SparkPeople Sponsors help keep the site free!

SparkPoints: (6,199)
Fitness Minutes: (4,846)
Posts: 1,200
7/7/09 8:35 A

Thank goodness that this is not impossible. It's hard but not impossible. It's about taking control of choices and getting out of the comfort zone. Stand and take authority!!!

Continue to stay FOCUSED, PLAN, and make great progress!

current weight: 235.6

260 245 230 215

200

SparkPoints: (32,262)
Fitness Minutes: (25,263)
Posts: 2,318
7/6/09 3:25 P

Been thinking about watching other peoples' food addictions and habits. I work with patients/people who are addicted to being abused, to alcohol, to drugs, and to some pretty weird self-stimulators. Once an addiction has been set, it's like pulling teeth without novacain to get it to move out of the way. I've been so focused on the "How dare them continue bad choices" that I forgot all of the bad choices I've made in my life that discouraged, tempted, or frustrated someone else while they tried to make positive changes for themselves. I can't make progress independently from a world filled with temptations. I have to learn to do what's right for me regardless of the environment I work, live, or play in. I keep lecturing myself about how to stay focused and motivated and sometimes I'm actually listening.

current weight: 308.5

339 326.25 313.5 300.75

288

SparkPoints: (32,262)
Fitness Minutes: (25,263)
Posts: 2,318
6/13/09 10:33 P

Still looking at the eating habits and schedules of people around me. We don't seem to be verbalizing affection or showing it with touch much these days. Seems food has become as important with communication as e-mail or any other form of non-contact contact. Food is the non-threatening emoticon that co-workers, neighbors, friends, and loved ones are using to "post" on breakroom tables and in the kitchen.I give you a donut because I enjoy making you happy. Maybe we ought to start a spark of communication that is now loaded with calories but loaded with love instead.

current weight: 308.5

339 326.25 313.5 300.75

288

SparkPoints: (11,780)
Fitness Minutes: (17,410)
Posts: 115
6/1/09 1:06 P

You are so right! Keeping this thought in the back of my mind so I can pull it out and use it when needed will be an invaluable tool for me!! The crap that usually feeds the craving is "well you've been so good, no wonder you're hungry for something"...LOL I need to combat this with the emotional eating argument!!
I can picture the conversation with myself now....
Thank you so much!!!

Sue

Pounds lost: 0.0

0 7.5 15 22.5

30

SparkPoints: (32,262)
Fitness Minutes: (25,263)
Posts: 2,318
6/1/09 12:41 P

I worked in an office that sponsered summer interns who were attending local colleges. Like most offices, ours had the "grazing table" filled with treats that had been baked, fried, layered, or purchased by personel with the generous attitude of a nurturing mother. "Try this" was the motto. "A little won't hurt you" was the excuse.
One summer a lovely young woman joined us for 4 months and we had all expectations of her joining in our daily feasts of fancy. Instead she politely and firmly smiled and said "no thank you, I'm not hungry right now." Of course, we would respond "What's hunger got to do with it?"
Now that I'm 200 pounds overweight, I'm learning exactly what real hunger has to do with it. How many chocolate chip cookies does it take to make you feel attractive. How much gravy does it take to smother anger and disappointment? How many cheese balls does it take to fill an empty heart? Hunger has nothing to do with most binges. The ravenous cravings don't come from food yearning, at least most of the time. Unnatural quests for the "unknown something" usually stem from emotional needs that will not be met by chips, chocolate, or any other kind of chewing. Maybe when the urge hits we might take a breath and think before we eat. Hunger is not a state of mind, it is a state of physical need. We can take time to relearn our body and the signals it sends to us. Just listen and don't eat the cookie before the body talks.

current weight: 308.5

339 326.25 313.5 300.75

288