Welp, 8 days down; 13 pounds down. Not bad. Half of the diet already feels like second nature--saying "no" to Fat Steve's menu is getting easier and easier everyday. The greasy ghosts that haunted my tastebuds are gone. Saying no to sugar all of last year laid a great foundation for this year's much more aggressive endeavor into self-discipline. I learned how not to dwell on the things I couldn't have, and to find pleasure in the REASON for saying "no". I feel I have broken my bad eating habits (or at least the most obviously offensive ones) and I don't really miss them at all. But that's just half of the new lifestyle story...
I AM SO SICK OF VEGETABLES! While I am still very much a believer in SlimGenics, good grief do they want me to eat a ton of produce. Here is the part where I make the cliche complaints about healthy food: It's so expensive, it's out of season, and hard to keep fresh in the house for any amount of time. Here's the real problem: Whether or not I am able to easily say no to McDonalds, my tastebuds are still accustomed to those kinds of flavors. Salty, greasy, predictable. I have six different kinds of vegetables in my fridge, but right now I'd prefer to eat nothing to trying to make them taste good. Now, I know that's just because I'm not really hungry and I'm in a funky mood, but, for crying out loud, it's 9:30 and I'm still supposed to have two more servings of vegetables and another of fruit! I just want to go to bed! Getting rid of the old habits has been easy so far; it's the replacing them with good habits that is hard for me. Knowing what I know about psychology, I realize that replacing the habit is going to be crucial to longterm success. I am going to keep working at it, I'm just bored with it tonight. Better than breaking down for a cheeseburger.
On the positive side of things, my appetite has shrunk considerably. I find myself quite full at the end of my humble plates. This was a crucial step in surviving the weight loss process--I'm glad to not have to fight hunger pangs throughout the day.
One last thought: weighing in every day is a bad idea. Losing weight is a long term goal, but doing the right things is a minute to minute commitment. When you weigh in every day, the marginal successes are less motivating. Feeling like you've done a great job since yesterday, then seeing .1 pounds difference on the scale is somewhat less than inspirational. That's just an unimpressive bowel movement's difference really. Starting next week, I'm going to weigh in only a few times a week. In theory, as I continue to follow the plan, I will continue to FEEL the benefits of leaving Fat Steve behind every day, but will see more quantitative change from weigh in to weigh in by spreading them out. Please note, this is not Steve defying the folks at SlimGenics by coming in 3 times per week. They suggest coming in every day for the first two weeks to make sure you are getting the hang of things, then coming in 3 times per week thereafter.
This got long. Maybe I should have been writing for school instead. Oh well, thanks for your time!
Steve
That "bowel movement" comment brought a pretty big smile to my face! Keep pushing through, buddy :).
ReplyDeleteI will second that.
ReplyDelete