Can’t… Guilt
Confession time. Its day three of my South Beach diet and I don’t think I can choose to make it. I know very well that I need to deal with eating better and eating less, but I also know myself and know what I like to eat. I have problems with vegetables (oh the texture, how do people stand those things??) and I eat too much starchy foods. I am willing and want to work on cutting back on the bread and potatoes and trying to eat more salad and more fruits and veggies in their raw state when they are best for you. But giving up nearly all the foods I usually eat cold turkey is proving so very hard. I feel so punished. I am aware that I have bad habits when I eat out. And I snack too much in the evening because I probably don’t eat enough for dinner.
I know that “can’t never did anything.” However, this diet has caused me to nearly burst into tears several times for just wanting to have a bowl of Cheerios. Just Cheerios. Not a piece of cake or anything rich and tasty. The guilt is too much. I have never figured out why, but I have such a guilty-concscious with many things of really no consequence. I feel guilty for wanting to eat something and then I feel guilty for thinking that maybe this diet isn’t the best one for me. And then I feel like my mom and friend will be so disappointed in me. But I’m really going nuts. And in the end, I know myself. I just won’t eat much at all rather than eat foods I hate. Which is no good either. I couldn’t choke down another un-salted egg this morning, so I just had a glass of milk for breakfast. Now I’m starving and all I can eat are 15 cashews before I get some cottage cheese and sugar-free jello for lunch. And that’s not healthy.
I used to do the Zone and that really worked for me, made me carb-conscious without making me insane. I lost nearly 15 pounds before last year when I then quit the gym and dance and just wasn’t watching what I ate at all. I know I have some better eating habits than a lot of people (I drink little pop, I drink a lot of water, eat dairy, and other than chocolate, don’t eat sweets much), and I think that that mentality has allowed me to gloss over my bad eating habits more.
In the end, I’m not sure if this is an excuse, a lament, or a confession to try and rid myself of the guilt, but I think I need to seriously reconsider how I’m going to proceed because I can’t be crying in meetings just because I’m thinking about how I’d like a turkey sandwich for lunch and that that is a bad thought to have.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Have you thought about Weight Watchers? It has worked very well for Jerry’s wife Sara, and it is working for my wife as well. You just have to be ultra conscious of what you eat. You’re not restricted in what you eat, but you have to deal with the “points values” of your food intake. There are a variety of different ways to work WW, including a “Core” plan, a “Flex” plan, and others.
I think as long as you try to eat healthy you should be ok. Don’t worry if you aren’t following guidelines in a book. Just make sure you gets your fruits and veggies (I love them!) and EXERCISE. That’s always been my biggest downfall. Maintaining weight is just a simple math problem - calories eaten - calories burned. Just don’t eat more than you burn. Good Luck! I’m sure you’ll be fine without South Beach…
I say screw South Beach, its really not good for you and its very unrealistic. Like lettie said, and like Ive said a gazillion times, its just a matter of burning more calories than you consume. Cheerios are not bad and a turkey sandwich is very good. Unless your using cold cuts, cause they suck.
Lots of fruits, veggies and lean meats. We can do this, I’ll be right there with you come Friday.
As for now, I’m getting ready to head out for a Port of Call burger.
I’ll tell you the same thing I tell my mom. “Get your ass on the treadmill and put down the Ho-Ho’s.” Seriously. Diets like Atkins and South Beach are not exactly healthy. They spend the first two weeks making sure you eat NO sugars, which puts your body into ketotic shock (not good for your liver) and then you slowly titrate back in the sugars until you hit a level you can control over the next few weeks. Yeah it’ll make you lose weight if you can stand it and not have a diet cause you clinical depression.
And you have to stay on those “diets” forever…once you stop, you gain the weight back. I lost 22 lbs on Atkins. gained it all back.
I cant wait to get home and head to the gym. I may need a double wide seat on the plane.
A good rule of thumb…the closer anything is to it’s original form from the earth, the better. Strawberry ice cream is good, but plain strawberries are better (for you). PB&J on white bread can’t be beat, but really is better (for you) with a more whole grain. A plate of veggies smothered in butter are yummy, but so much better for you raw or slightly buttered. (That’s I can’t believe it’s not butter spray is great for things like that…and potatoes)
To Joe’s point, one other thing that a program like Weight Watchers does is point out what actually constitute “good” and “bad” foods. For example, there are about 150% more calories in a Brueggers Bagel (with no cream cheese or butter) than in a Krispy Kreme. It seems counterintuitive, but it’s actually not as bad to have a donut as it is to have a bagel.
Katie did Weight Watchers before our wedding. I did it along with her. We lost a collective 80 or so pounds. Weight Watchers essentially operates on the “lettie equation”, but in the case of Weight Watchers your caloric intake is so low that you don’t need extra exercise. Your metabolic function burns those calories plus some additional, thus causing you to lose weight.
I think exercise is a good idea in addition. For me, it was nice to see some muscle tone once I peeled off the first few layers of fat (I only have fifteen more layers to go!).