Wrapped Up In The Books

Apologies for the drop off in posts lately. My nose has been buried deep in my books, as I continue my attempt to educate myself about eating behavior, and good habits and bad habits, and how to process my emotions without turning to food. I'm off on this side tangent of seeking to understand the psychological components of disruptive eating cycles. Just trying to equip myself with more tools to successfully maintain my weight in a healthy way.

I am currently working on "Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat," a book that examines the eating cycle of restrict, overeat, feel great guilt, then repeat the cycle. I've been having vestiges of this and it makes me very uncomfortable.

The book underscores the need to live a mindful life -- staying in the "now" -- instead of wrapping yourself up by just focusing on food. For me, when I hit maintenance, everything for me was about food. What I ate. When I ate. How much I ate. It occupied (and sometimes still does) a very significant portion of my waking hours. Honestly, I don't think I could have avoided this when I hit goal and came off the products. It was just such a big change for me, and diets were foreign to me, so food took on great importance.

Now interestingly, since I freed myself up from the scale recently, my indulge-feel guilt-restrict cycle hasn't been as bad. It's like some daily pressure is off my shoulders and I seem to naturally, on my own, follow a more healthy pattern. And my weight is holding steady (to the best of my knowledge). Clothes fit, not eating to fullness, make wise eating choices. I'm not saying my approach works for everyone. But it does for me right now and I guess that's what counts.

I've also moved away from tracking calories through MyFitnessPal -- but this is not something I would recommend you do, at least in the beginning of maintenance. I just needed to do this because I was getting obsessed with the counting and getting resentful and stressed. I must also admit flat out that I don't like technology. (I think I am going to turn my iPhone back in to my employer and get something else.) That's just how I am, and I know I'm like an ostrich, with it's head in the sand. But honestly, things move at a much more relaxed pace that way and I like that.

So all in all, I'm doing okay right now. I have maintenance class tomorrow night, and my session with Millie and weigh-in at the clinic on Wednesday. Husband and I will be going out of town over Labor Day weekend -- family reunion in Massachusetts -- and that will pose some challenges. I'll discuss my strategy with Millie and make the necessary preparations.

Have a great evening all!