Habit Versus Emotion

My biggest achievement today reassured me that I am going to be able to be successful at this for life. I was in Starbucks right after I had my disagreement with my friend and saw that they had a huge tray full of small samples of my favourite seasonal bar – which, by the way, I have deftly avoided purchasing since they came out a couple of weeks ago. Anyhow, I did take one, but told my husband not to bother when he offered to grab a second piece for me. Here’s the best part though: I didn’t eat the treat until I knew I was well and truly past any possibility of triggering an emotionally charged feast, plus I cut it in half to share so that I only had a single bite when I finally ate it.

I was just commenting on another blog about the fact that I have been fortunate in this journey so far. A big part of that is that I believe I am dealing more with poor eating habits than with genuine cause-and-effect reactions. I know that I was very much an emotional eater in the past, but I think that over the span of the last couple of years I have gotten to a point where – after a lot of self-refection – I am no longer generally in danger of eating a whole cheesecake because I feel sad, happy, angry, bored, etc. I think that the habits formed from such prior actions are what remained the problem for the last while that I stayed wrapped within my extra layers of fat.

I still worry that I can slip into those poor practices if I don’t take care and remain aware, which is why I was so concerned about how I would fair this morning after the blow up. I think that I did well though, and surviving moments like today’s gives me even more hope that I can, and will, conquer my obesity once and for all.

FOOD & BEVERAGES:
- 9 glasses of water throughout the day
- 1 Mandarin orange
- 6 inch sub on a whole wheat bun with ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, green pepper, onion, black olives, light mayonnaise, mustard, and pepper
- 1 mug of steamed light eggnog
- 2 cups chicken and broccoli stir-fry with yellow pepper, garlic, onion, and soy sauce
- 1 bite of a cranberry bliss bar
- 1 pear
- 2 cups Caesar salad with fat free dressing, dried cranberries, and croutons

EXERCISE:
- 1 hour and 30 minutes of walking completed in 2 outings (1 hour long and 30 minutes long)