Weight Watchers is great. I love it. However, I still get cravings, still occasionally overeat, and sometimes just want to quit.
Dr. Phil to the rescue! No kidding - I was desperate for reading material in the last week I was in Iowa and picked up my mom's old copy of Dr. Phil's The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom. These "keys" are not some magic pill, and neither do I think I could use them alone and without the portion control and flexibility of WW points. It's an additional source of help that will keep me on the way to a smaller me. But what it has done for me so far is already making me see changes.
WW is a program that controls your eating from the outside - portions, fruits and veggies, exercise, etc. It's wonderful and works great. But this book is teaching me to understand myself and lose weight from inside my own head. It forces me to be honest about why I overeat and when I'm vulnerable and is helping me change some of my thoughts that are actually self-defeating. He did his research and really seems to understand what's going on inside my head when I'm struck by a need to eat an entire plate of cooked ground turkey (like what happened the other night). There's an entire "key" dedicated to getting your thoughts in order, because sometimes they can be just as destructive as a buffet table and can make you more prone to getting a spoon and a jar of peanut butter and demolishing it one night in front of the tv. That would be like 40 points for a small jar - not cool.
The thing that got me interested in the book in the first place was the "No-fail" environment. Basically, you keep junk food, convenience foods, and anything you habitually binge on OUT of the house. It really is that simple. Remember my rants about my mom who keeps buying chips and salsa and crackers and japapeño poppers and frozen pizza and waffles………. etc? Basically, the idea is that if it’s not there, you can't eat it on impulse. So freaking simple. Combining this with general lack of money, there's not a whole lot of food in my kitchen.
Then there's the "key" that addresses food-related behaviors. I realized that one of my problems is that I will eat almost anywhere in the house (or car, or school), eat very quickly, and eat while doing something else (tv, reading, driving, talking, etc.) all of which lead to mindless and sometimes subconscious overeating. So I am working to change my behavior in three simple ways: I eat only in one place in my apartment (when I get a table, it'll be there), I don't do any other activity while I eat, and between every bite I put down the fork or food and take a sip of water. I tried this at breakfast yesterday and was astounded to find that some vegetables, a slice of bread, and one single egg could leave me feeling full and satiated.
All you "normal" people might not understand how much of a breakthrough this was: I can scarf an entire pizza in one sitting - plus 20oz of whatever I'm drinking - and not feel full. I can eat a 3-egg omelet with meat, vegetables, and heaped with cheese, and not feel full. I can eat a full platter at a restaurant, have a refill of my drink, and have room for dessert. Still, this morning I had ONE egg, half a cup of vegetables, a fourth cup of cheese, and 12oz of water and I was full enough not even to feel like having coffee or eating anything else. NEVER has this happened before.
So guess what, Food Monster: I have a new tool in my arsenal. You're going down.
