Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Hello, my name is Christy and I am a Foodaholic.

So....yes... like every bride-to-be, I am trying to lose weight. I exercise like crazy and I'm anything but inactive, but I always joke that I do this so I can eat. And I do.

My biggest issue lies in the fact that growing up I had a really high metabolism. So even all through my college years when I ate nothing but crap and drank beer every night of the week, I maybe only gained a few pounds, but maintained my weight. I never had to worry about what I was eating...so I never learned that self control.

And then I hit my mid-20's.... {insert tire screeching noise symbolizing my metabolism}...

I'm usually at a desk eight hours a day. But I'm still active with working out, dance classes, riding my bike, etc. But again... I do this to maintain because of my eating habits.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not eating McDonalds every day - I actually can't even remember the last time I ate McDonalds. I have a reasonable diet... but I have no portion control... instead of having one bowl of cereal, I might have three. I also love going out to eat with my fiance...again, not making crazy bad choices, but we all know what the portions are at restaurants.

I also have no eating schedule...with work and everything else going on, sometimes I don't eat dinner until 10pm. And lunch is never at the same time every day. Good news is, I do eat breakfast every day...so that's good.

But it probably doesn't do me any favors that my favorite food is Italian, I love my white wine, and I have a sweet tooth like no other.



I eat healthy MOST of the time...and I eat the bad stuff in moderation. So that with my active lifestyle helps me maintain my weight...

...but...I will be the first to admit that I need to lose 10 pounds and get back to my college weight if not lighter. I'm in great shape...I've got lots of muscle, but I've got that extra pounds I need to shed, and I want to get leaner. And what better motivation to do this than for my wedding, right?



And I know that in order to start shedding pounds, I HAVE to start lowering my daily calories and actually being conscious of what's going in my mouth. I actually tracked my calories for a month using MyFitnessPal and I think I lost like three pounds (they're already back), so I know that tracking my calories works. So I need to get my act together and just do it (sorry Nike)!

And yes Christy, this means no more glasses of Chardonnay at night before bedtime. And speaking of bedtime Christy... this means going to bed before midnight! Lack of sleep hinders weight loss.

And yes...I talk to myself.

I know all of the weight loss tricks....eat more fiber, drink more water, get more sleep, cut back on calories, eat lean proteins, dinner should be smallest meal, don't drink sodas...etc., etc., etc. I'm educated... I just don't follow through with these, and I need to.



My mom said she's buy me a membership to Weight Watchers for my birthday... my fiance told me once it would be a waist of money because I should be able to count my calories and do it myself without a program...but can I? I know a lot of folks who have lost a lot of weight (and kept it off) using Weight Watchers. Thoughts?? Is it worth the try if it's a gift?

What I really need advice (therapy?) on is how to keep my stress from sabotaging my healthy eating. The biggest issues I have is that stress or bad days are my food trigger... just like an addict is triggered by certain things to want to use, I am triggered by stress and emotions to want to eat!

Source: flickr.com via Kelli on Pinterest


A lot of people have told me, "Don't worry! You'll lose a ton of weight right before the wedding because you'll be so busy and stressed, and you won't eat as much." This is true for some people - my sister looked fantastic on her wedding day..and she told me it was mainly due to a combination of more jogs and lots and lots of stress.

But this scares me...because for me, stress makes me EAT! Like..."I've had a bad day I'm ordering a pizza" type of eating. And if it's a really bad day, that pizza will include a bottle of wine and ranch to dip it in!

My triggers can even be minor...let me give you an example... the other day I was going to get lunch on my lunch break from work. Subway is a hop, skip, jump away and I was going to get my usual turkey sandwich on wheat, lettuce, tomato, light mayo with a water bottle (see? healthy!).

I pull into the parking lot, which is typically full at lunch time. I'm already not looking forward to waiting in line inside. I see a car start to pull out of a spot..so I put my blinker on and wait. The car pulls out. And then...out of no where... some girl in a beat up POS car comes out of nowhere and PULLS INTO THE SPOT. I'm just sitting there with my blinker on, mouth hanging open..."Oh no she didn't!".

I've already had kind of a rotten day, so this was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I put my car into reverse {screeching tire wheel noise again} and think "Forget Subway! Grr!". Don't worry, I 'waved' to the girl who stole my spot before I pulled off. My driving anger issues I will save for another confession post. :)

Anyways...so of course I go to the next convenient place to get lunch... Arby's. It's right next door to Subway. Crap. So much for healthy. I pull up to the drive through and make the healthiest Arby's choice I could...well...not really...but somehow ordering a turkey wrap (which I know in the back of my head ISN'T really that healthy..but ignore) makes me feel better about the fries and Diet Coke. (And I know what you're thinking, "Christy...all of this could have been avoided if you made your lunches and brought them to work!". I know, I know...but who has time to make lunches??)

Sigh.

As you can see...all it takes is a stolen parking spot to trigger me to evil food.

In my mind, this is the greatest challenge I will face as I start my battle to lose some pounds before my big day. I have four months and a little over a week. Is it possible to lose 10 pounds that fast??

I'm also throwing around the idea of once August starts, not drinking any more beer - just low calorie liquors, and only drinking the low cal liquors on special occasions like my birthday, football games, bachelorette, etc. This presents another issue for me: I am not fun when I'm liquor drunk and usually don't know my limits with liquor to keep me from getting liquor drunk... :)

I'm also thinking of rewarding myself for every 2 pounds lost - like...2 pounds=$50 to spend on a new dress or something.

So..................... long post. Guess I'm making up for not posting much last week.

So ladies...share your weight loss secrets, successes, failures.... and how do you keep the stresses of life from ruining your diet?

15 comments:

Rebecca said...

IN ONE SUMMER I very healthily lost 15-20 pounds. about 2-3 pounds a week. If you want to know how you can email me kushrebecca@yahoo.com bc its too long to type out. trust me i had tried EVERYTHING, i was always average, never skinny so I decided to see a nutritionist and she gave me weight loss tips.
Unfortunately it is 90 percent what you eat, 10 percent working out. But so many things I thought were healthy (fruit and yogurt) are actually full of sugar and fat!

Carly Messmer said...

I am right there with the portion control. I'm trying to learn to split meals with Adam when we go out to eat. Most of the time I don't need to eat everything they serve.

I've used a couple calorie tracking apps on my iPhone and had a lot of success!

Anonymous said...

I'm going through the same thing right now - except my goal is to lose 15 pounds in 6 weeks. I'm 1/2 way there too :) and I haven't been starving myself.
I've working out super-duper hard. 60 min Spin class before work & 60 min personal training session after work.
My 'diet' is pretty simple: eat only clean foods. I try to eat a lot of protein, but (whole grain) carbs are important too. Think: Non-Fat Greek yogurt w/ steel cut oats & fruit for breakfast (so filling!). Spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers & tuna for lunch. Lara bar and / or an apple (or carrots) for snack. Dinner is typically lots of veggies & a protein. I also cut cheese (my kryptonite) and alcohol Sun-Thurs. Being disciplined is key! Bringing your lunch & snacks to work is so important!! It's not as time consuming as you think.
Good Luck!! You can & will get to your goal!!

just ask beth said...

I think you are presh..drop the engagemnet ring and you will lose 5lbs.!! that is ring is gorgeous!

Unknown said...

You sound exactly like me. I use to be able to eat everything under the sun and not gain one pound. I am not overweight now but I would like to tone up a little before my big day. My wedding is in October and I have told myself countless times over and over that I need to loss weight but here I am three months before the wedding and haven't lost a single pound! I crave meals from Groucho's, Kickin' Chicken, and Five Guys which is completely unnecessary and very unhealthy; I cannot help it! I love Italian also and probably could cook it every night for dinner for the rest of my life (no I am not Italian haha!) I have also downloaded the MyFitness Pal and that has been a complete failure. I like running but it is too hot in SC right now to go out running; I would probably have a heart attack if I did. If you come up with a great weight loss idea, please inform!

http://pearlspinkandsouthern.blogspot.com

Kim @ keller-creative said...

I'm a three time WW drop out. I go strong for a few weeks and then I get frustrated. What they say about loosing a bunch of weight before your wedding is true. I lost like 10 pounds right before without much effort. Good Luck!

AcresofHope said...

This is my first time on your blog and I'm excited to be here! I have to watch my weight like a hawk, because I have NEVER had a fast metabolism, sadly. So this is a topic that I know. Two things that have helped me are:

1. Just accept that it's inconvenient. It just is. If it's important enough, you can figure out ways to make it fit into your life. And to be honest, it seriously takes about 10 minutes (if even that) to fix a lunch the night before. Or some people fix a weeks worth of lunches on Sunday so they are all ready to go for the week.

2. I heard a phrase that has been a stable in my thought life. I, too, am an emotional eater! This phrase helps me: "The only problem solved by eating, is hunger." So true! I literally recite this when I am tempted to eat because I am stressed or in a bad mood or in a good mood or whatever. No problem is solved by eating!

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I spend about an hour on Sunday making my lunches for the week - I wash my fruit and put it in containers, chop vegetables and cook chicken for my sandwiches. I put everything into individual bags so every morning I just have to grab it and go. It was rough getting into the habit, and sometimes it gets thrown off kilter when I go out of town, but it's helped me to control what I'm eating.

Laura said...

Hi! MUSC has a Bridal Bootcamp a few times a year.
Also, there are these things called Deli Creations that are basically lunchables for grownups. They aren't bad and require no effort. I wait for a sale bc I'm cheap, but if you're spending $ on lunch out anyway you would probably save! Really, if you get into the routine of making a sandwhich the night before (5 min)and grabbing and apple and box of raisons before you run to work, it will come naturally, just like making coffee.

TeriLynn13 said...

I spend a lot of time prepping my own food, fruit, veggies etc and basically reserved my carbs to one meal a day, usually it was dinner but on the weekend it allowed me to be more flexible and then I would have a chicken Cesar salad for dinner or something like that. I chew a lot of gum at work to help me avoid the office temptations. I also cut my wine with club soda or Sprite Zero. Wine is a food group!

Tara said...

Ugh, my sweet tooth is my doom. I can control every other part of my "diet" but that. Maybe try focusing on exercise rather than food when you're stressed? And buy like...all natural dried fruit to curb your sweet tooth?

Unknown said...

I purchased a Jillian Michael's book called Making the Cut. It focuses on losing 10-20 pounds and is full of excersises and meal plans-it works!

Seashells and Southern Belles said...

ha you are too funny... Arby's curly fries are soooo hard to say no to!!! Good luck! and no matter what, you will def look fab on your wedding day :-)

DSS said...

I completely understand you wanting to lose weight for the wedding. I think most girls do :) BUT...I've gotten to the point that until I have a looming wedding, I'm done trying. I just enjoy eating, and I'm not that big, and I'm tired of trying to force myself to exercise when I hate it so much. I mean, if I got hit by a truck tomorrow I don't want my last day on earth to have been spent worrying about weight and standing on a treadmill.

So, I say give yourself a goal...and tell yourself that starting the day after your wedding you can eat whatever you want :) Maybe you can trick your body into looking so forward to that, that it's easy to avoid the tasty goodness of pasta and such now? Hmmm...

Magnolia Blues said...

This is the blog I totally need to read right now. I'm so there with you on the food thing. I know what to do but I'm not doing it. I just need to get my butt in gear and lose that extra weight I've been dragging around.