Just Say NO

Every other time in my life that I have tried to lose weight, I have always focused on what I DID eat.  I kept food journals, I counted points, I counted calories, I counted fruits and veggies.  It can be a helpful tool, no doubt, but the problem comes when I have a bad day and my food journal suddenly jumps from carrot sticks and apples to chocolate cake and ice cream.  Then the food journal is tainted, I feel guilty, I eat more crap in order to feel better, then I feel more guilty, and the cycle repeats.  So in order to avoid such drama, today I will focus on what I did NOT eat.  Sometimes saying “no” to bad food is just as important as saying “yes” to good ones.  Here’s the play-by-play:

9:30 – Said NO to homemade biscuits at Bible study.  (Said YES to fresh fruit and yogurt instead.)

12:30 – Said NO to hot chocolate after church. 

4:35 – Said NO to eating handfuls of pretzels as I prepared dinner. 

9:15 – Said NO to cereal after the kids went to bed.  (Said YES to a big mug of decaf hot tea.)  

 I feel proud of the times I said, “NO” today.  I will try to say NO again tomorrow when I am faced with temptations.  Sometimes I have to go through a little dialogue in my head when I am having a hard time saying NO, and it helps immensely.  For example, today when I saw those gorgeous, fluffy, steaming biscuits my heart was screaming, “Oh my god, eat them all!”  But my head said, “Reb, these are biscuits.  You have had biscuits before.  You know what biscuits taste like.  You will undoubtedly have the opportunity to eat biscuits again.  So today, in the interest of your weight loss goals, just say NO.”  And so I did.  And it felt good.  One time at a Weight Watcher’s meeting someone told me, “nothing tastes as good as thin feels,” and I often remind myself of that one, too.  I don’t feel thin just yet, but I do feel somewhat more in control, and it feels better than eating those biscuits.