Last night, for reasons that are unimportant, dinner wasn't ready until extremely late in the evening (around 11:00 pm). Since I get up at 8:00 am, eating dinner 15 hours later is a bad idea. Because I really wanted to eat the dish I was cooking, I decided to snack on something to try and tide me over until the food was done. The “snacking” occurred around 9:00 pm, and, unsurprisingly, I was famished.
The choice I made to snack on was cheese and pita chips. I was tired (and hungry). The plan was to eat just a few chips (4 or 5, about a half serving) and about an ounce of cheese. Instead of serving myself the number of chips I expected to eat, I just dragged the bag into the living room with me. Big mistake. In the end, I ended up eating about 3 servings worth of chips and about an ounce and a half of cheese. I didn't end up overeating for the day, but I'd used all of my dinner calories on this snack. I ended up skipping dinner after that.
Don't get me wrong, this wasn't the end of the world or anything. I'm not beating myself up about it, but I'm fully aware that this was completely imbalanced nutritionally and a very poor use of calories. I didn't feel satisfied after eating that stuff, just full. And I woke up burping garlic from the seasoning on the chips.
There are 2 lessons I should have learned by now which would have prevented this from happening and the frustrating thing is that I know these things very well already yet stupidly just set aside what I know to be true. Literally, I thought of these things and just ignored them.
The first lesson is that I should never wait until I'm famished to eat a meal. If dinner as planned won't be ready at a time in which I can reasonably eat, I should plan a meal that can be eaten and eat the dinner as leftovers the next day. Or, I should never plan a meal that I'm pretty sure won't be ready until very late.
The second lesson is that I should never, ever (EVER) eat food with multiple servings directly out of the bag. This is a rookie mistake for people who have problems with eating too much or eating mindlessly. One should always remove the amount desired and place it on a dish then put the remainder away. My guess is that, on some level, I wanted to eat more than planned because I was so hungry, and I did what I thought would allow me to eat more.
I'm writing this post mainly to help reinforce what I should already know, and in no way to punish myself for what I did. I'm not big into the self-flagellation routine when I make a mistake or a bad choice. Frankly, I think that's a counterproductive way of addressing a lapse and as much (if not more) about getting attention and creating drama. Beating yourself up for a mistake is no more effective than people tormenting you for being fat as a motivator. It actually makes it harder to make good choices, not easier, since it makes you focus on your failure instead of your potential to succeed.
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
The Things That See Me through
I don't tend to write about the details of what I do or eat much because I think what works for each person is highly personalized. That being said, I'm going to share some of the foods that help see me through this journey both because doing so may be helpful to my kind and supportive readers and just so that I remember should I ever stray and forget what helped me get through the first 6 months of controlled eating.
These aren't tricks, but things that really have helped me with healthy eating and things I actually enjoy.
1. My immersion blender (for vegetable soups).
Everyone talks about eating vegetables when you're trying to lose weight because they are low in calories and high in fiber, and the truth is that I like a lot of vegetables. I'm likely to be eating raw carrot or tomato most days and actually being happy with that. That being said, cooked or raw, they sometimes get boring. One thing that has helped me immensely is simple, homemade vegetable-based soups that I puree quickly with the immersion blender and can eat with small portions of main dishes. The soup is filling and makes you feel fine with about half as much of the main dish as you might normally eat.
They're thick and have a sense of richness (without added fat), savory, and a little salty. Tomato and carrot are particular favorites, but you can do any main vegetable element that you like. Preparing these soups usually takes about 15 minutes, then it's just allow it to simmer with the lid on until the hardest vegetables are tender and use the blender on it. Any herbs and spices you like can be added, and you can salt it to taste after a first round of pureeing. I don't recommend adding salt while cooking because the spices you add (or consomme cubes or bullion) may make it salty enough.
This winter, it's been so satisfying having these types of soups that there are few days that I don't eat them. The truth is that I am not a fan of regular soups with watery broth and bits of vegetables floating in them and I only like these types of smooth, thick soups. The tomato I make is sublime, and goes with many other dishes. It's also quite low calorie and cheap to make.
Making a large amount of these soups and having it on hand (either in the freezer or refrigerator) also helps when you're really hungry and can't spare too many calories. Drinking a cup of it tends to see you through.
2. eggs
I have found that eggs are a forgotten treasure for me in trying to eat well and cheaply. As a kid, I was never a great fan of them and even as an adult, I haven't been bonkers for them. That being said, when I'm eating reduced calories, they seem more gratifying than other foods and they can be quite good if prepared well and with variety. In particular, egg salad with a mixture of half full fat mayonnaise and half yogurt (or just low calorie mayonnaise) with finely chopped onions and whatever spices I'm in the mood for is super either on whole wheat toast or served on lettuce.
The average serving of egg salad for me only has about 150 calories and is full of protein and fat so I feel sated for longer. I also find that perfectly poached eggs with crispy whole wheat toast and tomatoes on the side make an excellent lunch. Your body can metabolize all of the protein in an egg, so you get more bang for the calories as compared to other forms of animal-based protein.
3. tuna (in water)
Like eggs, tuna seems to be particularly filling in smaller portions than some other proteins. I mix it with pasta, lemon juice or vinegar, and just a little mayonnaise to make a cold salad, make tuna fish patties, or tuna salad. Unlike chicken breast (which I also love), tuna is very flavorful on its own so you don't need to add a lot to it to get more enjoyment from it.
4. Diet Coke
Yes, I know most people who are trying to lose weight believe soft drinks are the spawn of the devil and that thin people who see fat people ordering a diet soda scoff with derision. That being said, I love Diet Coke and enjoy having it with food. I hate having water with food and depriving myself of an enjoyable, palate cleansing beverage with meals is only going to make me hate my food plan. I drink about 500 ml. a day, or about half of a tall bottle with lunch and half with dinner. In the summer, or on days when I'm really thirsty, I might drink as much as two bottles. I still drink plenty of water, so it's not swapping water for Diet Coke.
5. rice crackers
When I say "rice crackers", I actually mean sembei. This is something that I have to be very careful about portions with, but they are a bit better for you than potato chips, more flavorful, and lower in calories. When I want something salty and crispy, I can eat 2 or 3 somewhat large rice crackers with some highly flavorful seasoning for about 40-100 calories and be quite satisfied. Usually, they're wrapped in portion-controlled (1-2 crackers) packets so it's easy to stop after a set amount. Note that I'm not talking about diet foods like puffed up rice cakes, but real sembei from Asian countries. I think it also helps that, unlike chips, I didn't grow up eating bags full of sembei so I don't have a mental association with putting away a ton of them at once.
6. tea (with milk and sweetener)
Many people don't like tea because they feel they have to drink it straight if they're dieting, but a little low-fat milk and a packet or two of Splenda (depending on the tea type) takes away the bitterness and leaves you with something smooth and sweet. If you want a more decadent feel, heat the milk before you add it and it'll seem even richer. I drink both herbal and regular tea made with teabags. I don't drink things like Chamomile or flowery teas. I drink things like Celestial Seasonings Maple Vanilla (which is fabulous as a nighttime dessert tea if you brew it strong, add a splash of full fat milk, and Splenda), Chai, and seasonal specialty teas (like Gingerbread).
7. (double-strained) yogurt
Yeah, yeah. People are always pushing low-fat, plain yogurt on dieters, but I'm not talking about choking down watery yogurt mixed with fruit for breakfast then being hungry 90 minutes later. I'm talking about taking a coffee filter, suspending it above a container (with a tight lid) with a rubber band, filling it with plain yogurt, and letting it drain for a day then repeating the process after transferring the yogurt to a fresh filter and letting it drain for another day. If you strain enough whey out of it, even fat-free, plain yogurt is very thick and creamy and makes a fat girl's sub for sour cream when salted or seasoned. Salted up and having a few savory herbs added makes a great dip for Triscuits or vegetables.
Thick yogurt is also nicer than watery yogurt when mixed with things like frozen berries. It's more like eating a custard than yogurt, albeit a sour one.
Of course, regular yogurt also helps to stretch mayonnaise so that I can use less of it.
8. chocolate
I think that I'd probably have a lot more trouble controlling my eating if I didn't allow myself to have things I wanted. This isn't something that works for everyone, but I can usually add in small portions (about 100 calories or less) of chocolate most days. Knowing nothing is off limits helps me not want things badly and resent not being able to have them.
9. frozen bananas
Health food blogs have been talking about the joy of ice cream that is little more than frozen bananas for quite some time. I do a variation on that which offers more water and less density because, though bananas are healthy, they're still densely caloric. Also, I don't find intense sweet, mashed banana flavor to be exactly to my tastes. In the summer, when I craved ice cream or a cold treat, I would take about 2/3 cup of crushed ice, frozen slices of one medium or small ripe banana (I put the slices flat on plastic wrap so they are separated and easy to get off of the sheet of plastic), 2 packets of Splenda, a dash of vanilla, a bit of cinnamon, and a 1/2 cup of lowfat milk in a blender and blend it at the highest setting for about 90 seconds. It makes a nice "soft serve" which has about 130 calories and a lot of volume and liquid.
There are other things that help, but these are the things which I think aid the most in helping me eat less because they either satisfy my need for enjoyment or fill me up without adding in too many calories. The only thing which I regret is that the chocolate calories, few as they are, probably mean I consume less fruit than I might since they are about the amount of an average banana or apple.
These aren't tricks, but things that really have helped me with healthy eating and things I actually enjoy.
1. My immersion blender (for vegetable soups).
Everyone talks about eating vegetables when you're trying to lose weight because they are low in calories and high in fiber, and the truth is that I like a lot of vegetables. I'm likely to be eating raw carrot or tomato most days and actually being happy with that. That being said, cooked or raw, they sometimes get boring. One thing that has helped me immensely is simple, homemade vegetable-based soups that I puree quickly with the immersion blender and can eat with small portions of main dishes. The soup is filling and makes you feel fine with about half as much of the main dish as you might normally eat.
They're thick and have a sense of richness (without added fat), savory, and a little salty. Tomato and carrot are particular favorites, but you can do any main vegetable element that you like. Preparing these soups usually takes about 15 minutes, then it's just allow it to simmer with the lid on until the hardest vegetables are tender and use the blender on it. Any herbs and spices you like can be added, and you can salt it to taste after a first round of pureeing. I don't recommend adding salt while cooking because the spices you add (or consomme cubes or bullion) may make it salty enough.
This winter, it's been so satisfying having these types of soups that there are few days that I don't eat them. The truth is that I am not a fan of regular soups with watery broth and bits of vegetables floating in them and I only like these types of smooth, thick soups. The tomato I make is sublime, and goes with many other dishes. It's also quite low calorie and cheap to make.
Making a large amount of these soups and having it on hand (either in the freezer or refrigerator) also helps when you're really hungry and can't spare too many calories. Drinking a cup of it tends to see you through.
2. eggs
I have found that eggs are a forgotten treasure for me in trying to eat well and cheaply. As a kid, I was never a great fan of them and even as an adult, I haven't been bonkers for them. That being said, when I'm eating reduced calories, they seem more gratifying than other foods and they can be quite good if prepared well and with variety. In particular, egg salad with a mixture of half full fat mayonnaise and half yogurt (or just low calorie mayonnaise) with finely chopped onions and whatever spices I'm in the mood for is super either on whole wheat toast or served on lettuce.
The average serving of egg salad for me only has about 150 calories and is full of protein and fat so I feel sated for longer. I also find that perfectly poached eggs with crispy whole wheat toast and tomatoes on the side make an excellent lunch. Your body can metabolize all of the protein in an egg, so you get more bang for the calories as compared to other forms of animal-based protein.
3. tuna (in water)
Like eggs, tuna seems to be particularly filling in smaller portions than some other proteins. I mix it with pasta, lemon juice or vinegar, and just a little mayonnaise to make a cold salad, make tuna fish patties, or tuna salad. Unlike chicken breast (which I also love), tuna is very flavorful on its own so you don't need to add a lot to it to get more enjoyment from it.
4. Diet Coke
Yes, I know most people who are trying to lose weight believe soft drinks are the spawn of the devil and that thin people who see fat people ordering a diet soda scoff with derision. That being said, I love Diet Coke and enjoy having it with food. I hate having water with food and depriving myself of an enjoyable, palate cleansing beverage with meals is only going to make me hate my food plan. I drink about 500 ml. a day, or about half of a tall bottle with lunch and half with dinner. In the summer, or on days when I'm really thirsty, I might drink as much as two bottles. I still drink plenty of water, so it's not swapping water for Diet Coke.
5. rice crackers
When I say "rice crackers", I actually mean sembei. This is something that I have to be very careful about portions with, but they are a bit better for you than potato chips, more flavorful, and lower in calories. When I want something salty and crispy, I can eat 2 or 3 somewhat large rice crackers with some highly flavorful seasoning for about 40-100 calories and be quite satisfied. Usually, they're wrapped in portion-controlled (1-2 crackers) packets so it's easy to stop after a set amount. Note that I'm not talking about diet foods like puffed up rice cakes, but real sembei from Asian countries. I think it also helps that, unlike chips, I didn't grow up eating bags full of sembei so I don't have a mental association with putting away a ton of them at once.
6. tea (with milk and sweetener)
Many people don't like tea because they feel they have to drink it straight if they're dieting, but a little low-fat milk and a packet or two of Splenda (depending on the tea type) takes away the bitterness and leaves you with something smooth and sweet. If you want a more decadent feel, heat the milk before you add it and it'll seem even richer. I drink both herbal and regular tea made with teabags. I don't drink things like Chamomile or flowery teas. I drink things like Celestial Seasonings Maple Vanilla (which is fabulous as a nighttime dessert tea if you brew it strong, add a splash of full fat milk, and Splenda), Chai, and seasonal specialty teas (like Gingerbread).
7. (double-strained) yogurt
Yeah, yeah. People are always pushing low-fat, plain yogurt on dieters, but I'm not talking about choking down watery yogurt mixed with fruit for breakfast then being hungry 90 minutes later. I'm talking about taking a coffee filter, suspending it above a container (with a tight lid) with a rubber band, filling it with plain yogurt, and letting it drain for a day then repeating the process after transferring the yogurt to a fresh filter and letting it drain for another day. If you strain enough whey out of it, even fat-free, plain yogurt is very thick and creamy and makes a fat girl's sub for sour cream when salted or seasoned. Salted up and having a few savory herbs added makes a great dip for Triscuits or vegetables.
Thick yogurt is also nicer than watery yogurt when mixed with things like frozen berries. It's more like eating a custard than yogurt, albeit a sour one.
Of course, regular yogurt also helps to stretch mayonnaise so that I can use less of it.
8. chocolate
I think that I'd probably have a lot more trouble controlling my eating if I didn't allow myself to have things I wanted. This isn't something that works for everyone, but I can usually add in small portions (about 100 calories or less) of chocolate most days. Knowing nothing is off limits helps me not want things badly and resent not being able to have them.
9. frozen bananas
Health food blogs have been talking about the joy of ice cream that is little more than frozen bananas for quite some time. I do a variation on that which offers more water and less density because, though bananas are healthy, they're still densely caloric. Also, I don't find intense sweet, mashed banana flavor to be exactly to my tastes. In the summer, when I craved ice cream or a cold treat, I would take about 2/3 cup of crushed ice, frozen slices of one medium or small ripe banana (I put the slices flat on plastic wrap so they are separated and easy to get off of the sheet of plastic), 2 packets of Splenda, a dash of vanilla, a bit of cinnamon, and a 1/2 cup of lowfat milk in a blender and blend it at the highest setting for about 90 seconds. It makes a nice "soft serve" which has about 130 calories and a lot of volume and liquid.
There are other things that help, but these are the things which I think aid the most in helping me eat less because they either satisfy my need for enjoyment or fill me up without adding in too many calories. The only thing which I regret is that the chocolate calories, few as they are, probably mean I consume less fruit than I might since they are about the amount of an average banana or apple.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Dealing With Hunger
One of the blogs I follow is "Half the Woman I Used to Be", and she recently blogged about how she's still struggling with overeating. I know exactly how she feels and what she's going through. I've had the same fight with myself and am actually having one right now as I compose this post. I ate a snack about 2 hours ago and I have to wait about 4.5 more hours to eat dinner due to work scheduling. I have another planned snack, but I really should wait longer before I have it so that I'm not ravenous by dinner time and finding myself starting to eat things I shouldn't.
There are several things I do to help me through this when I have a small meal and then feel hungry anyway. Generally, I don't write about this sort of thing because I have my doubts that what works for me will work for others. Someone used to say, "your body, your science experiment". I think every body responds differently and most people already know what other people have tried and don't need more tips. That being said, I'm going to share what I do and think anyway because it can't hurt and I was going to write a gigantic comment on "SimplyGorgeous's" blog and it just seemed ridiculous to write such a long one when I could do a blog post in a format which was more readable.
In this battle, here is what I do (usually a combination of all of these):
1. Distract myself by getting into a situation which takes my attention and physical effort - housework, take a walk, give myself a task to accomplish which has a set duration. This gives my body time to recognize that I have enough food or allows my blood sugar to quiet down. I've noticed that I go to bed hungry sometimes, but wake up feeling okay. I think that a lot of hunger pangs are blood sugar fluctuations (which can be caused by eating choices, stress, or fatigue) and if you just get your mind off of it long enough, the extreme urge will quiet down.
2. Tell yourself again and again that the hunger you feel is a delayed lepton response. Your body tells you you need food, but you really don't. This is a battle of using your psychology to vanquish the biology. I remind myself that the food is there and I can have it soon, but not right now. I'm not going to suffer any serious problems if I just wait.
3. Try to visualize the fact that if my urge to consume food is "eating me up", then it'll have no choice but to start working on fat cells if I don't give it what it wants. I guess it's like treating my body like a kid who demands to stay up late when he has to get up early for school the next day. I figure that if I let him go to bed when he wants enough times, he'll eventually be so tired everyday that he'll go to bed early for his own benefit. If I don't give into my body's demands, it'll eventually be better off consuming existing body fat.
4. Drink a hot liquid of any sort which isn't densely caloric - tea is usually my first choice, but I'll have a sugar-free flavored coffee or hot chocolate if I need something more gratifying. The calorie investment on such things is not so great (usually about 50-75) and if it stops me from eating 200-300 calories of real food, it's worth it.
5. Consume more of my calories at meals in fats and less in carbs. Fat improves feelings of satiety and doesn't mess up your blood sugar.
6. Map the day's meals and calories so that I know what I can eat and when I can eat it. Know just how long I have between meals and hang on to the fact that I can deal with hunger at a given time. It's easier to not eat for an hour or two hours if I know that I will be able to eat. At the hardest times, I can do a countdown to the next meal.
The mapping for me breaks down generally to:
Breakfast: 300 calories (at 9:00 am)
Lunch: 400 calories (at 1:00 pm)
Snack: 200 calories (at 4:00 pm)
Dinner: 500 calories (between 8:00-11:00 pm)
(1400 calories)
Sometimes I'll break this differently into two snacks if dinner is too far off, or I'll simply add in 100-200 more calories around 7:00 pm if dinner is very late and accept that 1600 is an okay number (or reduce calories consumed at dinner). That's what I have to do this evening. I had a snack at 4:00 pm, dinner won't be until 10:00 pm so I figure that I need to hang in there until 7:00 pm (which is tough since I'm getting a headache from not eating, but I only have to wait one more hour).
7. The usual stuff - suck on a sugar-free herbal cough drop or candy, brush my teeth, etc. This is an attempt to fool my body into thinking it's actually getting food when it's really getting the oral experience. It really has nothing to do with true hunger pangs, but it sometimes works.
8. Look in a mirror. This is my least common way of dealing with the situation and my most hated one. I don't want to motivate myself by looking at myself and feeling bad about how I look, but sometimes it works. I have to remind myself that I built this body by giving in to urges that I shouldn't have given in to and now I have to spend some time and immense mental energy resisting those urges if I want to build a better body. Frankly, sometimes I apologize to my body for what I've done to it and promise it that I'll do better by it from now. It's a promise I don't want to break, and hope to be rewarded with better health if I keep that promise.
The main thing I'm trying to learn to do is accept that I'm going to feel hungry. Hunger is part of the process. It's difficult because the gnawing feeling and the biological push to eat make me really, really uncomfortable, but you have to get used to the discomfort if you want to succeed. It does get a little easier, but it never gets easy. In fact, it always stinks. It's really, really hard and tiring fighting this internal battle.
That being said, when I started doing this 3 months ago, it was unbearably difficult, and now it is closer to being bearable. And what I do sometimes, though less often than before, is simply fail. I don't fail and overeat badly, but I do fail and not gain any ground on my goals (or gain such a small amount that it wouldn't show for weeks if I continued on the same path). And I try to keep that failure in mind during the next (all too frequent battle). Failure isn't preferable, but it is understandable. It's part of the process.
There are several things I do to help me through this when I have a small meal and then feel hungry anyway. Generally, I don't write about this sort of thing because I have my doubts that what works for me will work for others. Someone used to say, "your body, your science experiment". I think every body responds differently and most people already know what other people have tried and don't need more tips. That being said, I'm going to share what I do and think anyway because it can't hurt and I was going to write a gigantic comment on "SimplyGorgeous's" blog and it just seemed ridiculous to write such a long one when I could do a blog post in a format which was more readable.
In this battle, here is what I do (usually a combination of all of these):
1. Distract myself by getting into a situation which takes my attention and physical effort - housework, take a walk, give myself a task to accomplish which has a set duration. This gives my body time to recognize that I have enough food or allows my blood sugar to quiet down. I've noticed that I go to bed hungry sometimes, but wake up feeling okay. I think that a lot of hunger pangs are blood sugar fluctuations (which can be caused by eating choices, stress, or fatigue) and if you just get your mind off of it long enough, the extreme urge will quiet down.
2. Tell yourself again and again that the hunger you feel is a delayed lepton response. Your body tells you you need food, but you really don't. This is a battle of using your psychology to vanquish the biology. I remind myself that the food is there and I can have it soon, but not right now. I'm not going to suffer any serious problems if I just wait.
3. Try to visualize the fact that if my urge to consume food is "eating me up", then it'll have no choice but to start working on fat cells if I don't give it what it wants. I guess it's like treating my body like a kid who demands to stay up late when he has to get up early for school the next day. I figure that if I let him go to bed when he wants enough times, he'll eventually be so tired everyday that he'll go to bed early for his own benefit. If I don't give into my body's demands, it'll eventually be better off consuming existing body fat.
4. Drink a hot liquid of any sort which isn't densely caloric - tea is usually my first choice, but I'll have a sugar-free flavored coffee or hot chocolate if I need something more gratifying. The calorie investment on such things is not so great (usually about 50-75) and if it stops me from eating 200-300 calories of real food, it's worth it.
5. Consume more of my calories at meals in fats and less in carbs. Fat improves feelings of satiety and doesn't mess up your blood sugar.
6. Map the day's meals and calories so that I know what I can eat and when I can eat it. Know just how long I have between meals and hang on to the fact that I can deal with hunger at a given time. It's easier to not eat for an hour or two hours if I know that I will be able to eat. At the hardest times, I can do a countdown to the next meal.
The mapping for me breaks down generally to:
Breakfast: 300 calories (at 9:00 am)
Lunch: 400 calories (at 1:00 pm)
Snack: 200 calories (at 4:00 pm)
Dinner: 500 calories (between 8:00-11:00 pm)
(1400 calories)
Sometimes I'll break this differently into two snacks if dinner is too far off, or I'll simply add in 100-200 more calories around 7:00 pm if dinner is very late and accept that 1600 is an okay number (or reduce calories consumed at dinner). That's what I have to do this evening. I had a snack at 4:00 pm, dinner won't be until 10:00 pm so I figure that I need to hang in there until 7:00 pm (which is tough since I'm getting a headache from not eating, but I only have to wait one more hour).
7. The usual stuff - suck on a sugar-free herbal cough drop or candy, brush my teeth, etc. This is an attempt to fool my body into thinking it's actually getting food when it's really getting the oral experience. It really has nothing to do with true hunger pangs, but it sometimes works.
8. Look in a mirror. This is my least common way of dealing with the situation and my most hated one. I don't want to motivate myself by looking at myself and feeling bad about how I look, but sometimes it works. I have to remind myself that I built this body by giving in to urges that I shouldn't have given in to and now I have to spend some time and immense mental energy resisting those urges if I want to build a better body. Frankly, sometimes I apologize to my body for what I've done to it and promise it that I'll do better by it from now. It's a promise I don't want to break, and hope to be rewarded with better health if I keep that promise.
The main thing I'm trying to learn to do is accept that I'm going to feel hungry. Hunger is part of the process. It's difficult because the gnawing feeling and the biological push to eat make me really, really uncomfortable, but you have to get used to the discomfort if you want to succeed. It does get a little easier, but it never gets easy. In fact, it always stinks. It's really, really hard and tiring fighting this internal battle.
That being said, when I started doing this 3 months ago, it was unbearably difficult, and now it is closer to being bearable. And what I do sometimes, though less often than before, is simply fail. I don't fail and overeat badly, but I do fail and not gain any ground on my goals (or gain such a small amount that it wouldn't show for weeks if I continued on the same path). And I try to keep that failure in mind during the next (all too frequent battle). Failure isn't preferable, but it is understandable. It's part of the process.
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