Food Addiction

I read an interesting article today at sparkpeople.com. 

The part that stood out the most to me was this:

"For some of us at least, what we eat may play a big role in how much trouble we have sticking to a healthy diet and achieving or maintaining a healthy weight. It's not just a matter of how many calories there are in these "hyperpalatable" foods, but also the effects they have on our ability to stop eating when we want and/or moderate the amount of particular trigger foods we include in our diet. This could mean that susceptible people may need to avoid certain trigger foods completely, rather than trying to moderate their intake--just like an alcoholic has to avoid all alcohol."

Whenever you diet, you already read that you can "splurge" every once in awhile.  This may not be true for everyone.  While there are some foods that are an okay treat (frozen yogurt, for example), highly processed foods or fast food (what they are referring to here as hyperpalatable) can have a trigger affect similar to that of drugs to a drug addict. 

Pay attention to not only how your food tastes, but how it feels.  If you want more the minute you put your fork down, it's a good sign you've found a trigger food!

I Know...Better

*I started the Nutrisystem weight loss program this weekend.  Here is what I posted on my first blog post for my Nutrisystem profile:

"I'm no stranger to weight loss; or to weight gain, for that matter.  In fact, I think I've got such a good handle on the whole "yo-yo" process I could practically teach a seminar.

I know all about calories and exercise.  I know the better foods to eat.  I know that I feel a million times better when I eat them.  The gym is a cathartic experience for me.  It's the one place where I feel truly at peace.  The one place where the only thing that matters is the adrenaline; where I can really clear my head.
And yet, somehow, I seem to make choices that don't fall in like with what I know.  In 2008, through my own sheer willpower (and a lot of exercise and diet changes), I lost 45 pounds.  I trimmed my size 14 body down to a 6.  I felt amazing.  I felt strong and confident.  I felt like nothing could take that feeling away.  I felt like that feeling alone was enough to keep me motivated to continue to exercise and eat right.  Somehow, though, it wasn't.

I felt myself start to slip.  I was excellent at making excuses.  I was busy.  We were in the middle of a big move, I didn't have time to cook.  We had to move further from the gym, but I could afford to trim back to 3 days a week...which dwindled down to none.

It was slow, but eventually all my good habits were just old habits.  And all my old habits resurfaced.  Here I am, 18 months later hiding my size 6 clothes to make room for my size 14 ones to return.  I've gain back every single one of those 45 pounds I lost.  And, honestly, I'm not very nice to myself about it.  I knew better.  I let it happen.  I let down that girl, the one who felt so empowered and so strong.  I continued to punish myself with binges and excuses.  I didn't feel worth of the effort it would take to get on track again.  All that work - again - for a girl who was just going to manage to mess it all up - again.

And it's at this rock bottom point when I realized that I wasn't ready to do it by myself.  Putting me in charge of my eating habits and my work out schedule wasn't going to work.  I am too mad at me.  I want me to suffer.  After all, I knew better.

So, that's when I made the call to Nutrisystem.  I needed help.  I didn't need sympathy or words of comfort (all of which my husband lovingly offers).  I needed someone to tell me what to eat and when.  I needed someone to tell me to get over myself; to tell me to stop punishing myself for struggling.  To remind me that life didn't end when I gained back that weight, that I have years and years left to get this whole weight maintenance thing right.  Nutrisystem had those qualities built in.

So, here I am.  Day 2 and I already feel better then I have in months.  Because I am awesome no matter what I weigh.  And I never should have put myself through so much guilt which just served to hold me back from achieving my goals.  And now I know better."