Reworking my goals...

I have had a long time to mull this over, to try different things, like well over a year, I'm talking.  More than enough time for some things to get through the thickness that is my skull.

I set myself a goal recently.  My goal is to lose 1 lb a week, until I reach my goal.  AND.  I am determined to reach that goal this year.  For the past 2 years or so, I've been maintaining - gaining a little, losing some, gaining it back, losing it, etc.

This has been going on for about 2 years.  You can imagine that the non-movement of the (literal) needle on my scale is... frustrating... to say the least.

I have tried different things (eat more, eat less, less carbs, more veggies, more exercise, less exercise, some treats, no treats, blah, blah, blah).  These changes have all gotten me to a place that I can maintain.  A place that I stress so much less over my weight loss and the scale.  And, I am not looking to change that, to start stressing again.

What occurred to me, recently, was that I focus so much on the exercise, on being more active, because that was easy for me.  I've always been athletic, and I know that practice and diligence and hard work and a little push and determination will go far when it comes to physical activity.

Now, I need to apply that same diligence, hard work, practice, determination and little pushes to my eating habits.

I give myself too many passes on my eating.  I am an emotional, stress, binge, mindless over-eater.  I know what I am doing when I over-eat, when I binge, and I still let it happen.

I'm not thinking that I can just stop it.  Or somehow exert control over this.  If I could control these habits and behaviors, I would never have gotten to over 250 lbs.  First, I want to identify the things that I let get out of control.  Then, I want to learn how to take myself away from the temptation and refocus my mind on something else; distract the craving.

Some of the habits I can already identify are:

1. Eating off my kids plates.  I always think bites don't count.  They do count.  And I don't need their food anyway.

2. Binging at home.  The return of the bottomless pit.  I need to find a way to distract from this, to get out of the situation.

3. Eating while reading or watching TV.  The problem with this habit is that it would be really nice to distract myself with books or TV (without eating at the same time).

I'm sure more habits will be identified, but I think I have a good start.

C'mon eating habits - we're going to get in shape!