Well today (really yesterday as I'm posting late!) I completed my first day without the drops. It actually went okay. I am finding that I am getting a lot hungrier in the mornings, but it does pass after an hour or so. The last couple days I found that I wasn't as turned off by the food I have been eating, which is a blessing because I didn't know what I was going to do if that continued! I have been doing this for a month now, and honestly I still feel like the absolute hardest part is the mental "game". I have always been an emotional eater...I eat when I'm stressed, celebrating, sad, happy, depressed...food is comforting in all situations for me. Sam and I have also built our marriage partially around enjoying and rewarding with food. If one of us is having a hard day, the other one would pick up a "treat", or if something wonderful happens...we go out for dinner! I do really miss our date nights at Earls, and grabbing a Starbucks together...but it is SO important that we break the habit of expecting this. Habits are so easy to form and so hard to break. In the last month I had hoped that my dependence on food would disappear into thin air...no such luck. I definitely realize that this is a lifelong struggle for me, and any progress in breaking these habits is good progress.
On Friday I will be starting a two-week holiday, first to the Okanagan for a wedding, then to Vegas for 5 days, and finished off with a week at my families trailer. It is going to be amazing, but I have been desperately trying to find a way to make my meals easier and on plan. I am so relieved that I will be on Phase 3 by then so that I can at least have a mixed salad for a meal. The funny thing about vacations is that we give ourselves license to EAT, am I right? Sam and I even have a recurring joke about this when we want to get something unhealthy (rationalization mixed with denial, I know!) In light of this, here are some of the things that I am doing to make my vacation eating easier:
In the Okanagan
- protein powder and my shaker bottle for on-the-go smoothies
- little baggies of nuts in my purse for an emergency snack attack
- eat a filling, on plan lunch before the wedding ceremony
- drink 2-3 glasses of water before going to the buffet
- stick to raw veggies with minimal dressing and scrape off sauce from the meats
- eat from the fruit platter for dessert
- get my family to keep me in check :)
In Vegas
- protein powder and my shaker bottle for on-the-go smoothies
- little baggies of nuts in my purse for an emergency snack attack
- at restaurants/buffets eat from the salad bar
- go to Walmart (there's one near our hotel, woo hoo) and buy some sugar-free candies to ward off a sweet tooth
- on anniversary night...eat what I want...but in VERY small amounts
I know that we are going to go out for our anniversary and I want to be able to eat "normal", but I plan to eat very little of the things that I shouldn't. For instance if there is sauce, it will be on the side and I will just use a bit. Or if there are carbs...I will sub a salad or mixed veggies with a little dressing.
- AVOID alcohol completely!
At the Trailer
- bring recipes for coconut flour pancakes for breakfast and coconut flour "bread" for lunch and dinner (I need to do this sparingly still...)
- the coconut flour bread can be wedged into "nacho chips" and served with cheese and salsa
- pre-bake phase 3 appropriate brownies and peanut butter cookies
- buy natural peanut butter, sugar-free jam and syrup to make breakfast more accessible
- use strong cheese (parm, blue, feta) to add lots of flavour to meat and veggies...it will feel like cheating :)
- drink A LOT of water
- gets lots of exercise by swimming and hiking
- make a no-sugar yogurt berry smoothie when the gang goes to my favorite ice cream place!!
*This will be the hardest to say no to I think!*
This is everything I have thought of, and prepared for. For me, I think this is probably the most important part, because I need to set myself up for success or else it will be way too hard to think of "on plan" things in the spur of the moment. If you have any other tips, feel free to share!!
1 comment:
Sounds like great planning Melody! I always have nuts in my purse too lol! Another very yummy treat I LOVE ( I actually eat it on my correction days) is full fat plain Greek yogurt (no sugar) sweetened with Vanilla Cream Stevia and mixed berries. Oh. So. GOOD!. As good as ice cream in my mind. SOOOOO creamy. My kids envy me when I eat it. I wish you all the best, and can't wait to read how your trip goes!
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