For the last two months I have quit counting calories. For years I've used Lose It and it didn't bother me at all. I find logging food in this day age with apps easier than ever.
Then there were the years I would make a menu where the calories were pre-done, prep it down to the snacks, and then eat the food. To me, that was simple too.
Guess I've always took the approach that I finally lost 100lbs. I want to keep that weight off so I will do things that accomplish that because, to me, they are worth the little bit of time it takes to feel healthy and happy.
I love being fit! I don’t miss being obese at all. Food prepping or logging food is a small price to pay for the life I have now. Tell you what did suck…all the years I NEVER thought about my food and weighed 250 lbs. Too bad when I was gaining the weight I didn’t stop and think, “Is seeing what you eat more painful than seeing your clothes not fit?”
What Scares Most of Us?
Recently, I went to Life Coach School for eight days. Six days of life coaching and then TWO days focused on WEIGHT LOSS COACHING. Those two days opened my mind up to thinking about how I want to see my food. It has impacted me and now I teach my clients this exact stuff.
So many clients come to me and their chief thought is this…
“I know dieting is hard and that is what worries me. It’s going to take a lot of work, calorie counting, and life will have to change.”
I get it. The diet industry does teach us that what you need is to follow these “rules” and you’ll lose weight.
They aren’t lying, you know.
You will lose weight if you can follow plans and workout. There’s the rub, though. Tell me what happens when you have the prepped food, the piece of paper, the gym bag packed, and then your day turns to absolute crap, kids are screaming they are hungry, your husband didn’t put the trash out, and your boss makes you works late?
Pizza anyone? I will wash that down with a glass or three of wine.
Some of us can muscle through. But, if you read my blog you are like me and you need more than willpower. I have immense willpower until I'm tired, on my TOM, and and haven't had a good nights sleep. LOL
Here's How I Want to Live
Willpower has it’s place but until we know WHY we think pizza is a better choice than the expensive meal plan we bought along with the fact we have a weigh in coming up - well, you are probably gaining weight, declaring a plateau, or yo-yoing the same pounds for years.
Here’s what I honestly don’t want to live like:
- I don’t want to be afraid of eating outside of comfort “lost my weight foods” zone.
- I don’t want to be tethered to counting calories or eating only things that got me here.
- I don’t want to be afraid to just eat because I "like food too much" and that means I eat too much of it when it's good.
- I don’t want to think so damn hard about everything I eat, the calories in food when I eat out, and if this OK to eat to lose or maintain weight.
So there’s that! LOL Here’s what I do want…
- Eat what I want. Sometimes that is a salad and protein. Sometimes that is a PB sandwich and chips.
- Know that I can have anything and not feel like it’s too much, wrong, or that if I have something I like I will eat way too much because “who knows when I will have this again.”
- My body is damn smart. It’s kept me going through a suicide attempt, long ass labor with Logan, and being obese a good part of my life. I’m pretty sure she loves me and is willing to tell me what’s in my best interest when I’m listening!
- Just eat and go with the flow. Ask myself about what I am having and if I had enough food from a place of COMPASSION and not a place of ACCUSATION.
The Best Food Journal for Dieters
I want to share with you how I’m journaling food now. I don’t track the calories at all. What I am doing is tracking my thoughts around food. My thoughts will play a much bigger role in dieting and maintaining than staying within a range will.
I’m not saying you should or shouldn’t use calories counters. They are great if you are the type who can do the range consistently. And I will say a lot of my private site members use them.
I think the bottom line is that you if you use them you TRACK EVERYTHING. You don’t track the good days and skip the weekends. You are willing to see the numbers as data points and then tweak your week to get the results you want. There's no shame and it really is just you having some data.
If you aren’t willing to track everything and get all just the facts with the numbers, then I would go to thought food journaling. This helps you dig in your brain where all the food choices you make START. Fix the start you fix the end result.
I work with one of the coaches I employ. Here’s the log I sent her this Saturday.
B - 2 rice cakes and pb packet after 4.5 miles with my brother. Felt good. I was hungry and glad I brought something in case I was hungry after the run. Wasn’t going to but I knew I wanted to get nails done. Ate and probably was only a 0 but this worked to get me through the world’s longest mani-pedi-wax. I had a lot of stuff for them to work on! LOL
L - Took a shower when I walked in the door then ate a salad with leftover steak and finished it off with a Shakeology and pumpkin seeds -2/2.5 or 3. I was tired and getting ready to go to the store.
S - sweet potato and little bit of pb2 - tired. -2. Had a good call with a private client and was working on the materials for next week’s coaching stuff. Ate just enough to get me to dinner.
We did a working dinner at Ruby Tuesday again with Logan so he can see what we do at PNP. He did some stuff with Chris on back office. Chris loved it! I was OK with it. I’m used to working uninterrupted and found it hard to do what I needed to do and be asked questions. Next time I will bring things to do that are more tasks and mindless. And, I will not be online or take texts. I was catching myself irritated if Logan asked me what I was doing so had to clear my head space about why I was there. I do think it’s important for him to see what Chris and I spend so much time on with PNP.
D - BBQ Flatbread pizza, 2 glasses of wine, few croutons - I was VERY proud of this meal. Normally, I just eat way too much and talk myself into extra wine. I ordered the pizza the way I like it (light cheese and sauce and add mushrooms) and told Chris I know we are staying a long time so I’m going to get a salad later if I need it.
Logan had some croutons left over and I did eat those but SLOWLY. I didn’t really want a salad but I love those salty, soft croutons they have. Like they are good. I also did a check-in with myself on a 3rd glass of wine. Decided I had enough and really wanted to have my Arctic Ice at home for dessert.
S - Arctic Ice - ate it slowly and enjoyed it with Chris as we watched The Profit!
The day was good. My food is far from perfect and my hunger scale is still a work in progress but never in my life have I thought about food in such a logical way. I’m amazed at how often the little things I’m skipping. Before I would have thought were just part of my usual eating, food prep, calorie allotment and plan. It was like I needed it because I had planned it.
These days I leave behind food occasionally or I stop myself from ordering things knowing I CAN HAVE IT LATER if I want it. I’m just giving myself time to want it now versus thinking I should have all I can now because it will be awhile before I have something I love again.
See how much more thought is involved? Doesn’t that tell you more about me than if you saw my calorie log? You can see what I ate, what I was thinking and more.
I recommend if you are interested in learning more about food journals and how to THINK about them with AWARENESS, CURIOSITY, FASCINATION that you watch this video. Then in the comments tell me this...what scares your or excites you about using a food thought journal instead of a calorie counter? Be honest and I will write you back!
We are preparing to open up limited slots for our PNPPrivate coaching starting Sept 1 and runs through Dec. 31. We only open up FOUR times a year. This keeps it intimate, focused, and enough time to truly go through thought discovery. To be eligible for PNPCoaching you must be a private member of my website. Click here for more information on joining.
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