I've been thinking a lot lately about why many of us have tried so many "diets" only to give up 2 months in...or perhaps even 2 weeks of 2 days. Why is that?
(As a side note I must say that I don't really consider paleo to be a "diet" anymore, but I talk about it as if it is because I do want to lose weight while eating this way and also because it's quite different than the "normal" American diet.)
Anyways- while attempting to eat '100% paleo' I am usually not '100% perfect.' Go figure! :P
But I've been trying to figure about what my triggers are so that I can be a little more successful each day. Here are some things I've come up with:
1) "Hi my name is Julia, and I love all things sugar."
I believe that as a society we are all whole-heartedly hooked on sugar. In makes sense...it's what fuels our bodies! But boy do we over do it, and boy is all that stuff addictive. I'm no scientist and can't even cite studies but I've read things that have said that sugar is just as addictive as some drugs. This may seem a little dramatic but I still think it drives the point home.
2) I love all things sugar even more when I am tired.
I have realized that I must sleep enough in order to make this happen. Experts say you need a good night sleep in order to lost weight because it allows your body to do a whole bunch of good things that support your weight loss. Cool, right? Yea, sure. But for me it's simply because if I'm not rested enough I want to go for sugary things that give me quick energy!
p.s. I wake up super early everyday for work so I have a hard time with the whole sleep thing.
3) I consider dessert type things to be a reward.
These first 3 were a perfect trifecta last week. Here's how the story goes: I was tired and hit my wall hardcore around 3p. So what do I do? Head over to the coffee shop to get my afternoon cup of tea. (all is good, so far...) And then I see this cookie that a friend of mine told me was awesome. And then I remember that I had played really well earlier that day in a competition so I deserved that cookie. And then I remembered why I was there in the first place (exhaustion!). So yea, the cookie begged for me to buy it and boy was it delicious. ha!
4) If I don't plan I'm screwed!
I usually have to pack all 3 meals everyday which gets a little hard come Wednesday or Thursday night when all I want to do is go to bed....but the days that I don't plan I pay for it the next days- both with my choices and with my wallet.
5) I say "well, I can just re-start tomorrow."
Yikes. This generally leads to one bad choice followed by the rest of they day filled with bad choices.
6) Happy hour.
nuff said. Can't go to happy hour starving; it's dangerous! And I need to order better drinks...even if they do cost a little more.
7) I'm human, and therefore not perfect.
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Now, with all that said- things are going well! I had lost a few pounds just before Thanksgiving and put them right back on over that weekend but have been back on track and am back down to my pre-Thanksgiving weight. And I don't regret any of it either. haha. And yes- I did have pie for breakfast one morning. :)
Things with school and work are good too! Some really exciting stuff in the works, actually. The past couple weeks have been one of those rare occasions where I actually feel like some of my hard work is paying off. It's been really refreshing. More on all of this later.
That's all for now, thanks for checking in-
J
