Agnes Z's Journal, 24 Apr 24

Lady, you’ve done so well. Keep w the progress. 

I get it! I still eat emotions too 3 years into this journey. To adapt I have made some fail safes around when I feel overwhelmed (ex. I have to drive over to the cafe to get 1 cookie. The cafe is only open until 7pm). There are some limits to stop the slide. You're very close to summer!!! 

You are doing well. Sent a prayer for you! 

hang in there it will happen for you  

Thanks, Mistybenner! I indeed had some major success in my weight loss. So easy to get stuck on what is not working so well rather than the whole picture. 

AzureRaven, my fail safes are also not keeping temptations around the house. I'm finding that that my biggest weakness is in portion control (reaching for that extra bite even after my food had been weighed and entered), especially at dinner. 

I hope so, Buenita. Thank you for the rays of sunshine you always bring with your comments and support :) 

Thank you, Morticia. Hope you and your husband are doing well.  

your so welcome anytime  

I stress eat hamburger, so I decide to take off the bun and use Ezekiel bread. trying to figure out how to not eat french fries.  

I recently read an article saying that weight loss tends to taper off after about a year. Idk how long you’ve been working on this, but if it’s around a year, it could explain a lot. What happens is that the body produces more and more hunger hormones as your mass decreases. This is a matter of survival - for our ancestors who needed every calorie they could get, this motivation is very important. Not so important now when calories are too easy to get. My overall point is don’t beat yourself up, it sounds like what may be happening is a natural biological process that is common to everyone. I urge you to consider that possibility before allowing guilt or shame into the picture 🙂 You’ve done an incredible job and you certainly deserve credit for that. 

for emotional eating, I highly recommend the work book The Glow Approach by Dr Lyn Schroyer!!! its helped tremendously in emotional eating!  

Once you switch to healthier foods, people will say eating your emotions is “not a problem” as though you were eating your emotions in fruits and vegetables instead of just healthier versions of problem foods…still not completely healthy, and even if it were fruits and vegetables, which it’s probably not, still not great. People don’t “get it” unless you’re eating your feelings in the form of the worst junk foods, or drinking, or something. But it’s still an issue… 

I'm sorry, but if you are human like the rest of us, I lovingly predict you will be tempted from time to time for the rest of your life. If you are now doing it more mindfully, with better food, even some of the time, that is absolutely progress. So God bless you, and congratulations for how well you've done! But not only do you have your flesh to contend with and it's probable addictions but our brains and hearts are not perfect. Way too much of the food we now have is addictive. I'm addicted to sugar and high carbs. They have hybridized wheat over 1,000 times in the last 100 years, so now it is inflammatory to everyone. How do we quit eating wheat for the rest of our lives? It's going to be tough no matter what decisions you make. In the long run, I'd rather be trimmer than enjoy excess food, but in the short term, daily, I am still tempted. Even after I've lost all the weight I want, and think I have this under control, one wrong step, and there I go making a wrong decision. Sometimes it took me a whole year to get back on track. I'm sorry, but many of us need constant vigilance the rest of our lives. But we are out here, rooting for you. I am waving my pom poms in celebrating how well you've done. On the other hand, I commiserate with you, it's a struggle. But it's a lot better than the alternative of not doing anything, not trying. Isn't it??? I send a big hug to you!  

Agnes be proud! I personally think what is happening in the long run will be to your benefit. For many people it’s emotional eating that causes weight gain. Part of a successful journey is to learn how to control that and it is best done when you are in maintaining weight and not in a mindset of wanting to lose or gain weight. Take these last few lbs of getting to your goal at a slow pace and instead of focusing on caloric reduction focus on getting control of when, where and why you are eating. As long as you stick to the same foods you did doing the time you were losing and what you intend to eat going forward that is the important thing. Consider this time as a new chapter in getting the control back around food. 

Maintaining instead of gaining over a period of time is absolutely a win! Since you have been successful in the past, losing during your break from school, I would bet you can chisel away at those last few lbs. during this break, too. It's easier to focus on your goal when you don't have the distraction of day to day life....work. Make a plan for the Summer & go for it! 

Keeping it wholesome helps me not feel guilty. We are human beings who need humans food. Not frankenfoods 🍎🍍🍇🍒🥦🥔🍠🍗🥩🍖 

Christine, amen to that! 

I posted an article, recent research about how, why, and when we stop losing weight. Basically it said when we get to a certain point, we either have to lower calories or increase activity or both, AND THEN BE PREPARED TO DTAY WITH THAT LEVEL OF CALORIES AND EXERCISE FROM THEN ON. It gives me pause, but hasn't stopped me. My "why" is pretty shallow. I like the way I look when at a lower weight and I like to feel healthier. On the other hand, I do live salt, ice cream, and chips. Am I prepared to give them up permanently? It's a challenging question. 

Thank you all for your comments and support! I won't be able to respond to everyone individually due to the grading I have to do this week and next, but I want you to know I read and appreciate all the comments here--they, like you, are tough-minded, real, and compassionate at the same time. I hear you on owning how hard this is long term, how real the temptations and the threat of backsliding is, and how it is still nonetheless important to be self-compassionate (and human!) on this journey, and to just keep on learning from what's going on and adjusting. By the way, ddrudd, you got it right --it has been exactly one year! And Snowwhite100--hugging you back, your comment today touched me deeply. Hope you and everyone here is doing well, and I'll "see" you in two weeks :)