Dealing with Cravings

I thought the first three days would be the hardest, but I would kill someone for a piece of cake.  Or a box of Nilla wafers.  I hope this eases up!

We had a Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts last night, and some sick person brought a chocolate cake.  With chocolate icing.  I adore chocolate.  My ex came since our Jared was receiving awards (the religious square knot and his 5th Arrow Point on the Wolf Trail) and kept offering that cake to me.

Or a hamburger.  With french fries. And fry sauce.  Or onion rings. 

Oh, well, I will hold strong.  I'm drinking lots and lots of water, some with Crystal Light, so I don't feel hungry.  I'm really not hungry, I just want to eat.  Since I can recognize the difference, I can tap on it and hold strong through it.  Sometimes it's just a matter of staying busy.  Sometimes it's a matter of just looking at the photo I have of when I was thin, and knowing that I just have 35 more days to go, and then I'll be at my goal weight. 

The thing to remember is that this is all worth it....

So: Lots of water, green tea, coffee, diet soda (or whatever other liquids work for you), and hold out just a little longer.  Reach out for support.  Hang in there.  Sometimes just getting busy for 15 minutes at a time will help.  EFT helps.

Stats: Weight this morning, 165.4, down 4.6 pounds in 4 days from start weight of 170.0.  Consistent loss of a pound a day.  GOAL: 135.

The Mind Body Connection to Weight Loss

First off, let's throw out the whole stupid notion that fat loss is just "calories in, calories out."  If you're working with HCG as a method of weight loss, you already know that's just not true.  If that was true, I'd be about 84 pounds of skin and bones.  Really!

In the past, I have tried everything to lose weight.  Now, I'm not "obese" (except by those ridiculous BMI measurements - I carry a lot of muscle so I "weigh heavy" for my size), but I've always wanted to slim down and feel trim and sexy again.  After five kids, there's some extra belly weight.  I'm concerned about my health, and I want to be strong.

So, I tried everything.  I would work out twice a day, five days a week.  I ate next to nothing,  I'd subsist on salads and no protein.  I'd basically starve myself down, and then struggle to maintain.  The first real emotional issue that would come up, I'd go right back to food to medicate myself. 

I'm starting to understand that part of the reason I gain weight when I'm emotionally distressed is that fat provides a layer of "protection."  Granted, that protection is emotional rather than physical.  I've been told all my life that I'm fat (even when I had a 24" waist), and gaining weight is a way of "proving them right."  There are so many emotional issues tied up in weight and food!

Right now, I'm considering what I need to do to release the emotions related to food, so I crave healthy food and stop eating when I'm satisfied.  Even as I write this, I'm struggling with a craving for ice cream - and I know I can't have sugar. (I get headaches when I eat too much sugar.)  I don't want the ice cream for any reason other than emotions!  I want to fill an emotional void.

I also know that the void will still be there after eating a half gallon of ice cream.  So the thing to do to fill the void is consider why I want ice cream.  And to do EFT to release the craving.

The setup would be something like this:  "Even though I want to eat ice cream, I deeply and completely accept myself."

Then I can work through, tapping the reasons why I want the ice cream.  Even though I feel empty inside, I deeply and completely accept myself.  Even though I don't think I deserve to lose weight.  Even though I want to hide behind my fat.  All those reasons can come up and be worked through. 

And once you work through what is keeping you fat, you can release the weight with grace, and ease, and HCG.

Headachy And Still Want Sweets! More on Emotional Eating (VLCD Day 2)

Yup, I'm still dealing with the emotional eating aspect.  I want to go on a monster binge - and that has nothing to do with hunger, but everything to do with sadness.  I'm still using EFT to manage the emotional process. 

Eating is such an emotional activity.  We eat when we're happy, we eat when we're sad.  We eat to celebrate (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day), and to commiserate.  We tend to eat more when we're with others (not me, though, as a binge eater I eat more alone).  Staying on a diet like this brings the emotional component of eating right up front.  I can't sit down and binge when I'm trying to lose weight, I have to feel my feelings.

Which usually isn't fun.  When I want to binge, I'm trying to fill an emotional void, which means I'm just not very happy.  I don't like being not happy, and I don't like feeling sad or blue, so I have a tendency to stuff those feelings right down.  Usually washed down with a half gallon of ice cream, eclairs, cheesecake, frosting right out the can....  Somehow salad doesn't quite work as a comfort food. 

Give me Southern fried foods, mashed potatoes loaded with gravy, and sweets any day. 

But for now, I need to forgo the comfort and remember the discipline.  I know what I want to look like.  I know what I want to feel like. 

I can do this. 

VLCD Day 1 - Filling the Emotional Void

I'm not hungry, but I want to eat.  (I bought some loading foods yesterday that I didn't finish.  I keep telling myself they will still be available when I come off the protocol.)  The emotional stress that I've been dealing with hasn't eased. 

I had 2 apples today, and a chicken breast baked in salsa and chili powder.  The recipe called for Colby Jack cheese, but I took that off mine.  (The kids liked the cheese.)  Spring greens in Walden Farms dressing on the side.  I was full when I was finished eating dinner (meat and salad) but now I want to eat everything in sight.  The sad thing is, like I said, I'm not hungry. 

It's like an emotional hole that I want to stop up with food.  I'm working on being more aware of it (hence the blogging) and I'm using EFT to manage it.  I'm going to fix myself some herbal teas and drink a few gallons of tea and/or water.  Filling up with fluids is a good thing.  I usually don't drink enough water (diet Coke doesn't count) so that's probably an issue there.

Water - I take my "refill cup" from the convenience store and fill it with ice water.  Looks like a cup of soda, I drink it through a straw, and I end up drinking a lot more water than I would otherwise.  Water is imperative any time you're trying to lose weight.  I never quite give up my diet Coke, but I cut way back and add huge amounts of water.  It helps.

So far, so good!

I've recommitted to releasing the last little bit of weight.  It's been too easy lately to eat a bunch of foods that I know are going to pack on pounds (ice cream sandwiches, chocolate eclairs, and Nilla wafers have been my comfort foods of choice lately). 

So I'm back on protocol, and much to my surprise I released 4 pounds the first day. 

I've printed out my low-carb menu from Saving Dinner's Menu Mailer, and I've chosen my veggies.  I'm heading to the grocery store tomorrow.

I'm getting cucumbers that I can salt well for a crispy treat instead of potato chips.  Apples - trying different varieties.  Honeycrisps are delicious!  And a terrific treat is an apple dusted with cinnamon, perhaps with a little stevia.

I'm stocked up on yerba mate and herbal teas.  They are delicious with stevia to sweeten them and help me relax before bed. 

And I'm doing the acupuncture and EFT to help me control my cravings. 

So far, so good - I just have to take things one day at a time.

Using EFT to eliminate cravings

The holidays have been stressful for me.  Lots of good stuff, lots of....not so good stuff....that seems to be magnified by occurring in December.  My boyfriend went into the hospital the week before Thanksgiving, which stressed me almost to the limit.  Naturally, given my disposition, I don't show my emotion.  I stuff them.  Usually with a chocolate chaser.

That is NOT conducive to weight loss.  In fact (hangs head in shame) I gained back 18 pounds.

In 2 days, I've lost 4 of them.  I've started tapping to promote the weight loss.

If you don't know what tapping or EFT is, I invite you to check out the website http://www.eftuniverse.com/  There is information there on how to get started, and where to tap. 

The statements I used were:

(karate chop) Even though I am carrying this extra weight, I deeply and completely accept myself. 
(top of head) I don't need this weight.
(eyebrow) I can release this weight.
(under eye) It's safe for me to release this weight.
(under nose) I don't need this weight.
(sore spot) It's OK for me to release this weight.

The days I've used EFT, in conjunction with HCG and good nutrition, I've lost 2 pounds a day. You can use it to eliminate cravings, settle stress, stop smoking, and much more.   Let me know if you try it, and what your results were!