Mind Games

So before I get into topic, I just have to say that one reader found me yesterday by googling Chad Kroeger's Sexual Indiscretions. *snort * Man, I WISH! It's a very satisfying list to be on, though.

Now to the blog.

Saturday, you may remember, is the fitness/weight loss day. You know, sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. You'd think in a mental battle against yourself, you might be able to anticipate your next move and throw up an adequate defense... you'd think. But somehow, when I get into this whole dieting/weight loss thing, I undermine myself SEVERAL times in the process... that wonky, horrible thinking.

Permission for Bad Behavior

“One won't hurt.”
“It's a wafer thin mint.”
“Weigh in is days away.”
“It only has a point or two.”
“You deserve it, it was a really hard day.”


There are a thousand little excuses I periodically offer myself to allow this or that splurge. USUALLY, my counter-self can offer a sound, “Shut up!” and get on with it, but sometimes I give in and make a really bad choice. That last one is the biggest. When I am under stress, I can easily convince myself I deserve a reward.

The problem is, it undermines the plan, and in the long run, I feel even WORST. And you know what? I KNOW THIS. I could EASILY say, “you know what this will do to you.” But I don't. Why? What is this.


The Best Laid Plans

The problem with falling for these mind games now and then, is that instead of getting better at anticipating and stopping them, I seem to wear down. Pretty soon, the games get so close together, that we even forget we are DOING anything. We are in 'eat what I want' mode, more often than 'watch what I eat'. It gets harder and harder to pull ourselves back into the REAL game—the Get Fit, Be Healthy, Be Hot Game.

My Nemesis

The worst thing for my diet plans is a wrench kin my schedule. If I do the same thing day to day, week to week, I can build in enough good habits and enough checks and balances to MOSTLY do what I am trying to do... eat well, exercise. Sure, now and then I have a SNAFU, but because I have built a routine, I can pull myself back into line

Schedule interruptions though, big or small, throw me for a loop. It can be being so busy that I forget to eat lunch, so by afternoon I am STARVING and on the prowl for the BAD kind of calories. More often it is a big deadline that means some overtime, stress at work, and a pity party when I get home. Then there are the business trips—I take one or two a year, and this interrupts both diet AND exercise. Nobody serves milk at all at a corporate dinner, let alone skim milk. Fruit is hard to come by. Veggies to bulk up your meal so you feel satisfied on less? Not happening. You will get three string beans with your chicken breast and rice, and you won't complain. You will go out to eat where food is drenched in sauces. You will be served pastries for breakfast, and the booths in the Conference center will be giving away cookies, lattes, candy... not veggies. You won't get enough water to drink. Worst of all though, you will be expected to be there most of the day, so fitting exercise in is nearly impossible. You certainly can't get it in during the hours the hotel fitness room is open.

This is coming... Travel season. Preceded by the super busy at work prep time that I am already in...

And even KNOWING this, I STILL fall into traps now and then! Last weekend was bad. This week I was MUCH better and lost last weeks gain, plus a little, which puts me down a single pound from two weeks ago, but better down a little than up, and it brings my total loss to date to 30 pounds! That I'm happy to celebrate.

I just wonder what else can be done to keep the brain from that battle... I suppose for the time being, I will go with a Mad Eye Moody approach: CONSTANT VIGILANCE!