My Thoughts on Starting Monday: Day 6

   So this journal entry was actually made last Saturday, while SuperMom was reflecting on her "Monday" dilemma. I saved it for today, because I find it to be a very common issue on the weekends! During the week, its much easier to focus on dietary goals because weekdays are so much more structured! In my case, my husband is at work, the kids are on their routine, controlling what I eat is relatively simple. When the weekend hits, though, spontaneity and my spouse force dozens of poor diet choices in my face! I haven't conquered that, I don't think I ever will, but I do know that I've dramatically curbed its effects by giving myself Saturday to indulge! A beer at noon, pizza, doughnuts, Taco Bell (I have no idea when that came back into the craving list, but damn if it didn't!) etc. When Sunday hits, I feel sluggish, dehydrated from sodium and alcohol, bloated, and just yucky overall. I'm more than eager to resume healthy eating on Sunday because I just want to feel normal again. As SuperMom is starting to discover, eating healthy makes her feel better during the day. It gives her energy, confidence, and a more balanced state of being, but it took her time. I equate the feeling to quitting smoking. I was a pack-a-day smoker for 10 years. Quitting the habit was SO hard! I must've tried a dozen times before I got it right. It didn't feel good at first. Neither does the first few days of healthy eating. Exactly for the same reasons. Withdrawal symptoms. It wasn't the nicotine that was the hardest, it was the habits. This is the exact same with food. In a 2010 study by Nature NeuroScience, pleasurable eating of junk food and unhealthy foods triggered the same dopamine receptors as cocaine and heroine. Overtime, the receptors dulled, requiring greater stimulation to achieve the same affect. It wasn't just one kind of junk, either. Rats in the study were given either high fat or high sugar diets. Both had the addicting affects, but different areas of the brain were stimulated for fats than for sugar.

                            "The big one-two punch for defeating healthy eating might in fact be a  combination of neural effects from both of these ingredients. And, indeed, the sweet spot for the lab rats in Kenny's study seemed to be the food item that contained high quantities of both fat and sugar: cheesecake" (Scientific American, 2010)

 Huh, feeling awkward yet? I mean, did you ever think saying, "I'll try again on Monday" would be something you'd have in common with other addicts? There is not much difference between reaching for a cigarette when you're stressed and reaching for a doughnut. Both cause damage to your internal being, both stimulate the pleasure centers in your brain for all the wrong reasons, and both have aesthetically damaging properties. I'm not saying never eat a doughnut again, (especially since my mother owns a bakery! Please eat a doughnut every once in a while, lol!), I'm just saying think about why you shouldn't eat it five days a week. There is good news, though! After I quit smoking, I thought I would always feel the same about cigarettes; a deep, lasting longing for one. One night at a BBQ, I had one. It was disgusting. It made me nauseous, tasted bad, lost all its appeal. Many people I've worked with have reported the same affect. After a "cheat" day, they felt bad. Physically, their body wasn't used to the same amounts of fat, sugar, and salt it had once been, and reacted negatively towards it. So getting healthy gets easier. Physically, it gets easier! It's just a matter of kicking the habit, and getting through that initial withdrawal. Take heart, and stay positive, just like SuperMom!

"It's the weekend and once again I'm faced with the recurring personal mission of starting my diet on Monday. I always start on a Monday, and always start out strong. At some point a couple days in or a few weeks into it I fall off course and continue to go back to my old habits of unhealthy eating. I find myself asking these questions to myself often.

1. Why do I  always need to start my diet on a Monday?
2. Why don't I have enough will power in me to say to myself "I know you ate a bad lunch, so for dinner I'm going to eat a healthy meal" but I don't. I already ate bad why not continue ?
3. Why do I let a bad meal choice put an end to my healthy eating until Monday comes around again and I give healthy eating another whirl?

The first day is great and by mid week if I eat a few chips that the kids eat for lunch or have a slice of pizza for dinner and maybe an ice cream treat for dessert I automatically tell myself, "OK I guess I  will start again next Monday". I find myself not thinking about what I'm eating. All I think about is this stuff I'm eating tastes yummy, even though I am fully aware that those foods are doing nothing to help me with completing this weight loss mission of mine. I continue to eat them and don't like how I feel after I eat it.

Another frustration I find myself in is turning to fast food or sweets
when I'm stressed out . I feel like my emotions play a big roll in what I eat and when I eat it. I stopped as I wrote that and took some time to reflect about that statement. Geez I feel like I'm using that as an excuse! Wait yes that is exactly what I have done. I've convinced myself that it is OK to choose eating"bad" foods when I'm sad, mad, happy, celebrating, grieving, cheering etc.. It takes so long to see results, but if I continue to make excuses and reasons for choosing bad foods over good I'm never going to see them.

So this Monday is my day. I know there will be obstacles and times I will choose bad foods over healthy foods, but I'm determined to use my tools I already have within me to hold myself accountable and stop making excuses for what I know is wrong to be right. I have a good support network of family and friends and have let everyone know what I'm trying to achieve. Tomorrow is Sunday. My time to plan and shop for Monday! The beginning of many successes to come!"

- SuperMom

Citations:

Harmon, K. (2010, March 28). Addicted to Fat: Overeating may alter the brain as much as hard drugs. . Retrieved July 12, 2014, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/addicted-to-fat-eating/