Visual Rewards

It’s critical that while taking the pounds off slowly, we keep up with what our bodies are doing every day, else we run the risk of becoming discouraged because we can’t ‘see’ progress. It’s why I keep a calendar on the wall of my bathroom, and each day after I step on the scales, I write down the number on that date.

I realize however, that some of you might not feel comfortable staring at the numbers all the time. Besides what’s most important is that you’re sticking to your new eating lifestyle another day. So, how about this? Instead of recording your actual daily weight on your calendar, why not put a symbol on the date to show how you’ve honored yourself and your promise with better eating habits that day? I like to draw a smiley face in one corner of the date box if I’ve come in at or below that day’s calorie limit. If I over-indulge, I draw a frown. By using a symbol to record progress, I’m not focusing on the results of my efforts – like a change in weight – as much as I'm seeing where my chief struggles lay – the commitment to myself.

You’ll quickly see whether you’re actually serious about your weight loss. If you can look at 2 weeks of smiley faces, or stars, or whatever you choose, and you’ve not lost a pound? You’ll know it’s not because you haven’t been trying. Hang in there. It will happen. If, however, every other day, or two days out of the week you have drawn a frown, then you just might not be serious about this after all – and in fact, you might be sabotaging yourself for some reason.

It doesn’t matter what you use – what’s important is to recognize that we are visual creatures. Isn’t that why a plateful of cheese fries or chocolate brownies gets us every time? It looks so good? Therefore, we should fight the battle with something visual, too – a visual confirmation if you will, to our commitment to do the right thing. We can be in control and we can win the battle!

Sunday Solution?

As I've mentioned here before, Sundays, well weekends in general, but Sundays are particularly difficult for me food-wise. It's because the meal times are off my usual schedule and my body wants to eat at times I know I shouldn't.

My husband and I go to an early morning church service on Sundays. Because I don't want to sit there with my stomach growling, I have coffee and a nutrition bar while getting ready to go. Once the service is over, it's mid-morning and a weekly ritual for us is to go out to breakfast. We go to a special little diner that we enjoy as much for the people who run the place, as the fare they offer. I do usually eat sensibly: 1 egg scrambled, 2 slices of bacon, an English muffin, and coffee. And yes, of course, I would rather fall face down in a short stack of buttermilk pancakes smothered in Maple syrup! Who wouldn't?? But I know it's best to save that kind of meal for a very special occassion. [I think part of our problem these days is that in our self-indulgent I-want-it-now society, we've saved nothing for special occassions. But that's a topic for another day.]

Even though I eat that fairly sensible breakfast, it still means that by noon, I've had as many calories as I've usually had by 4 o'clock in the afternoon on any other day of the week. I was already thinking I would need to do something to keep myself out of the pantry mid-afternoon looking for a snack, when my husband suggested we go to a movie. Great idea. And since I'm never really tempted to eat theater food, (I find it overdone in size and price), I knew I'd be OK. The feature we wanted to see started at 1:30p. By the time we got home it was after 4p and I had a cup of tea to tide me over until I started working on dinner. We eat no later than 6p most evenings because we don't want to eat too late. All in all, the day went well and I got through it under my daily caloric total.

Now I'm not advocating you go to a movie every time you want to keep out of the pantry or refrigerator, but the idea of spending your time elsewhere to take your mind off food is a good one. The thing is, I wasn't starving when we got home from the movie. My body had forgot about eating because my mind was otherwise engaged. Often eating isn't about hunger, it's about boredom or mindless eating out of habit. Break the habit, break the boredom and you'll have a better chance of winning the battle and in the end, winning the war.