Slip, then Slide

Two days on the 'return to better eating habits' journey.   So far, so good.  I stepped on the scales again this morning and was down two pounds from yesterday, so that was good news for sure!

Observations (mainly things I already knew but need the reminders)

• Eating out of habit or 'just because it is there' is just dangerous.  Why eat if one is not hungry?  That is the best way to start packing on the pounds.  When I was making crockpot peanut clusters, I would sample one, just to see how it tasted.  Ok. But I didn't need to sample one for each box I packed as a gift.  I didn't need to eat one each time I walked past the dining room table.  I don't need to eat something just because I feel a pang of hunger and it is easy to walk out to the kitchen and grab something to eat.  
•  Once a slip happens, it is easy to slide into full range bad habits.   It must be the same for an alcoholic---just a sip or one glass of wine or one martini couldn't hurt, could it?  Then it would be 'well that one didn't send me over the edge and I am fine so I can have another one.'  The same thing is true with food.   One piece of banana nut bread at Bob Evans can't hurt, then Gary can eat the other one.  Then the next time I eat both of them because heck, my pants still fit just fine.  Then we go to Red Lobster and there is just one roll left and I might as well eat it.  And there it goes.  Full range bad habits happen.
• Snacking.  I eat good meals.  I have a decent breakfast each and every day.  Then why do I feel the need to eat again mid-morning.  This happens mainly when I am at home, and I feel the need to eat around 10.  Eating then, and again at lunch time, then an afternoon snack, then dinner, then something before I go to bed (and WHY do I need to eat something then when there is no time to digest it?!?), is just bad, bad, bad. 
• Nervous energy.  When I am nervous about something, one of two things happen. Either I am so hungry that I eat everything in sight and still want more, or I am not hungry at all until the crisis passes and then all-out 'stuff my face' happens,  Case in point - the morning Mom had the heart valve replaced.  I had eaten something that morning before we left the hotel.  It was not much, but it was enough to get me through to an early lunch.  However, we went to the cafeteria after Mom went to the OR, and I ate again.  Not even a light breakfast, but a full blown meal of a breakfast casserole plus something else that was included with it, then a yogurt parfait and a cappuccino.   I knew i was eating too much, but I was too nervous to stop myself.  In fact, we seemed to eat all weekend, more than I should have been doing.  Red Lobster with the leftover roll.  Five Guys with the big cheeseburger and the huge order of fries (that is the way it comes).  Applebees.  The Barn.  Bob Evans one evening.  Just too much.  Plus snacking in the room.
• Holiday eating.  Christmas cookies.  Pumpkin rolls.  Breakfast casseroles.  Crockpot peanut clusters.  Dinner at The Alamo (with appetizers, salad, entree, and dessert).  An abundance of snacks for New Year's Eve.  At least those two holidays happen only once a year.

Lessons learned:

• Remember to plan a meal and eat only at meal time.  No snacking.
• Danger foods are just that - dangerous.  They may taste great and look tempting, but they are not worth the price of calories (or points) for the few moments of pleasure on the taste buds.
• There are other ways to deal with stress than eating.  Keeping busy with reading, knitting, and sewing alo keeps the hands busy with yard, fabric, or a book rather than with food---and the mind is focused elsewhere also.
• Remember that a slip doesn't have to be a slide, but also a slip van be prevented with careful planning and a good mindset.
• Holidays are over.  There is no reason to focus on those traditional foods now. 

I am determined to  shed the 15 pounds I gained through the fall and winter thus far.  Easier to put on than to take off, I know, but I can do it.

I need to remember the Lessons Learned and I will be fine.