Thursday, July 12, 2018

7/12 | Control

7/12/18 Amazing day yesterday, control-wise**. Work was super-busy, the kind of day that needs a good urban hike @ lunch time. But it was way too hot. I sat @ the coffee shop and worked on my 'pity' blog. No snacking (other than what I packed in my lunch), big salad and veggie burger for supper, cantaloupe & 2 prunes for a snack (yep, prunes, nice & sweet) & before bed a rice cake with PB2. I think the rice cake w/PB2 made me sleep hard & have vivid dreams. I think I need to save points to have that before bed every nite. I was happy when I got in bed - happy w/myself for eating healthfully & with restraint, getting in there abt 30 min earlier than usual, just feeling like I took care of myself for a change. No medicating myself with food, drugs or alcohol? Slept until my alarm went off, which is unusual. But maybe since I was up 3 or 4 times during the night to empty my bladder I needed the extra 30-45 minutes LOL. I aim to make today a repeat and start my trend. BTW, turned down pinwheels last night :)

Another busy day at work today, but in spurts instead of a sustained level of frenzied activity LOL.  Order lunch for the boss - thank goodness he likes to eat the same thing the same way. The place I order his lunch from allows me to save favorites so I can just login and order his sandwich, chips and tea. Easy-Peasy. Order lunch for one of the partners and her clients for a working lunch and run next door to pick up. Juggle conference room bookings around. The boss has a big meeting with the planning board at the city tonight and these things always make him very anxious. And that anxiety spills over and affects everyone on the floor. This kind of day would usually drive me to snacking. Or to go out at lunch and have a wildly caloric and fat-laden baked good. And then, since I'd already blown the lid off my bucket of good intentions, I'd would go nutz on the snacky shit at home. But I really feel like I've got this. I did bring an extra snack today, how did I know I would need it? LOL Just a melange de melon, but I will definitely enjoy it. I do think I'll be happy writing in my journal tomorrow morning. But even if I'm not happy, I will be honest with myself.

***I've noticed the 'C' word again.







Wednesday, July 11, 2018

7/11 | Danger Signal

7/11/18  Hanging in, barely. Starting to not care abt a lot of shit. Dangerous place to be. Speaking from past experience, this is almost where I just totally let go. Stop smearing on any make-up, let my hair grow out & get gross, gain weight, letting my clothes get tight & uncomfortable & just feel so blobby & useless. At that point I'll eat & drink whatever I can reach & stuff into my face. This usually goes on for anywhere from 2-4 years before I finally get sick of myself and start over. How to start over without actually having to lose 30, 35 lbs? Start going back to WW every Sat. again. (lightbulb). Sigh. No more early Sat. patio mornings, no more tracking only the stuff I'm not embarrassed to see in blk & white. In other words, being accountable to myself and Big Weight-Watcher Brother. I just don't have the wherewithal to be accountable on my own, to myself. I consider that a sad character flaw. In me that is. I don't hold others to that particular standard. Tho I do expect personal resp. from others (I'm disappointed, a lot).

Another dangerous thought (danger signal)-been having random thoughts of Vico's. And it freaks me out b/c they really seem to come out of nowhere. It will soon be six months, and I know I just can't go thru that again. Ugh. Hopefully by recognizing that I'm having the thoughts and paying attention to them and remembering how NOT GOOD they made me feel, those thoughts will just keep moving. I won't go there. Can't go there.


I think I'm a little ahead of the eight-ball, sort of, by recognizing that I'm getting dangerously close to the drop-off.

I don't love how whiny and complaining I'm coming across to myself but this is the shit that's in my head, and how I'm feeling. I think that part of my problem (or maybe the whole damn thing) is that I start falling off track, get a few (ok, several) pounds up and feel like 'oh screw it, I'm too far gone, just gonna do whatever I like'. Or I try to rein myself in, start off in the morning pre-tracking for the day, and then sabotage myself somewhere along the line, and instead of stopping right then and there, I give myself permission to just go nuts for the rest of the day. Because, again, why not? I'm off track, just drive this train off the edge of the cliff and just free-fall.

Another major roadblock that I throw out for myself is just what I wrote in my journal this AM. I don't track everything. I only write down the stuff I'm not embarrassed for someone else to see. How totally fucked up is that????? I'm mean really. Like if I don't acknowledge it, it's not true, or didn't happen? What the hell? I shall forever moving forward, refer to that as Trumping myself. And I ain't laughing either.

So I'm trying, really trying today. I'm okay at work, there's nothing there but some stale blue corn chip crumbs that pretty much everyone has touched trying to get the bigger pieces out of the bag. The gross factor is working in my favor somewhat :) And I'm actually sitting in a coffee shop typing this and I had to walk past a case of beautiful baked goods. A treat sounds nice, but I know how crummy I'll feel afterward, disappointed in myself. I've got fruit at work. Not the same but it doesn't make me feel like shit after I eat it either. And my stomach is growling, so eat it I will.

Home is another story. There are a few tempting things to shovel in, but I do have fresh melon already cut and chilled. So I'll shovel some of that in and will pee some of it out all night LOL. If I can just break the cycle for a couple of days I think I can do this.




Friday, July 6, 2018

7/4 | Showing up

7/4/18  Independence Day! Shall I trot out that old saw? Well, you can't say you didn't see it coming...I declare my Independence from:________ fill in the blank. It's your choice. Give me liberty or give me death? Was that even an Independence Day thing? History class was 2 lifetimes ago. What shall I declare independence from this glorious day? I should like to say from self-loathing but I'm afraid that one is probably a life-long work in progress. Over-eating, over-indulging, stress eating, boredom eating, avoidance eating (I think it's really a thing). I declare my Ind. from eating my emotions. How's that? It covers them all.

i would like to live my life w/o fear but I feel like it's fear and anxiety that literally (feels like) holds me together sometimes. How can I use my super powers for good? I say only half jokingly. All I feel that I can do right now is to not give up. To get up every morning, weigh myself, track (honestly)accurately until 'it' kicks in again. My motivation, my mojo, my 'why' (as they say in W.W.). In the meantime,enjoy mornings like this, enjoy evenings on the patio, the satisfaction from giving the house a good cleaning - or any other dreaded chore that I tackle, making a good soup, and just showing up for life every fricking day. What's that saying? It's a great life if you don't weaken? Something like that :)

I was really feeling a lot more positive when I wrote this in my journal and it felt good. I need to re-read this when I start to get too dark. I'm not a danger to myself or anything, but I don't like feeling like that, dark, gloomy, negative. I prefer to live in the light, but sometimes shit happens.

7/3 | More whining

7/3/18  Up almost 2 lbs in 24 hours? In-fucking-credible. I call shenanigans :( I know to most people this is such a tiny problem, & I guess in the scheme of things it is. And it's not like I don't care about all the terrible things going on in the world, but this is the closest thing to me and the only one that I might stand a chance of correcting. 

So it's, like, 80° this morning. WTF? This ain't Georgia, what gives Mother Nature? Oh, you're unhappy with the head baboon in Washington & you're trying to burn up all the grass in his golf courses? Well you know he'll just take all the water he wants to water that grass. He always does whatever he wants. No. Matter. What. Just like Cartman. Only it is not amusing when he does it. But I digress. I lose focus so easily. Well, duh. Why address my issues/problems when I can just bitch abt. something I can do nothing abt. Wait. That sort of feels like something. It's that  same sort of feeling. Like I just cannot make things change. The futility maybe? Anxiety. Anger. Frustration. Shame. Sadness. Horror at watching history repeat itself. Dread. Fear. Fear of the unknown, the known, change. Paralysation. Feel so close but can't quite grasp it. Like he's doing all this shit & I end up mirroring him. Vaguely. He's out of control - I'm out of control. He lets shit fall out of his mouth uncontrollably, I shove shit into mine, uncontrollably. There's that word again - control. Neither of us show any restraint. OMG, I'm just like him. Fuck fuck fuck fuck! How can this be? If this doesn't/can't help me make some changes, I honest-to-fuck don't think anything can. I'll have to go on my 600 Pound Life. I know I'm nowhere near that, & I don't make light of those folks' problems. But the  one thing that stays in my mind is that I wouldn't have anyone to take care of me if I got that big, plus I wouldn't have any privacy or freedom. A lot like the struggle I had giving up my recreational opioid use. I was so afraid of crossing that line into total addiction. I'd sort of daydream abt what it'd be like to not care abt anything but chasing the high. But I knew I couldn't do that. There would be absolutely no coming back. Without fear & shame, I'd fucking be lost. I think I haven't reached the point w/my weight yet. I haven't faced that line. The point is, I don't want to have to get to that place to be able to get a grip. The opioids were a lot like smoking - I just knew I wanted to be shed of it. Smoked my brains out until I got to the day I'd planned to be the last day. And it worked. I had to really work at it, but not once did I relapse. I just knew in my heart of hearts (or some place buried deep inside of my psyche) that, if I started again I would never stop. Same with op.s. Food is not so cut & dry. Gotta eat to live. The thing I feel that needs to change is me, living to eat. So, all that verbal shit and I'm back to the beginning. But @ least I've got some new shit to think abt.


Recreational opioid use? Really?! I guess technically it was. I never got high at work, though I can't say that some mornings I didn't have a Vicodin hangover. I guess the point of this post was (for me) to keep trying. That the alternative is to just be swallowed up and sucked down into the lair of whichever demon I'm fighting. And the shame of that possibility is a large part of my motivation (if that's what it is) to keep trying to win, or at least not drown. But who knows what's down there? Oblivion, nirvana, my self, the real one? Should my relationship with food be so complicated?? WTF is wrong with me? I feel like such a whiny jerk.






Tuesday, July 3, 2018

7/2 | Sync and Reset

7/2/18  No change this AM. It was disappointing for sure, but there is no alternative but to keep trying. Actually, no change in the scale, but I do feel better, like I might find my groove again. I have to re-train my brain/my self. I did track everything yesterday even tho I went over my points. I can look at it today and see why the scale didn't move. Gotta have it in blk & white, something tangible (SP?), sort of. Being honest w/myself. I think it goes right along w/not letting myself off the hook for blowing out every day. I still feel ashamed of myself when I lose control. Just like every time I took a pill. No sooner did I swallow it I'd feel so ashamed of myself I thought maybe I should puke it out and just as quickly think, Fuck no. I need this. I want this. Calgon take me away. But the euphoria (SP?) is so damn fleeting. I've never considered scarf and barf. I HATE puking. Anyway, I'm gonna carry on - plan, track, rinse, repeat.

It's been to hot to walk @ lunchtime. I guess I need to head to the parking deck. Tim G bringing donuts to work tomorrow. I'll bring my extra 'won't' power. Free food is the best food - Not. Not anymore. Not when I feel like I'm starting to get my shit together again.

Lunchtime temp 92° Feels like temp 103°. 3:09 - 95° feels like 108°. I'm just glad I dragged my arse over to the deck and did laps. The ramps actually gave me some flights. Not like hiking up 4th St, but not bad for 92°/103°. Part of the Sync/Reset.


Looking at just the few things I've posted, I feel like control is pretty damn important to me. 







Sunday, July 1, 2018

7/1 | Snak crack

7/1/18 I did well until late afternoon when the snak crack came out. Yep, I indulged alright. Savory, salty crack. Then some salty, delicious Grana Padano (just a tiny piece tho - > a gram?). Then dinner. I cooked 1/2 a 6 lb zucchini w/meatless meatballs (Thanks Trader Joe - more crack in my diet LOL), marinara, the aforementioned Grana Padano and some string cheese - strung out ha! I kill me! Split it w/Meems but then had 3-4 too many pieces of baguette and 4-8 ounces too much Chardonay. And then a couple of pinwheels, animal crack & then kettle corn. I don't know why I keep gaining weight. Really? So, so disgusted w/myself. It's like I'm off to the side watching myself do this shit. To myself FFS!

All I can say is, today is a chance to try, try again. I keep thinking if I can just get a string of 2-3 days down, I'll be able to get back into the saddle, so to speak. Why the fuck am I fighting it so hard? Do I really want to have to lose 35# again? For the how many times now? I think it's already been 4 times over the past 30 years. That's a big chunk of my life. I was able to quit smoking, stop abusing opioids, why can't I get a grip here? I know I have an addictive personality. I was abt to write why can't I get addicted to weight-loss, but as suddenly as I thought that, it occured to m that would be an eating disorder (annorexia - SP?). But constantly struggling to stay or get under control is a disorder too I think. WTF!!

Snak crack - edamame rice crackers from Trader Joe's. A place where some of my favorite addictions originate like:

Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs - Just what the name implies. But there is something in these things...umami?? Each bite is just a perfect balance of flavor and mouth-feel. Savory with a pinch of sweet?

Grana Padano - hard, salty cheese, similar to Parmesan. Cheese is an addictive substance. No, really. I read something about a compound or something, in cheese that can have a effect on the brain similar to certain drugs - the article at this link is just one of hundreds on the subject:  https://tinyurl.com/ychunga7

String cheese - another thing we're all familiar with. And again with the cheese! Though I have to say, mozzarella does not do the things to me that the hard, salty cheeses do. Or a good cheddar or feta does. While I do enjoy the creamier cheeses like mozzarella, gouda, and swiss, the tendency to have one more bite, then another and another is really not such a thing with them. Hallelujah and thank goodness for small miracles. Seriously.

Baguette? Thank you very much. I can usually limit myself to a quarter of a demi-baguette. Except when I can't. 

Chardonnay - bizarrely enough, (and thank the gods!) I don't crave alcohol. And when I do drink I usually have a 4 oz serving. Last night I had about 2 servings. Rosé is the exception. I do get a craving for an ice cold Rosé from time-to-time in the summer months, and I will often have 2 servings when I indulge. Again, I thank the gods that I don't care to indulge all that often.

Pinwheels - quarter-sized soft caramel with a sort of creme center, not chewy like the caramel, sort of crumbly. And super-sweet. I don't know if that is what the candy is officially called, that's what we call it here on 'the Ridge'.

Animal crack - animal crackers from Aldi. Crisp cookie with just a touch of sweet.

Kettle corn - we all know what that is don't we? Salty-sweet popcorn.

Salty, salty, sweet, salty and sweet. And then it's on!

I do well most days until I get home from work. Even if I have some days (like Friday) where I have eaten most of what I brought for lunch and snacks by 12:30. I can usually keep myself from going out and buying something junky and we don't have vending machines at work. So I'm usually okay, unless there is free food somewhere in the building. Sigh. That was the free-for-all Thursday, baked goods from Panera. Day before was leftover snacks from Happy Hour at the brewery down the street from work. Luckily there aren't usually a lot of those days. But the same pattern holds true for weekends at home. I guess by evening time I've used up all my will power. Though I think sometimes we really have to use a combination of will and  won't power. I will do this, I won't do that.

I think my earliest addiction was tobacco, followed closely by depressants (think Valium, Quaaludes though in fairness to myself, while I used and quite enjoyed those drugs, I was not addicted, but I did really like them), various foods and opioids (to which I was addicted, but not out-of-hand, lose-everything-and-become-homeless addicted).

When I liken a food or substance to crack, in my own life, I am not making light of anyone's addiction to crack or any other drug. To me these things are an addiction with grip as potentially strong as crack or heroin or tobacco or alcohol. They are physically damaging as well. The main difference being I can feed my addictions (Ha! Pun intended or not? You decide.) just about anytime, anywhere and I won't get a D.U.I. Except maybe in England where I hear it is illegal to do anything with your hands while driving except to hold the steering wheel.

So I know my additions play a large part in my weight issue, but there is also the feeling that I'm keeping something pushed down. Eating my emotions, just like we talk about in Weight Watchers. But until I can figure out how to break down and birth that Fat-Weasel I know I'm going to continue to struggle. I do think I need to rename the Fat-Weasel. While it was apt, and funny when it first popped into my head, it seems kind of mean now. But the whole birthing thing whether an ass-weasel or fat-weasel, is still apt, I definitely need a better name.

{{Holding my breath and clicking Publish}}






6/30 | Thanks for asking

6/30/18 Did pretty well yesterday as far as keeping away from junky shit. Developed a heavy sinus/whole face pressure while getting ready for bed. Woke up in the night several times. Don't know if it was due to the crushing pressure or the urge to urinate. At any rate, both things were going on at the same time. When I finally woke up & got up @ 6:30 it was an epic sinus headache w/nausea & diarrhea. Tried drinking coffee but it was too gross. finally got an ice bag & went back to bed for an hour or so. It helped. My stomach settled down & I ate some saltines & took a pain reliever. Came & sat outside in the shade and tried another coffee. Much better this time. Had an MLT (muffin - tomat - lettuce sammich) & some cherries & another pain reliever. More diarrhea but overall feeling better 😊 Thanks for asking!

So I kept away from junky stuff Friday, but too much of a good thing is still too much. The saga continues...