You KNEW this day would come and here we are, Week 1 Homework. Make a list of eating habits you'd like to change and be completely honest with yourself. This isn't about beating yourself up. It's about making a constructive, realistic list of food habits you'd like to change. You can make a big picture list you work your way through for 6 months or keep things small.

As a lot of you know, I'm blessed to be taking care of a cancer patient. My days are packed, stress is at an all time high. I don't have time to figure out a week's worth of menus so I'm going to focus on tomorrow. And that's the best I can do.

I need to eat more veggies!
I need to eat more veggies!
And eat more veggies.

I don't eat enough veggies!
Ideally, I'd like to eat 5-6 servings a day.
Tomorrow I have the morning open. I will figure out some really neat Asian Veggie soup and make it early enough to eat for lunch

I travel this week so I'll order salads and steamed veggies a lot!

Okay, tag you're it. Do your homework. Here or some place privately.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kd,

Bad: eating at the couch & watching tv
Better: eating at the counter
Best: eating at a nicely set table


Bad: too much pizza every week!!!
Better: limit to every 2 weeks
Best: homemade pizzas on ww crust and lowfat cheese

I am running a week behind the pack, but I felt that it was important to me to post my homework. Here it is:

#1
Bad Habit: I drink too much coke and other soft drinks.
Better Habit: When the cravings hit to buy only 1 can each for Mike and I instead of a 2L bottle.
Ideal Habit: To bypass the depanneur when the cravings hit and have a glass of water or ice tea instead.

#2
Bad Habit: Eating after the kids go to bed
Better Habit: Having a healthier snack of veggies or a small bowl of granola
Ideal Habit: When the munchies hit, jump on the treadmill for a 15 minute walk and have plenty of water on hand.

#3
Bad Habit: Getting together with friends always involves fatty foods.
Better Habit: Talk it over with the group about slimming down the menu.
Ideal Habit: Try to plan activities that will get us out and about instead of talking around the dinner table.

I hope that others will post their assignments as they do them.

I have two eating goals that I want to work on.

First, my daily meals are generally really healthy because I enjoy cooking and eating foods like KD cooks. My big trouble is snacking when I get home from school. I teach so I am home around 4 to 5 PM, but my husband doesn't get home until around 6:30 or 7 and that is my "dark" zone where I will snack because I ate lunch at 11:00 and haven't eaten since. (No time to catch an afternoon snack at school.) Therefore, I will try to plan healthy snacks for after school.

Second goal: I have the metabolism of a slug (borderline, therefore non-medicated, hypothyroidism), so I MUST exercise to keep my weight down. My schedule, my energy level, and a back injury have not been such that I am exercising regularly and I really want to do better this year.

last night went better. I invited my inlaws over for dinner. It forced me to both clean up my house the last little bit and eat at the table!!! (instead of the couch)

there was no late night grazing, but at 9pm dh wanted a little strawberry ice cream. I had a small amount (1/2 of normal). I tried to really enjoy each bite. Funny thing was that I noticed I didn't really like this particular flavor and brand. I've been shoveling it down too fast to notice before. I will not be having it again tonight. I'll save my calories for something worth them!

quote:

Originally posted by MnM:
I want to try to keep my caffine to once a day. Ideally no soda.
michelle

Caffine is something you have to cut back on gradually otherwise you will get the worst headeache you have ever had and no amount of Excedrine or Tylenol, etc will get rid of it.
I did not think I was addicted to caffine because I have never drank coffee but discovered I was wrong when I cut out the diet cokes. I had this horrendous headache for two days before I realized what it was and drank just 4 oz of a diet coke. The pain was gone in 30 minutes. After that I drank just 4 oz a day for about a week but kept increasing the time between drinks. For example: I drank the first one when I first got up, the next day I waited till lunch (headache was just beginning to nag), the third day I waited till dinner (no pain that day), the fourth and last day I waited till just before bed and had no problems after that. I will occasionally drink a diet coke with a meal, usually when I eat out, but most of the time I drink water with my meals.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by GoingSkiing:
Do you warm your plates first? If the plate is so hot that you have to use a towel or pot holder to carry it... it really does help to keep the food hot.

QUOTE]

That's a great idea Denise! I even have a warming drawer on my stove. I will have to start using it.

Eat more Fruit and Vegetables...X 5
I drink lots of water at night..Now I have to
figure away to incorpate more water during the daytime..
Also to get out and exercise...

Going shopping on friday for all the fresh stuff..Can't wait..
My roomate said he's going to police me in the stores so I don't pickup and Junk Food..He's such a good Friend!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Bee:
Right now the hardest part for me is when the food gets cold.

Do you warm your plates first? If the plate is so hot that you have to use a towel or pot holder to carry it... it really does help to keep the food hot.

Make sure that your plates are safe to put in the oven... or you can put them in a container of REALLY hot water...

quote:

Originally posted by Bee:
I'm working hard at slowing down while I eat to give my brain a chance to feel full.

I've been putting down my fork between bites and really trying to enjoy my food.

Right now the hardest part for me is when the food gets cold.

Me, too. Trying to slow down.

I’ve decided that I do NOT like putting my fork down and it is too stressful… so I’m giving up on that for now. Letting go of my fork makes me feel anxious or something. (How sad is that… ) My pre-baby step is to swallow the bite in my mouth before taking another bite. This seems to be working well.

I like REALLY hot food because if forces me to eat slower. I can wolf down room temp food… so really hot makes me go slower. I kind of have asbestos hands from working in food service for 10 years, but don’t have an asbestos mouth, so I have to take small bites and go slow. Takes me 20-25 mins to eat a bowl of oatmeal in the AM… OK, and it IS a BIG bowl of food… oatmeal, 2 cut up apples and a cup of milk… and HOT.

I need to eat more fruits and veggies. I want to drink 3 cups of water a day. (28 oz. cup)
I want to try to keep my caffine to once a day. Ideally no soda.
michelle

Short Term

1) I need to stop eating out so much and cook more.
2) If I eat out I need to make better choices.
3) Cut back to 1 cup of coffee a day.
4) Drink more water.
5) Get Hubby on the band wagon.

Long Term
1) Learn to make meal plans.
2) Stick to meal plans.
3) Keep hubby on band wagon.

I can only hope that I can get this going again.

quote:

Originally posted by cobismom:
The habit that I need to change immediately is to eat. Yep, that's what I said, to eat. I don't eat...I get busy and I just 'forget' it's time to fill the tank again.
Cathy J

I am so happy to know I am not the only one who forgets to eat!
I just don't get hungry. That has been my biggest problem with eating breakfast. It is not that I "don't like breakfast food", I just don't wake up hungry. And, unles I am at home (with mother nagging me) it is sometimes 3pm in the afternoon before I remember to eat lunch. Dinner is sometimes 8 or 9 pm.
If I am at home, mother insists I eat lunch at 12noon (even if I had breakfast at 10:30) and dinner at 6pm.

I have a lot of habits I need to work on but the biggies are:

I need to exercise more and live up to my TriGirl name.
Plan:
* Make a regular exercise schedule and plan group activities or workouts with friends when possible
* Start getting up earlier
* No early-morning "negotiations" allowed!
* Think about adding an evening or lunchtime workout a few days a week

Poor planning leads to eating whatever's around.
Plan:
* Every Friday, plan meals for the next week before Saturday's shopping trip
* Hit the store midweek for more fresh produce
* Keep "in-case-of-emergency" options at home and work

I need to drink more water!

I need to continue to preplan foods.

I need to WANT to eat out more because it is convient and get back into meal planning and cooking at home, now that we are home for a while.


I need to brush my teeth in between meals WHEN I can remember too.

Omg, Steph, we are the worst TV eaters! I know exactly how that is! Now it isn't just the TV, but at the computer as well. What is so hard about getting to the table together? It IS hard, though, so when I belittle the issue, I neglect to take it seriously.

When I am on a roll, what works for me is knowing what we are having by 5 atleast, and giving the Fab Fam a warning of 30 minutes or so. This forces me to get my act together. I have also tried setting the table in the morning, so everyone knows we are going to eat together tonight! Let me know what works for you - I could use the tips!

Lynne

P.S. Cathy, I feel your pain about the pool! I just made myself go after, no-kidding, 4 months atleast! It was cold, sorry to tell you. But if I can do it, pathetic swimmer that I am, then you can too!

I'm so glad I can get started with this thread since I don't have the book yet. Thank you. Ok, here we go. Eating habits I would like to change.

late night eating We try to eat dinner around 6:15 or 6:30. By 9:00 or 9:30 when I have the opportunity to get ready for bed before waking the baby up for his 10pm feeding, I instead head for the kitchen and look for something to eat. I graze the cabinets and fridge looking for something......anything to snack on. It usually ends up being very salty popcorn or ice cream.

eating out of the fridge! I'm so bad about standing in front of the refridgerator and sampling everything that is in there!

eating on the couch in front of the tv I would love to see my family always eat at the table except on a special "movie night". Lane is now 10 months old and its time to bring this bad habit to a hault. We are so bad right now that we actually move the highchair over between the chair and couch so we can eat in front of the tv!

Can I just say, all of the things that the rest of you have said? It appears that we are all struggling with our own food demons, exercise gremlins, etc.

The habit that I need to change immediately is to eat. Yep, that's what I said, to eat. I don't eat...I get busy and I just 'forget' it's time to fill the tank again. So my work will be on planning those meals, and making them in the AM....breakfast and lunch. When you work from home, your time is your own, and you work at your pace. I am going to set the timer for a snack mid morning, a coffee break without the coffee. I will then set the timer for lunch and for an afternoon snack.

My second immediate need to change is the exercise one. I used to be such an avid swimmer, and now I avoid it like it's the worst case of flu in the world. It's a matter of going...and I have to go. No matter what. It has nothing to do with not liking it, with not getting the benefits out of it, it's getting out of bed, and getting out of the warm car when I get there.
I just have to do this one without any props or rewards.

My last hurdle for this month, for my life, is to relax. Life is too short to live it on a very short fuse. I worry too much, I anticipate disaster, and usually find it, because it is what I am looking for. I need to leern the art of enjoying life.

Cathy J

I need to actually do more cooking. I eat to many frozen dinners. Mother's kitchen is not conducive to cooking. There are walk-in closets and bathrooms that are bigger than her kitchen. I cook more meals when I am at the apartment.

I need to eat a more varied diet of fruits & veggies. I tend to eat the same few things all the time.

I also need to get in more exercise. I did get the free 8 weeks at Ballys for the Body Challenge but I don't know of any way I can get there except on the weekends. I am hoping the doctor will let me get in the pool and do laps or water areobics,(my immune system may nix that since I will be in the pool with other people).

Sweets are not a problem any more. I used to eat Herseys Kisses and Starlight pepermints all the time but they both cause IBS pains so I had to stop eating then almost 2 years ago and I don't usually even think about them any more. I used to eat a lot of ice cream but there again the IBS cut that out as super cold food causes cramping. I do like the new Edys Dibs. They are little bite sized bits of ice cream covered in chocolate. One serving size is 26 Dibs and there is only 2.5 servings to a container. I find that if I want a treat, just 2 of them satisfies the urge so one two serving package lasts me a week or more and there is not enough chocolate or coldness to trigger any pains.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BrenauMom,

I have way too many bad habits right now to list. But I do have a couple of things that I REALLY need to focus on this week.

#1 PORTION CONTROL!!!!!!!!! (I probably need to start again with leaving a truffle size portion on my plate, and gradually cut back again....)

#2 More fresh foods.....

#3 Making sure I get all of my water every day!