Summer Goal Achieved

I'm still going to Weight Watchers.

It's been a long hard road. 21 weeks and only 5.2 pounds gone to show for it.

BUT, I have made some big changes as far as how I think about food. At the beginning of the summer Heather (my WW leader) challenged us to make a summer goal. It could have been a weight loss goal, a health goal, or a "I'm going to learn to cook healthy food goal". My goal was to pay attention to my "full meter" and keep in mind the mantra "Hunger is not an emergency".

Paying attention to my "full meter" just means listen to your body when you eat. I started with smaller portions to begin with on my plate. If I was still hungry after I ate the smaller portion, I could go back and get 1/4 of what I had on my plate in the first place. I ate only 1/2 of a sandwich but cut that half in half to fool my brain that I actually had more than I did. I ate a piece of fruit before my meals. Half way through my meal, I got up and went to the kitchen for more water so that the contents of my stomach settled. (I found that if I just sat there and ate my whole meal, my food didn't settle until I got up to take my plate to the sink, and most of the time I was miserable because I'd eaten too much. So now I get up half way through my meal for more water and the food settles and my brain recognizes faster that I am satisfied.)

I also figured out that the time in the afternoon right before I cook dinner is the most dangerous time for me. I started drinking flavored water. (You know, those little flavored packets that you dump in water. ) That makes my brain think it's had something sweet and it stops the hunger until I can get real food inside of me.

Also, my friends Tina and Tiff have decided to be... I think Tina called it "food Nazi's".

No, wait, was it "weight loss Nazi's?"

At any rate, they have a goal to lose ten pounds by October 2nd. I have joined their quest for permanent weight loss. Every Saturday I text them my current official weight and how much was lost for the week. I think I'm doing pretty good... 5.2 pounds gone.

But, I'm getting worried. I had a hungry day today. I know that I ate too much and it's going to show if I don't get it under control NOW.

I wish they had the same lunch at school with me.