Monday, April 29, 2013

Deals with the Devil....a mindless eating habit


If I had to admit the one habit I've gotten into, that is changing today (well, actually I changed it last night), it is that I make these 'deals with the devil' when it comes to portioning out my food at meal time!

I know full well what reasonable portions look like!  Heck I live with someone that eats regularly sized portions at every meal (yep, every single meal, always). In fact I always take notice how Mark can eat a single serving of yogurt, never going back for seconds, while I don't even bother with buying single servings because I know I'm not going to be happy with one small container!  I buy the big containers and then trust myself to make my own size portion...you know, a more reasonable size while still not eating too much...what a nice guy I am!

Speaking of yogurt...  Last night I decided to have a serving of yogurt.  I opened up my cupboard for a bowl.  I decided to use a small bowl and not have seconds.  Since I was not having seconds I also decided to give myself a little extra pinch of sliced almonds in exchange for "being good"!  This was the deal with the devil!  More almonds, no more yogurt...promise!  But still I wondered...could I keep that promise...this time?  In the past, especially the last year I'm pretty sure I never have kept that promise, going back for more yogurt and more almonds!  I knew full well what I was doing but didn't feel motivated to change it.

Will today be different?  Yes.  Yes it will.

I had a really interesting weekend, and before that some things had been lining up in a way that haven't helped make me feel good about a number of mindless eating habits I've let slip into my daily life.  Taking second, and third, helpings for really no good reason is one of them.

Oh, I could tell you an excuse.  The best one is the "reward" excuse.  You might know the one....."but I work so hard, I've been so good....and besides, it's healthy food!"  Etc...

Last night I got out my small bowl, and yes, I did have an extra pinch of sliced almonds, but I did not go back for seconds.  So there!  I proved I could do it and I didn't die, and I didn't go hungry!  In fact I felt pretty darn good!

I've gotten into a couple of other mindless eating habits that I will write about, but let me start here.  Today is a new and beautiful day to begin again.


6 comments:

chrystad72 said...

Ive totally been there. It gets me at night too I think just because Im tired and not busy doing something. Ive just started being more aware of it recently. Plus asking myself if Im really truly hungry helps. Sounds lame to have a conversation with myself but I do sometimes! ha!

Amanda Perry @ Sistas of Strength said...

HA...I used to be the worst with seconds, thirds, etc. I still have my moments, but I'm working on remembering to stop at 80% full. :)

Tracy Reifkind said...

chrystad,

The habit I established about not eating after 6:00pm sticks like glue! It's most likely because I eat a ton of food before 4:00pm! By the time 7-8:00 rolls around I'm so close to bed and I know I'm not really hungry, just bored!

Tracy Reifkind said...

Amanda,

Love the 80% full idea! I forgot I heard that used before but I'm diggin' it! If you just wait 20-30 minutes that 80% usually turns into 100% +, lol!

Diana said...

Last year I totally used the "but I'm running a mmarathon" excuse! I gave myself lots of rewards!

Tracy Reifkind said...

Diana,

Yep, if only it worked that way!

My reward is for eating "good" the rest of the time, or eating good foods as to allow me to eat more!