Would you believe me, if I told you I haven't had any sweet cravings this week?
Honestly, I have felt totally content with what I have eaten and not missed the sweets. And this comes as a total shock to me, because I'm the mom who raids the bag of chocolate chips because I don't have any other chocolate in the house. Sure it's only Thursday, plenty of time for everything to come crashing down.
However, I have a theory as to why this is the case. I don't actually crave sweets- In fact I don't even think much about them when they are not around. Well, I don't think much about them when they are around and therein lies the problem. I am an unconscious eater. I mostly only eat them because they are available and they taste good.
As evidence for this theory, my husband walked in the door last night and my eyes immediately scanned his arms for food. My extremely blessed situation means that my chef husband brings home something yummy from work most nights (not this week though). I had to laugh at myself realizing that I only wanted the food because my husband walking in the door usually preceded something yummy to eat. I am like Pavlov's dogs- trained to salivate just because of a ringing bell. Pathetic. (Poor guy, he's going to read my blog post and think I only greet him with such enthusiasm because he brings me treats.)
Now for the accounting of my day. You know what diet rule I dislike the most? The one that seems to be written in stone and accompany every diet out there. NO EATING AFTER 8 PM. Last night about 20 minutes to 8:00, I realized I hadn't gotten all of my point worthy foods in. I went to water my garden and picked off a bunch of cherry tomatoes to take in one more vegetable serving, but was still missing 2 other "good food" servings.
Now it was totally my fault. I can look over my day and see where I could have planned better. But as I stood there watering my garden, I had to decide what principle was most important to me and thus where I had to take a hit in points. My options: 1. Force in food before 8:00, although I wasn't hungry, just to get the points. 2. Scrap the 8:00 rule and eat them a little later- so that I would still get the good food points, though I would lose points for eating after 8 p.m. 3. Stop eating now- no points for the good food, but no loss of points for eating after 8 p.m.
Can you guess what I chose? I'll give you a clue for future rhetorical questions . . . My hunger/fulness cues win every time. I wasn't hungry- so there was no reason to eat. I finished watering the garden, put kids to bed, read my scriptures, said my prayers, and put myself to bed for at least 7 hours (points, points, points!)
I think following hunger cues SHOULD be the winner every time (or, at least most of the time). What's the point of eating when you're not hungry? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a diet? Because in the end, calories are calories, aren't they? Even fresh fruit can have a lot of calories.
ReplyDeleteOkay, sorry to make this so long, but in defense of Fit in Six I have to point out a few things.
ReplyDelete1- If you read the rules, there is a disclaimer to the 8pm rule: No eating after 8pm OR 3 hours before bedtime.
2-While technically you should listen to your body cues regardless of the time of day, not everyone is as in tune with their body's true language. This program is to help people learn that. The after 8pm rule is there because most people interpret bored=hungry, mild thirst=hungry, watching TV=hungry,kids in bed=hungry, etc.
3-Many time's I've had to make judgement calls,points vs principle. I try to earn points, they're definitely a motivating factor. But if I focus solely on winning, then guaranteed after the program ends, so do my good habits. It's about finding that balance of planning ahead,listening to your body, and making healthy fun.
Finally, in response to Andelin, No a 'calorie is not a calorie'. think of calories as cash. What are you getting for your calorie purchase, and what can your body do with that purchase. If you're spending all your 'calorie cash' on foods that won't meet your hormonal cues "i.e. cravings", or on foods that cost a lot, but contribute very little nutritionally,then your body will continue to send out cues and you'll continue to have cravings.