat them. He needs to cut back on some things too.

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    1. Any success would be much appreciated right now. Thanks Betty.

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  3. Be proud of the changes you have made :). I am like you if it's the house I will eat it. My bf likes sweet treats at lunch time I asked him to keep the whole box at work because I know I will binge on it. So far it works. Baby steps and one day at a time.

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    1. My husband continues to buy several snacks at once because he doesn't want to go out everyday. Yes, I have asked him to (buy the snack)day after day. But, when I tell him I am trying to quit, I wish he would just stop making the purchases. He knows I am too lazy to go buy the garbage myself. We both have work to do. Your boyfriend sounds understanding.

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  4. Baby steps might be necessary, but you won't really be able to get past the cravings "if it's in the house I will eat it"...until the grains are gone. (from your mouth.) Almost everyone who's gone down this path know this to be true. So you just need to get to the point where you are tapped out and desperate, and when the time is right, you will go boldly where you never thought possible...whether your husband does it or not.

    I have faith in you!

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    1. Thanks Gwen. I'm still working my way through "Wheat Belly". The more I read, the less I want to eat grains. It will take some time to change this habit though.

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  5. My husband and I just had a big go'round ourselves over this sort of thing. Is there any middle ground for the two of you? So you're giving up all grains altogether? I've given up most grains, but there are some we still have. I was wondering if something like that might offer some middle ground for you two? (For example, we buy the ezekiel bread which is very different - found in the frozen foods because it's made without preservatives, it's sprouted grains, etc.) Or are you going all paleo?

    When I first started eating healthy, the switch was too huge. I too started slow. I picked the meal I cared the LEAST about (which for me was breakfast) and made it as perfect as possible. Because if I didn't care what I was eating, it'd be easy to eat something 100% spot on, especially if I still had the rest of the meals to work with. Once that was a habit, I picked the next meal (or snack) that I cared the least about, and so on. It took almost a year of whittling down what I didn't care about, but I lost 40 lbs in a year just doing that.

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    1. Thanks for sharing Kyra. I like the approach you took, changing one meal at a time. Congratulations on the weight loss, that is fantastic!

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  6. I agree with eliminating one thing at a time so you don't get overwhelmed and that sounds like exactly what you're doing by eliminating take-out this week. You go! You are doing this whether you think you are or not. :)

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    1. I'm trying to figure out if moderation or abstinence works best for me. Still not sure. Thanks for the support.

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  7. Baby steps is an excellent way to go! One day at a time, you will get there. :)

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  8. Linda beat me to it, I was going to say baby steps too. It's hard to change everything all at once - I think giving up the pop is a good way to start though.

    Caffeine doesn't bother me either - I can drink a cup of coffee right before going to bed, no problem! :D

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    1. Giving up the soda is tough, yo. It is so hard to try and drink water or tea in the evening while my husband guzzles down my second love - diet mountain dew. Still, I need to work on it.

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  9. I am the same way...if it's in the house, I KNOW it's there, and it talks to me. Fortunately, I'm the only food shopper, so if something tempting is here, it's MY fault. It's hard when your husband isn't on board with your changes, but you're right, you will have to learn how to deal with it. Unfortunately, temptation is not only at home...it's at restaurants, at work, etc. Once I finally learned to feel good about a healthy choice and not deprived and pissed off about it, I turned a corner. Of course, I have bad days, too. I heard this saying, and I really like it... "Just because you drop one egg doesn't mean you throw the rest of the carton on the floor."

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    1. Great saying, totally love it! My best weight loss attempt ever, was during the short time I lived by myself before I started dating my husband. I know I would do better on my own, as I do when he travels. I won't give him up, so I need to find a better way. Thanks for stopping by.

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  10. It's not his fault but then again, you have the right to have an environment that's helping you achieve your goals. I'm sure some compromise can be made!

    Good luck with everything and I also separate things into the good and the bad. I try to focus on the good more though :) but recognize the areas that need improvement.

    Have a wonderful weekend.

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    1. Thanks Grace, my husband and I working to find a way we can help each other even if we're not on the same plan.

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  11. One thing I used to do before getting off diet sodas was I "required" myself to drink a certain amount of water before I could have one. That way I wasn't drinking diet soda INSTEAD of water. I eventually became willing to give them up and don't miss them.

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